Shunned for Mental Illness

Sister Lucindia Claghorn, 54, was only 17 when she was diagnosed with schizophrenia—a mental disorder that causes hallucinations. She remembers screaming at the horror of seeing and hearing things that weren’t real and, especially, having them touch her.

Instead of the compassion one would hope to be given in such circumstances, Claghorn was rejected by her family. “My mother refused to accept that I was mentally ill,” she says. “Then she abandoned me, putting me into a foster home.” That was 1972—she has not seen her family since.

In a given year, about one in four Americans has a diagnosable mental disorder, according to the National Institutes of Mental Health. Some disorders—such as schizophrenia—remain poorly understood, prompting society to ridicule those who have them. Others conditions, such as depression and bipolar disorder, are better understood and are treated with a variety of well-advertised drugs and other therapies.

According to “A Report of the Surgeon General on Mental Health,” mental illnesses are characterized by alterations in thinking, mood or behavior, and they exact a staggering toll on the lives of millions of individuals. Appropriate treatment can alleviate—if not cure—the symptoms and associated disability of mental illness. However, the majority of those who need treatment don’t seek it, often because of the stigma associated with mental disorders.

But that view of mental illness is changing gradually. Gonzalo Laje, M.D., associate clinical investigator at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), says that people are getting more help today for mental illness than in the past. “Many people perceived depression and other mental illness as a weakness,” says Laje, “but they are just like any other medical problem, such as heart disease or diabetes. There is certainly hope—we have a wide array of successful treatment for mental health disorders, even schizophrenia.”

That has been true for Claghorn. After graduating with honors from the University of South Alabama with a degree in criminal justice, she couldn’t find a job. Employers were afraid to hire anyone with schizophrenia, and few knew anything about the illness. Claghorn became a nun in the Secular Franciscan Order, meaning that she follows the Rule of St. Francis of Assisi while living in the world, rather than in a religious community.

Today, she volunteers at the Red Cross and teaches classes about mental illness at local colleges. She founded and leads Schizophrenics Anonymous, which is supported by the National Schizophrenia Foundation, in Mobile, Ala. In 2007 she was given the Clifford W. Beers Award from Mental Health America for her commitment to raising awareness about schizophrenia.

Claghorn has come to understand that her family and others rejected her out of ignorance and fear. “But once you talk about schizophrenia, and people see what it is—and what it is not,” she says, “then there is not the fear, and the stigma goes away.”