What a disgusting view of this situation.

Everyone deserves love, compassion, and human dignity, regardless of their mental health struggles. And when it comes to her mental health, there has already been a lot discussed and speculated about; it has been documented.

We are called to love. We are called to have relationships with people. We are called to show empathy, compassion, and sympathy. And whether people want to acknowledge it or not, the lack of those things can have a profound effect on mental health.

So shame on the individual, especially another woman, who thought this was an appropriate response to a post about this situation.

“They’re not human.”

Seriously? What exactly makes someone human? Is a person suddenly less human because they struggle with mental illness? Because they don’t behave the way you think they should? Because you don’t understand what is happening inside their head?

“Don’t breed with this. Don’t share your stuff with this. Don’t trust this.”

What an incredibly insensitive and cruel thing to say about another human being, especially when you know nothing about what someone may be battling internally.

“Broken and weak.”

Apparently, you’ve never had to battle mental health or walk closely beside someone who has. Because struggling mentally does not make someone weak. It makes them human.

And then there’s “they will never fulfill the duties that are needed of a real woman.”

Well, please enlighten us. What exactly are the duties of a “real woman”? And while you’re at it, explain what a “real woman” is.

Because I would argue that being a real woman includes having compassion for other women. It includes recognizing that we don’t always know what someone is carrying behind closed doors. It means understanding that pregnancy, hormones, postpartum changes, trauma, mental illness, grief, stress, and a thousand other things can affect a person in ways we may never fully understand.

You don’t have to excuse someone’s actions to have compassion for their humanity. You don’t have to agree with someone to recognize that they are still a person. And you certainly don’t have to understand someone’s mental health struggles to choose not to dehumanize them. There is already enough tragedy in this situation. We don’t need to add more cruelty, hatred, and ignorance to it.

I don’t know everything that happened inside that home, and neither does anyone else sitting behind a keyboard. But I do know this: mental illness does not make someone less human, and struggling does not make someone unworthy of love.

#MentalHealthMatters #ChooseCompassion #EndTheStigma #HaveEmpathy #LoveYourNeighbor