Letter to the editor: 'Has the church been neighbour to the mentally ill ?'

Notes: "A heartfelt thanks for publishing the article 'Out of the shadows and into the light', by Tali Folkins (Nov. 2015, p. 3). I am a Christian man who has lived with a bipolar disorder for 40 years. During these years I have often been saddened, and sometimes angered, by the church's silence concerning the lives of the mentally ill. It is as if the church were unaware of the terrifying pain that we endure. A majority of those who commit suicide were living with mental illness. There are too many of us to ignore. One in every five Canadians experience a mental disorder in any given year. Yet, for the most part, the church has remained silent. Are we invisible ? Are we unworthy ? Doesn't the church hear our cries ?"

Subjects: Mental illness - Canada; Mental illness - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada; Stigma (Social psychology)