You can read the article here.

This article interests me because mental illness in our society is a very big issue, and it hasn’t been addressed properly. This article really caught my eye because in middle school, I researched all the different kinds of mental illnesses and ended up creating a speech on schizophrenia to learn more about it and educate my classmates. This particular article illustrates the impact that schizophrenia can have on a person, a family and a community. The author’s style of writing in this piece really attracted my attention since he, Mac Mcclelland, explains the story of his cousin and how he suffered from schizophrenia in a very intriguing manner, while also including statistics and the issues of mental healthcare. This article was written roughly six years ago, but I’m sad to say that all the issues Mcclelland expresses are still very much an issue in our world and community today. Riverview Hospital, in Coquitlam, was closed as an attempt to integrate mentally ill patients into our community, which is a logical idea, in theory; however, there are now hundreds of mentally ill patients living on the streets, and since they can’t properly take care of themselves, many of their illnesses become too much to handle on their own and they can end up hurting others or themselves. This is happening all over the world, just as Mcclelland mentioned in his article, and more people need to educate themselves on the subject of mental health. There are organizations, such as The Kettle Society, who try to provide health care, food, and activities for a low price to try and keep all the mentally ill in their area safe. Something as simple as donating or volunteering at these types of organizations would help our community greatly.