Mental illness 'final frontier' of accepted discrimination

From the Calgary Herald:
Nearly one in two Canadians believes mental illness isn't always "real," but a cop-out for bad behaviour and personal weakness, and attitudes toward people with addictions border almost on religious judgment, a new national survey shows.

One in four is afraid to be around someone with a serious mental illness, and about half of the 2,024 Canadians surveyed online said they would avoid socializing with or marrying someone with a mental illness.

The Ipsos Reid survey, commissioned by the Canadian Medical Association and to be released today at its annual meeting in Montreal, "shines a harsh, and frankly unflattering light on the attitudes we Canadians have concerning mental health," CMA president Dr. Brian Day said in a release. ...more