In a message dated 03/03/2000 1:47:01 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< I think the group could use a good discussion about "attitudes" and
 "assumptions"--especially when we get fearful and confused about what we
 don't know or know too little or know distortedly--especially about mental
 and emotional matters.  Though we all have our own.
  >>

Sometimes I think that people with mental illness difficulties are the last
bastion for discrimination.  I don't think its unreasonable to consider a
person's emotional stability when they are being considered for certain
positions.  Some jobs preclude people with emotional instability, such as in
law enforcement.  On the other hand, we shouldn't automatically assume that
someone who has been abused is emotionally unstable.

I have a belief that may not be very popular in this age.  I believe that we
are, barring medical/psychiatric factors, able to use negative events from
our pasts to our future advantage.  I am convinced that in most cases, the
choices we make about how to internally process our life's experiences are
under our control.