Having suffered mental illness for the last fifteen years I feel I am qualified to say some words about my illness. Firstly I'd like to thank Sunil for introducing this topic.
I have a psychotic illness called Schizophrenia, have suffered depression and have an anxiety disorder. It has been years since I have felt comfortable entering a dojo environment and have only recently worked up the courage to return to martial arts.
Psychotic illness? you might ask. The mere word psychosis can stir up feelings of fear. The word psychotic or Psychosis unfortunately are very closely spelled like the words "Psycho" or "Psychopath" however connecting the two is often born from ignorance and fear based on the misunderstanding of mental illness in our community. It might suprise you that people who suffer from a Psychosis whether it be Schizophrenia or Bipolar disorder are generally not violent killers (in fact the same percentage of people in the general community are violent) A person who suffers a psychosis does not have the strength of ten men and will respond to pain. Moreover the psychosis sufferer is probably confined in such a prison of fear that they pose more of a threat to themselves. (The word psychosis denotes a loss of touch with reality)
A diagnosis of a mental illness in this day and age does not mean ongoing incarceration in a mental institution with other "insane" people. Mental illness can now be very effectively treated with modern medication. Of course drugs are not effective in all cases and these people require more care.