Dear Friends Over the many months that I have been running my mental health forums I have received much support from you and many kind comments. I truly believe that through our sharring of experience and knowledge we have touched many lives in a positive way. together, we have spread a message of hope to those with mental illness and their families. It saddens me to report on a matter that has presented itself in this community recently. A fairly well respected member of this community has delivered a severe blow to anything that we have stood for in these mental health forums. The following is a copy of a PM, and my reply to that PM from a member of this community. Personally, I am appalled at the lack of compassion and the willingness to pass judgement on those of us with a mental illness, by this man. Please read this message and feel free to express your feelings about this by replying to this forum. Or, for that matter, you may want to respond to this person directly. Thank you all for your continued support and I look forward to hearing from you again soon. Sincerly, Bill Vanderbilt Bill.... - messages to/from John Sanchez From John Sanchez: Bill.... Date: 3/15/2006 Hello Bill, I don't know if you had a chance to read my last post in the forum but it has been brought to my attention that I should stop the debate with you because you suffer from mental illness and depression, I verified by checking your forums and I saw were you did say you suffer from these things. It is in your best interest that you don't debate these topic, you may do yourself more harm. I see now more clearly why you reason things the way you do. John To John Sanchez: Re: Bill.... Date: 3/16/2006 John. You have stoopeed to an alltime low with this comment. First of all, I don't have mental illness and depression. Depression is the illness and it has nothing to do with ones ability to reason. I know about mental illness John and you do not. You have no right to make any assumptions here because this is one topic about which you have no knowledge, obviously. Besides that, I haven't even had a depressive episode at all for over two years. get off your high horse here John and climb down from your pulpit. You have somehow developed the Idea that you have the right to pass judgement on others based on your own perception of how things are. You must consider the possibility that at times, you are going to be wrong. This is a cheap shot and I will bring this to the attention of this community. I suppose God told you it was alright to pass judgement on me huh John? I believe that this will expose you as the relegious zealot that you truly are. You are wrong again and again you made an assumption based on something that you do not understand at all. If this is your idea of being a christian then it might very well be you who has the mental illness. get the facts straight John and quit thinking that you are the only one who knows right from wrong. Sincerly, Bill Vanderbilt

Hi Bill, Thank you for the invite to your forum. I am sorry to be meeting under these unfortunate circumstances. I to suffer from a mental illnes called Bi-Polar and it seems that there are a lot of people who just do not under- stand what we go through and the stigma that is put upon us for these illnesses. Just because we suffer from these afflictions does not mean that we can not reason. This is why I for the most part stay in the "closet" so to speak about my mental illness because people do not understand it and judge you and you are ostrosied (sp? sorry). This is just my opinion and this is why I do not advertise about my mental illness in public. But now everyone knows. I apologize for any hurt that you have felt by this discrimination in our fine community. I am hoping it is just a misunderstanding on both parts. I know John, and I don't feel that he would intentionally hurt someone in this manner. Your friend Donna

Hello Donna Thank you for stopping by and sharring. As far as the intentions of John with his comments, I realize that it would be difficult to formulate an opinion based solely on this brief massage but John deleted all posts in his forum that led up to this final shot. Had you had the opportunity to view the forum in it's entirety you would have little trouble understanding his intentions. There were several other people who responded to that forum whose beliefs and opinions were simply dismissed as invalid and deleted as well. You will be hearing from some of the others that watched this unfold from the very beginning. Like I said, it is not my intention to attack John but just merely point out a very blatent example of the stigma that we face. Donna. I realize that it is very difficult to discuss such issues, particularly in a public forum. I just want you to know that if you ever want to talk to someone, you are welcome to email me at billyv5@yahoo.com or send me a PM anytime. There are also many other people from our forums that would love the opportunity to talk with someone who truly understands mental illness. Many people in my forums have found others whom they feel comfortable with in talking about theoir issues. Please don't ever feel that you are all alone here. There are many of us who do understand and care very deeply about others. I wish you much happiness and Joy Donna. Take care my Friend Sincerly, Bill

Hello William, This is very upsetting to see. I have supported your efforts and forums for a long time. Judgement, misunderstandings, gossip etc. is always going to be around us. Some people you just can not get along with no matter how hard you try. I think Anger and the lack of facts causes people to get to this point of judgment of others. If people would just take the time to want to resolve an issue the world would be a better place. We are all different no matter what it is, we are people and everyone deserves respect. I hope this gets resolved. Your very good friend,

Hi Lisa Thank you for your comments and continued support of these mental health forums. As far as this issue being resolved, I gave up on that a long time ago. Some people will always value their own opinions more than anyone elses and right or wrong, they will stick to their story. It isn't even my intention now to resolve this issue. I am merely trying to show an example of the stigma and discrimination people with mental illness face every day. Hopefully, this will help some to understand the pain and heartache that others suffer at the hands of the less compassionate. Also, I hope that this will serve as incentive for some who have remained silent about their illnesses to finally speak out and demand the respect that they deserve. Thanks Again Lisa. Sincerly, Bill