Kentucky

This following editorial was written and published last week.  I waited to post it here to permit the topic to sink in for all of us.  Rather than add my own comments, I am "borrowing" comments posted at the Courier Journal which lay it out so much more elegantly and eloquently than I can.  I, too, know Professor Jones and admire his work and his courage.

Here are the comments:

Indeed. This was a great showing of personal courage, the motivation of which was to help others. If only such selflessness were found elsewhere in legal education. Cheers!

Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 7:15 pm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I too am a student of Prof. Jones. Such honesty and candor is hard to come by. It is impressive to me that in the light of Prof. Jones' personal and professional accomplishments he has chosen to step forward stand up for not only what is right, but for those less fortunate. Thanks Prof. Jones! Discrimination can only be overcome when we stand in solidarity with one another! I am with you!

Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 7:00 pm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Professor Jones, you are a brave and principled man, and I am proud to have been taught by you. Thank you for this excellent article.

Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 3:46 pm

And now, Professor Jones - Mental illness, stigma, and the person in the office next door.

Recently, I wrote a review for this newspaper of Professor Elyn Saks' memoir of life as a legal academic who secretly suffers from schizophrenia. My review did not mention the parallels between my life and Professor Saks'. I also have a successful career as a law professor. I graduated with highest distinction from the University of Virginia, finished second in my class at Duke Law School, clerked for a judge on the U. S. Court of Appeals, practiced law at a Wall Street firm in New York City and a prominent firm in Florida, taught for a year at the Top 10-ranked University of Chicago Law School, and in 1986 joined the faculty of the University of Louisville's Brandeis School of Law, where I am a professor of law. Over the years, I have taught a generation of Kentucky attorneys. This happened while I hid from almost everyone that I have the severe mental illness bipolar disorder (formerly known as "manic-depressive illness") for which I have been hospitalized five times and treated constantly for 28 years.

Why did I hide my condition for so long? Mainly, I kept quiet due to the fear of stigma, which has followed mental illness throughout history. Sadly, people today stigmatize more than they did 50 years ago. Most no longer use the racial and ethnic slurs that once were common, but those with psychiatric disorders still regularly are ridiculed. The Democratic Party stigmatized when it forced Sen. Thomas Eagleton off its 1972 presidential ticket after learning he had been hospitalized for depression over a decade before. Clinton administration official Vincent Foster's concern over stigma and the possible loss of his White House security clearance if he saw a psychiatrist, which he did not do, may have led to his suicide. The Kentucky Board of Bar Examiners stigmatizes when it ignores applicants' "physical" illnesses but asks such intrusive questions about a counseling history that law students refuse to seek help they desperately need to avoid having to answer "yes" to those inquiries. Job applicants hide hospitalizations or gaps in employment due to mental illness, because they fear disclosure will keep them from being hired. Families of those with mental illness are so embarrassed that they are afraid to acknowledge the condition of their loved ones.

A history of mental illness is not a moral failing, and contrary to popular belief, many like me have never had problems with alcohol or illegal drugs. Although most with severe mental illness pose no threat to anyone, stereotypes, often reinforced by selective media reporting of events like the Virginia Tech shootings, unduly link violence with mental illness. A 1999 report of the U.S. surgeon general (along with numerous other sources) emphasizes that the vast majority of those with mental illness are not violent and that little of the violence in society is due to them.

If the fear of stigma is so great, why have I told my story? I write to show that people can be effective members of society in high-level and often stressful jobs despite their psychiatric conditions. I have thrived in the intellectually challenging realm of legal academics, where I have matched wits with both students and colleagues who had no idea about my disease. Even when my disorder temporarily incapacitates me, I gradually regain my faculties. I cope with many major, unpleasant and potentially dangerous drug side effects, but still soldier on.

What do I want? I wish to be accepted for who I am, and not have to endure stigma or doubt that I can perform now that I have gone public with my condition. If my message to others with severe mental illness encourages them to reach for everything in life, my "secret" will have been worth disclosing.

Those who do not have mental diseases can help those who do by demanding such things as parity for physical and psychiatric disorders in health and disability insurance coverage and an end to stigma. According to NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness), mental disease affects one in five Americans every year. Mental disorders are the leading cause of disability for people of ages 15 through 44. Mental illness accounts for over 15 percent of the disease burden in the United States, more than the burden of all cancers. Mental illness is an illness like any chronic physical disease, and those with it can live happy and productive lives. Society needs to recognize this, and change its view of those with mental health conditions. My accomplishments are attributable to things like appropriate medications prescribed by an excellent psychiatrist, regular psychotherapy, the support of loved ones and my own hard work. Such a result is possible for many with severe mental illness.

Society should willingly pay the medical expenses of those with psychiatric conditions, as it is far cheaper to cover the cost of maintenance medications for those who cannot afford them than for them to forego such drugs and end up in expensive hospital beds. The poverty of many with mental illness helps explain the syndrome that sees individuals bounce in and out of hospitals.

In light of all this, it is time that society embrace those with psychiatric conditions. Of particular interest to me, the Kentucky Board of Bar Examiners should join many other states and stop discriminating against those with a history of mental health problems. Louisville already has a highly successful alliance between NAMI and the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department via the Crisis Intervention Team program, through which over 500 LMPD officers have been trained to deal with those with psychiatric disorders. Because of this program, most get medical treatment rather than ending up in jail as they did in the past. The public should encourage things like this, as it sees those with an illness receive proper medical care rather than be warehoused in a correctional facility which is not equipped to deal with them.

While not all people with mental disorders flourish as I have done, I show what is possible. Given the one in five, how many other successful individuals with mental illness are out there? Perhaps each of us should look at those in the offices next to us, or our friends and neighbors, and wonder which of these people secretly live with a severe mental condition. May my journey through life continue to go well despite the occasional bump in the road and encourage others to create a world free of stigma and discrimination against those with severe mental illness.

JAMES T. R. JONES
Professor of law
Louis D. Brandeis School of Law
University of Louisville
Louisville 40292