Let me be clear on this: I do know quite a bit about mental illness, both personally and through my own scientific inquiry and literature review...
As I understand it, most universities do a general admissions process. Fill out forms, write an essay, take required tests (SAT, ACT, etc.), then letters of recommendations. We all know this. My question is, how much stock is put into this essay? How well is it mentally evaluated? Because through writing, we can tell someone real-time mental thinking versus when mom wrote the essay...
Secondly, as for other cultures, I do know for a fact that numerous cultures are ignorant and unaware about mental illness. They are clueless as to when one suffers and have know clue as to what that looks like. The person, often suffers in silence and isolation, and usually winds up causing harm to him or herself, maybe others. The thinking is some parts of the culture, is that this person was weak, was not saved, etc. That is still a judgment. Welcome to the stigma of mental illness. The people who witness the after-effects, often wonder how come the person did not seek help, etc. Let's chalk it up to "health disparities" and lack of "cultural competencies"...
My business is devoted to eradicating the stigma, ending disparities and improving competencies. This goes to say, Zhu had identifiable problems prior to killing this young lady... As for Cho, the way I read the information, he was severely emotionally disturbed long before going to VT and that is probably why his parents moved to the US so he could get effective treatment. Either of them could have not been admitted, but that is another form of burying the problem or passing the buck, rather than confronting the issue: How about having the "infrastructure" where ANYONE can get what they need in care? Because most universities have cut mental health services to EVERYONE...
And just because someone has a strong mental illness, does not mean the are uneducated or retarded. It means there is something (generally chemically) in their brain that disrupts/disconnects appropriate emotional responses to social environments. The mind is a part of the body and is an organ, too. No one would tell a cancer patient to endure the pain of tumors and get over it, so why would the same thing be said to someone who is mentally ill, where the tumors are the bad thoughts?
Lastly, the US still stigmatizes and has mythology associated with mental illness. Why? Who knows? While tolerated more than other countries, I care about this country and how we can improve mental health awareness. Until you have walked a mile in someone shoes who is suffering from mental angst, do not judge him/her and fearing him/her is silly. Become aware, informed and educated.
Nameste',
Dr. G-
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