Howard and Eleanor’s talk on Sanism
Sanism is a commonly used word that is used to refer to the inequality, discrimination, and prejudice experienced by people who are considered as “mad” within a prevailing culture (p.77). Other scholars of psychology define sanism as systematic and systematic discrimination and oppression of the people whom the society considers as mentally ill or insane. Some of these “insane” people refer to themselves as mental health consumers, ex-patients, service users, or psychiatric survivors. Therefore, it is recommended that whenever such people are being addressed, proper language should be used throughout.
From the readings of Howard and Eleanor’s talk, sanism is discrimination of the mentally ill because of their present condition instead of helping them to recover. Eleanor Longden, for example, overcame schizophrenia diagnosis despite trying various doctors who had been treating her. She vividly remembers one doctor who had been treating her, saying that “she would be better off with cancer since cancer is easier to cure than schizophrenia.” This is a clear indication that the doctor was tired of treating her. Her right to receive equal treatment like other patients was bein violated by the doctors. Howard also had almost similar experiences with his condition as he experienced a lot of prejudices and discrimination while dealing with his “craziness.”
Because of the oppression of these people, they become hopeless and despair in life because they feel they are not “normal people.” After several hospitalizations, Eleanor Longden experienced toxic hopelessness and despair until the day she stopped hearing voices in her head. She had stopped trusting in friends because the day she decided to share with a friend, things didn’t turn out so well as the friend immediately perceived her as an insane person. Despite the prejudices from those who harmed her, she is grateful to those that helped her to overcome schizophrenia
Reference
LeFrançois, B. A., Menzies, R., & Reaume, G. (Eds.). (2013). Mad matters: A critical reader in Canadian mad studies. Canadian Scholars’ Press.