Supporting discrimination through silence is really no different than perpetrating the injustice. Ultimately, it commits us all to living under the tyranny of people who have chosen to relinquish their values and ideals. Combating discrimination requires courageous and decisive interventions that frighten most administrators. Discrimination cannot be corrected through "compromise" and "gradual philosophical change." When we find discrimination, it needs to be incisively eradicated. Partial solutions to discrimination do only one thing - they perpetuate the injustice.
Clinicians are not immune from the pervasive effects of prejudice against people who have received psychiatric labels. Unfortunately, negative stereotypes and assumptions are often interwoven with clinical practice, language, procedure, and even the physical environment. Generally, we are unaware of our prejudices and of the injury we cause to the people we serve through our mentalist beliefs, and clinicians often give various justifications for the way things are traditionally done. A good rule of thumb to evaluate for the presence of discrimination is to reflect on what our own response would be if we were to receive the same treatment.
It is important that we confront discrimination when we find it, in ourselves and in others. As painful as it may be to consider our role as perpetrators of mentalism, clinicians must come to grips with both our personal mistakes and our participation in a profession that historically has done much to abuse the people who came for care.
Coni Kalinowski, M.D./Pat Risser
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