http://articles.latimes.com/2012/nov/08/nation/la-na-jared-loughner-20121109
As a mentally ill person, I find it disturbing and sad the way that Giffords' disabilities mark her as a victim while Loughner's disability, schizophrenia, marks him as a menace. Also, in all of the media coverage that I've read and heard he is always described as "having been" schizophrenic, as if schizophrenia is a transient state. I guess a cocktail of meds can now keep him sane enough to be punished. Bloodlust, anyone?
I find how they're describing schizophrenia as a transient state disturbing too. It's not like all schizophrenics have always been that way. A friend of mine I knew from middle school has also been diagnosed with schizophrenia. When I knew him, I did think he was socially awkward, but he wasn't so awkward that I ever thought of him as a menace. Although he he experiences many of the schizophrenic symptoms now (hallucinations, spontaneous rage, etc.), he definitely was not that way when I knew him. Even though he lives in Taiwan, it bothers me to think that if he was in America, he may be perceived in a similar manner as the article.
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