Reply #95: That's the tradition in the United States -- to blame those who fall through the cracks.

[hunter]

If someone is not functional in this society it is always their fault.

"Get a job. Work hard. Tough it out." If you can't do that, well then, you are a loser.

Mental illness is not recognized for what it is. My own grandmother by any measure was crazy, yet my entire childhood I remember my mom crying and fighting and arguing with her mom as if her mom was a rational person. She wasn't. My grandma was a passive-aggressive hoarder with an extreme personality disorder. (Hah, rhymes!) She didn't interact with people in normal ways, and my mom's dad was little better. I guess my mom survived in that household by denying the obvious. Her parents were insane.

To a large extent my mom still denies her parents were crazy, and she is still contemptuous of what she sees as my "weakness." A few times she has asked me why I couldn't just be "strong." That used to hurt, but not anymore... I'm over it. I was kicked out of college twice, and my mom never once asked me why because it was easier for her to pretend I was simply lazy rather than crazy.

It is so right to protest.