Laughter is indeed healing but not went it fraudulently depicts people as "loonies."

I must admit I've been around lots of people with mental illness and was never afraid of any them.

It's pretty common knowledge that people in pyschiatric institutions are drugged far beyond what they need in most cases causing them to act in a more bizarre fashion than they would without the drugs.

In my own opinion, I feel if I laugh at these childish tv shows depicting the serious issue of mental illness as a joke then I am perpetuating the real suffering that people with this illness are going through. It goes against my nature of offering comfort and understanding to people with mental illness.

I also have another friend who worked in a psychiatric hospital and confirms that people there are drugged way too heavily causing them to act out when they normally wouldn't. People who were frightening and dangerous there were the exception, not the rule. That was her own experience. I think it's important that we not erroneously lump all mental illness sufferers with those you might be referring to.

[ January 30, 2006, 06:49 PM: Message edited by: ladybug ]