"The Stigma of Mental Illness and Tyranny"

Why do I, a dyed-in-the-wool conservative, have such a keen interest in mental health issues? The Maine State GOP blog provides one answer - it could be intertwined with our love of freedom. Here's a three-paragraph excerpt from the article:

The left especially has used this to attack those they hate. Those who are libertarian, conservative, religious, those who believe in liberty and freedom, all are deemed crazy mentally ill criminals by liberals and by the Democrats. In Democrat states such as California, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut New York and New Jersey ETC psychiatrists brand those with such beliefs as mentally ill and torment and work to ruin their lives.

During the Tea Party rallies, liberal media outlets and blogs categorized protesters as mentally ill radicals. This with the usual grouping together with Nazis and the KKK. The left also attacks opponents of health care, gun control ETC as mentally ill.

Advocates against smaller government and for 2nd amendment rights are also favorite targets. On YouTube for example, those who oppose government management of our very existence are deemed paranoid schizophrenics. Paranoia is a catch phrase used to smear opposition to bigger government.

My own take: Ironically, the Nazi policy of emptying out the insane asylums and sending its occupants to concentration camps failed to eradicate mental illness in Germany. What we term mental disorders are deeply ingrained in our DNA and may represent adaptations that aided in our survivability in ways that are not fully understood. I, who have suffered from chronic depression all my life, find this concept both difficult to understand and intriguing.