Is It Fair to Question Chris Young's Mental Stability?
GoLocalProv Politics Team
Is It Fair to Question Chris Young's Mental Stability?
During the Channel 12 mayoral debate this week, Moderator Tim White asked Young how he would respond to critics who say he treats campaign events like the Jerry Springer Show and lacks the stability to be mayor. Young said he was stable—but quickly added that he wasn’t so stable that he would follow one of his primary challengers over a cliff.
Later in that same debate—on live television—Young asked his girlfriend to marry him. In another debate, Young caused an uproar by bringing a statue of the Virgin Mary with him. During an interview on Channel 12, he serenaded the host with a song he wrote. And he made headlines when he was arrested at Brown University last fall after a confrontation with Congressman Patrick Kennedy over abortion.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTMental Health Advocates Say Question Is Unfair
But local mental health advocates said they did not think it was fair to ask Young if he had the “stability” to be mayor.
Vivian Weisman, executive director of the Mental Health Association of Rhode Island, said using the very word “stability” to describe mental illness stigmatizes those who suffer from it—and further discourages them from seeking the help they need. “The word ‘stability’ has a whole different meaning when applied to diabetes and heart disease than when applied to questions on mental health,” Weisman told GoLocalProv.
She said the question was unfair because the other candidates were not asked about any health issues they might have that could affect their ability to serve as mayor. “It appears to have been a question to stigmatize and embarrass, rather than gather information,” she said.
While some may find his behavior inappropriate and of concern, she said that cannot be a basis for making a medical judgment about mental illness. She said his actions could just as easily be explained as a publicity stunt to grab attention.
Mental Illness Not Necessarily a Disqualification for Serving
When GoLocalProv asked Weisman whether mental illness should disqualify a person from serving in elected office, she suggested that it depends on its severity. “Mental health is such a range—from episodic minor issues and needing care or not to severe and pervasive mental illnesses, including the few we do not have treatment for,” she said.
Elizabeth Earls, the president and CEO of the Rhode Island Council of Community Mental Health Organizations, agreed the question should not have been asked—in the absence of any other questions about the health of the other candidates. “I think it crosses the line severely,” Earls said. “It strikes me as massively discriminatory and inappropriate to single out that one kind of illness.”
She said those who say mental illness should automatically bar someone from holding elective office are making “a quantum leap.”
Young declined to comment for this story.