Rooted misunderstanding (illustration)
צילום: ויז'ואל/פוטוס
Report: Israeli society intolerant of mentally ill
New poll by Israel Association of Community Centers, Amitim, suggests majority of Israelis want nothing to do with those suffering from mental difficulties
The Israel Association of Community Centers (IACC) held its annual conference this week, and presented participants with troubling data indicating Israeli society is discriminating against the mentally impaired.
The data, complied by the IACC's Amitim Center, which is dedicated to reintegrating the mentally impaired into Israeli society, revealed that 56% of businesses will not hire the mentally impaired, 50% of Israelis do not want them as neighbors and 18% refused even to hold a conversation with a mentally ill person.
Some 72% of those familiar with mentally impaired people said they would have no trouble living next door to them, and 81% would have no problem befriending them; but 89% of Israelis would not become romantically involved with anyone suffering from a mental defect, and an overwhelming 98% said they would not marry such a person.
Gross misconception of the mentally impaired (Illustration photo: Index Open)
Amitim's data was collected from two groups of people polled – one familiar with the mentally impaired and one unfamiliar with them.
Amitim Director Talia Boz-Mizrahi told Yedioth Ahronoth that the data testifies to the depth of the misconceptions rooted in Israeli society as far as the mentally impaired are concerned, as well as just how much familiarizing oneself with them changes those misconceptions.
