Mental Illness

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8/7/00

Dear English Syllabus Committee

It is hard to comprehend the fathomless terror of being psychotic, we who live in a world that has its road maps, recognizable to us all. We reach out for a glass and it is where we expect it to be. We do not hear voices telling us to kill ourselves. We do not believe that television is broadcasting our most secret thoughts. We look at our children, and their faces do not distort into that of wickedness. We do not believe that everyone in the world is plotting against us.

A mental illness such as schizophrenia cannot be seen or easily identified. Society's response to the victims of this tragic disease can often be hurtful. It is essential that society can identify with these people and respond in an accepting manner. I would like you to consider placing the text Tell Me I'm Here written by Anne Deveson on the recommended text list as an expository text. An expository text is defined as writing that is intended primarily to inform, instruct or explain. Tell Me I'm Here is an intensely emotional, compelling story of Jonathon, a charming teenager who turns into a fearful and tormented young man. He suffers the mental illness known as schizophrenia. Tell Me I'm Here has many purposes; Deveson writes for the millions of others with schizophrenia, who daily walk a tightrope, courageously trying to balance between their world and ours. She writes for the families that struggle to hold on to hope when often they are scourged by despair, and who suffer from ignorance and neglect. Most importantly, Deveson writes to portray the unknown horrors of this frightening disease to society. The aims of Deveson are to inform, instruct and explain to the reader about this disease, these covering the fundamental aspects of an expository text. "A thing is not impossible merely because it is inconceivable." This is a quote taken from Lewis Carroll, a famous writer and poet which relates to the issue of schizophrenia. It shows us that, although it is difficult for the majority of society to comprehend, schizophrenia still exists. By placing this text on the recommended syllabus list, the level of understanding of this disease would be heightened; ideally, socities response to the victims of schizophrenia would be more accepting.

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Adolescence can be a time of extremes, from rebellious independence to agonising vulnerability; a time to burst through into the world and find your identity. Jonathon, the teenager in Deveson's story was not finding his. To loose one's identity is to loose a sense of self this renders life meaningless. It also complicates the lives of those who care for him, physically and emotionally. The author Deveson creates an extremely melancholic tone throughout the novel, and, while I read, I felt a huge sense of sympathy for the family and for Jonathon. Deveson shows us the fact that society is ignorant of mental illness and treats it with contempt. She portrays the horrors of the illness, the immediate effect on family and some of society's response to this illness. For example, an extremely powerful quote reflecting some of society's response is "The voice on the radio says that the only good schizo is a dead one!" This quote shows society's contempt towards those suffering mental illness. It expresses responses that are unkind, unfair and uncompassionate. Deveson brought to the subject her immense intelligence and humanity, using this to create a sense of anger towards the ignorant society and a sense of empathy for Jonathon, who represents all victims of mental illness. This outstanding piece of literature must be shared with others; we all must experience the torment of Jonathon's madness and see the difficulty associated with caring for these malevolent, troubled personalities.

Deveson challenges the legal and the health system throughout the expository. She articulates her distain towards the hospitals and the system that did not help her. Deveson uncovers the ironic flaws in the health system; For example, she is told that "Most mental health services will not take mentally ill people if they have a drug problem and drug and alcohol services will not take mentally ill people." The irony can be seen when one realizes that people suffering this disease take drugs in an attempt to solve these strange emotions and experiences. Basically, the victims of schizophrenia and their families are left with no choice! Deveson portrays hospitals that are run to suit the suit the system rather than the patient; even the best of them are authoritarian institutions. This part of the novel opposes the way I used to think of the health systems, I used to believe that the patients came first. But when I took a good look at today's health system, I now believe that it is far from my idealistic view of the system that I once possessed. Take for example, a feature article in the West Australian on the 7th of July showed a mother tried to kill herself and her two children after a councilor refused to see her because he wasn't on duty. It seems to me that Deveson has embraced and discussed a realist topic, an absurd health system, and shared with us the problems that she saw in the system.

Meaning is created from the context of the author combined with the context that you bring to the text. The syllabus states that authors create texts that reflect their particular attitudes and values; therefore, recognizing the context of the author is essential. Deveson's story is both compelling and tragic. Tell Me I'm Here is a heart-rending story of a mother facing the realization that her child is going mad. The emotions experienced throughout the text are intensified by the notion that Jonathon, who developed schizophrenia at the age of 17, was her son. We struggle to comprehend the fear associated with being psychotic - Anne Deveson and her children Georgia and Joshua are forced to experience and survive this fear. In this novel the two children are 'pushed' into a shadow by Jonathon's madness, which, in turn becomes part of their story. They are forced to grow up and mature too fast and in doing so loose much of their childhood. Deveson includes poetry written by the daughter Georgia that expresses her distain towards Jonathon. Joshua, the son, suggests a hitman for his own brother which is very powerful in that it is tragic.

The setting for this expository is in Adelaide, which establishes a sense of realism I suddenly was alerted to the fact that this illness is occurring in our own country! I used to feel like these problems were on the other side of world, however reading this placed me in Devenson's backyard. I felt so close to the issue of the misunderstood mental illness and the horrors felt very real. Deveson also uses statistics to prove to us that it is very much a large part of society. For example she shows us that one person in every hundred will develop the illness, worldwide that is 55 million people. That is an unbelievably high statistic which shocked me when I first read it. Although there is such a tremendous number of victims worldwide, schizophrenia is most probably the most mis-understood of all illnesses.

By including this text on the recommended English syllabus list, not only will the students who study this expository text be benefiting from the particular features of the construction of the text such as tone and setting, they will also be presented with issues that they will know little about, therefore, will alter their own personal context. Finally, by including this text, you may be enriching the lives of those who suffer any form of mental illness and perhaps, the most mis-understood illness will no longer be the most mis-understood.

Yours sincerely

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