22 Nov Where’s the empathy for Mayor Rob Ford?

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Toronto’s Mayor Rob Ford has been the talk of the town over the past few weeks.  From CNN to the Tonight Show, Ford’s erratic and questionable behaviour has been in the spotlight. Smoking crack cocaine, sleeping with prostitutes, disturbing the peace and threatening bodily harm are just some of the stories highlighting Mayor Ford. The world is having a good laugh at his expense.  His odd and risky behaviour seems to make for great entertainment.

But aren’t we missing the big picture?

What if Ford is suffering from a mental health condition or has substance abuse issues? Should we mocking his behaviour or getting him the help he needs? Isn’t the media exploiting the behaviour of an unstable man?

Sometimes it’s difficult to look away from a train wreck.

Brittany Spears, 2009
www.itstrulyrandom.com

Remember Brittany Spears, Amanda Bynes and Lindsay Lohan?  All of them fell apart in front of our eyes, yet we couldn’t wait to watch the latest update on TMZ.

Our society seems to take pleasure in watching the deterioration of people in the spotlight.

We are almost immune to their suffering.  Ford is clearly struggling and will likely soon hit rock bottom – which can potentially end terribly.

From a mental health professional’s perspective, Mayor Ford’s behaviour is alarming. This week is National Addictions Awareness Week. So in it’s honour, let’s be more SENSITIVE to Mayor Ford’s behaviours and more AWARE and UNDERSTANDING as to why he is behaving this way.

Ford needs help. So maybe we should stop laughing and be more empathetic.

That’s just my two cents.