Thank you all for your bravery! I salute you. Co-dependence with a parent
short of physical abuse only catches a thin edge of what physically abused
children experience. In addition, as is clear from this thread of
correspondence, the experience has life long consequences for the abused,
which never goes away. I am amazed and frankly disgusted that our judicial
system does not recognize this fact and still releases level 3 sexual
offenders back to molest more children! We all need to apply pressure on the
legislative and judicial systems when the  opportunity presents itself to
change this.  Thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts.
Best Regards.

Mickie

-----Original Message-----
From: Thomas J. Kuwahara [mailto:tom@resolve3d.com]
Sent: Monday, July 10, 2000 10:02 AM
To: Bryan Llewellyn
Cc: Histonet
Subject: Re: Mental illness: the other side


Dear Bryan:  I've been off a couple of weeks and it's been quite a
morning reading all my 300+ emails but I have to salute your bravery in
sending such a very personal and moving message over this often
contentious internet site.  If you ever want to come work for a private
company in San Francisco, let me know.  Regards, Tom

Bryan Llewellyn wrote:
> 
> > Lastly, if we screen out all of the mentally ill from jobs, what
> > are we to do with them? They have rights, and one of them is the right
> > to pursue happiness by being gainfully employed.
> 
> I too thought long and hard about whether I should reply to the postings
on
> this subject.  I finally decided that I should because I can bring an
aspect
> to the discussion that has not yet been made.  Please excuse what may
appear
> to be bragging, but I am going to speak very frankly because I have found
> some off the comments made on this subject quite demeaning and insulting.
I
> do not apologise for saying this.  I think it needs to be said.
> 
> I am a long time chronic depressive.  I have been depressed on and off
> (mostly on) for about 50 years (I am 57), and have been a passive suicide
> since I was about eight.  The source of my emotional problems is abuse as
a
> child; physical, sexual and emotional.  Did you ever wonder where abused
> children went when they grew up?  We hide among you.
> 
> Depression is considered to be a mental illness.  I am therefore one of
> those people you are all wondering whether you should fire because you are
> concerned I might attack you.
> 
> I do my job, and rather well, I always thought.  I am the supervisor of a
> small histology lab, and have been the supervisor of a very large
histology
> lab years ago in Winnipeg.  I qualified at the highest possible levels
> available at the time (1969 and 1979) in two countries (Britain and
Canada).
> I authored and administered for several years three separate
correspondence
> courses for the Canadian professional Society in advanced histological
> techniques.  I have written a few papers on histological subjects (amyloid
> staining, H&E substitutes).  I set up the StainsFile web page, and have
done
> all the work for it with the exception of one article.  I venture to
suggest
> that I have received considerable respect for my technical abilities over
> the years from coworkers and pathologists, some of whom have been quite
> demanding.
> 
> I am politically active and have been asked on more than one occasion to
run
> for office provincially.  I have been declared an honorary woman because
of
> my strong committment to gender equity.  I feel just as strongly about
> racial equality and gay and lesbian issues.  I venture to suggest that I
> have made a noticeable contribution to society.
> 
> I have been married to Linda for 37 years.  She has borne the brunt of my
> depression for all that time.  We have three children, all of whom are
well
> educated (Jason a city planner, Stevyn a pharmacist, and David a Ph.D.
> student in organo-metallic chemistry at McGill unioversity).  None of them
> have inherited my depression.  All of them love and respect me and will
miss
> me when I die.
> 
> Mentall illness is no more a single entity than any other branch of human
> activity.  Both smallpox and the common cold are viral diseases, but why
> would anyone in their right mind think that a person with a cold is as
> dangerous as a person with smallpox.  Please get a perspective.  Mental
> illness ranges from the inocuous to the dangerous.  Most people alive
(that
> means you) have some kind of a neurosis, and all neuroses are a form of
> mental illness.  From very personal experience, I can tell you that those
> who suffer most from mentall illnesses are the people with it and those
who
> love them.  An example is the poor progress of the StainsFile web site, on
> which I have been unable to work for a year.
> 
> I am most certainly not ashamed of my mental state.  In fact, I am quite
> proud of the fact that I have been strong willed enough to rise above my
> handicap.  I think I have made a contribution to society.  I have never
hit
> anyone.  I have never killed anyone.  I treat others with respect.  Why
> should I be discriminated against because someone else has a hangup (a
> neurosis) about emotional disorders?  Why should I be fired when it is
your
> problem?  Would you fire me if I had one arm?  Would you refuse to work
with
> me if I stuttered?  Would you send me to the back of the bus if I were
> black?  Please tell me how discriminating against me because of my
> depression is any different from those things.
> 
> Remember, we are all innocent until proven guilty.  Please do not fire me
> until I have done something worth being fired for.  As for not hiring
> someone because in a ten minute interview, an interviewer with no
> psychiatric training decides the candidate is nuts, please, get a life!
> 
> I would request that people think before they post comments that are
> demeaning to those like me.
> 
> Bryan Llewellyn
> Depressive, and absolutely NOT ashamed of it.

-- 
Thomas J. Kuwahara - Senior Immunohistochemist
Resolution Sciences Corporation - http:www.resolve3d.com
3801 Sacramento St., Suite 621, San Francisco, CA  94118
T: 415/750-2307 F: 415/750-2332  E: tom@resolve3d.com