So earlier, I was watching some national news report today. They, of course, had a bit about the recent CO shooting. The whole bit with Holmes' psychiatrist. You know what bothered me? She had a chilling specialty. Oh no, not just any specialty a chilling specialty in schizophrenia. I'm sorry, but I find that horribly offensive. Why is a specialty in schizophrenia any different than one in mood disorders, bi polar, anorexia, drug addiction, Alzheimer's or any other? Is society as a whole that scared of schizophrenia?  What if he was bi polar? What if he was actually anti social (in the clinical sense)? Would we still be saying she had a chilling specialty? By saying that, you've created and reinforced the stigma of schizophrenia. Does anyone personally know someone with the disease? I do. I might even know two.

By calling attention to her specialty, it's drawing negative feelings and hundreds of thousands of people saying "I knew it" when they really didn't. I'm not surprised he has a mental disorder or if he was simply getting help. But what if he wasn't schizophrenic? What if it was just a coincidence? Why does it matter what she specialized in? By calling attention to her specialty, you begin to label all schizophrenics and murderers. But that is far from true. That is so far from true it's offensive. Is every Muslim a terrorist? No. So why does it matter that she specialized in schizophrenia? I'm sure there are thousands of psychiatrists that do.

There are also millions of people getting treatment for mental illnesses. Does that mean they're all going to become mass murderers? Are they suddenly criminals because they aren't as sane as the rest of us? Of course that's down right absurd. So why does it matter what she specialized in? Why do you have to make it such a big deal that she even did that? Is the reason for the report to continually paint Holmes as the bad guy, even though we know what he did was down right despicable? Or are we continually painting him as the bad guy and adding a mental illness, something completely out of his control, as proof?

Personally I find the specialization noble. It's absolutely terrifying living with schizophrenia when you have it yourself. I don't even have it, but I've been witness. To find a treatment. To find a cause. To find a cure. All of that is so noble. I want my friends and family and strangers I've never met to live a completely normal life free from the grips of the disease.

So I'm sorry, but one single word  is terribly offensive. Maybe if the media didn't subconsciously plant the stigma of mental illnesses (especially schizophrenia) maybe people would be more open and more willing to get help. I understand why people target the disease. Depending on the type of schizophrenia, you are suspicious of everyone and everything. You see things. You hear things. You slowly go insane because you don't know whats real. Yes, violence can stem from the confusion and possible rage. But having a mental illness just isn't socially acceptable, it seems. If you have something wrong with you, you are liable to be teased and pushed over the edge. Do this to someone with a mental illness and the consequences can be dire.

Holmes was the right age to show symptoms of schizophrenia in the traditional sense. He had triggers to begin the disease, as well as triggers to make him snap and become a killer. Would he have become a killer without the disease? That's hard to say or judge. The point is, he is not his disease. He is not a killer because something is wrong with his brain. He was seeing someone that could help him. I am also assuming that he was going to this particular psychiatrist because he is schizophrenic. But like I pointed out before, it could be coincidence.

I just wish news could report straight facts. No fancy words. She was a psychiatrist that specialized in schizophrenia. That is a fact. Do you know how I feel about that? She is a person doing good for the world. Of course, why do I need to know what she's specializing in? She's a psychiatrist that was helping Holmes. At least he was getting help. He was doing something that so many people need to do but are too afraid to. She has a chilling specialty? No. She doesn't. She had a specialty in a disease we don't understand. She is doing something to help people and the media is only soiling the idea of schizophrenics as real people. Is my dad any less of a good person just because he is a paranoid schizophrenic that's afraid to take his medicine because it might be poison? Is his quiet, god-loving, never-hurt-a-fly demeanor undone because he has something going on in his head he can't control? Is his love any different? Or is he simply a 62 year old killer in disguise? If he is, it's news to me.

In the end, choose your words a bit more carefully next time news. Maybe you should stick to what's true and leave the adjectives to the audience. I can judge for myself if her specialization is chilling or not.