This is not always an accurate picture of the mentally ill. I was diagnosed ten years ago with Bi-Polar Manic Depression. I am a loving mother and grandmother, a faithful wife, an award winning poet, an intelligent, sensitive, creative, compassionate human being, who simply wants an equal chance to be all that I can be, a chance to prove that we too, are human. I am in no way trying to glamorize mental illness. Some of the people above committed suicide because of their illness.
Mental illness is never an easy illness to live with.
For most who are diagnosed, it is a life-long struggle. Unless you have mental illness, you can not know the pain of derision, the desire for understanding, the fight for equality, but you might someday, after all, insanity lurks within each of us, simply anticipating purpose. He has some excellent articles and links where you can find information on mental illness and related subjects.