From Peter Eldridge re "schizophrenia". (Letters to the Editor).

In your response to Moran McMahon (C.I., Dec. 2001), you write, "...So after doing everything in their power to create a politically schizophrenic Palestinian society, the Israelis now act surprised that they are inheriting violence from what they have sown."

Politics aside, while commending your record of respect for people with disabilities, your use of the term "schizophrenic" here was incorrect and inappropriate, no doubt an oversight on your part. Using the term in such a context regrettably serves to perpetuate public misconception about this mental disorder and violence.

In Learning about Schizophrenia: Rays of Hope, the Schizophrenia Society of Canada explains, "The general population has difficulty understanding acts of violence, and therefore labels mentally ill persons as violent, homicidal objects of dread...It is extremely unfortunate, and highly unfair that the human beings who suffer from schizophrenia are assumed by society to be dangerous persons. Having a split personality, schizophrenia, is not a splitting of the personality into multiple parts, not a Jekyll and Hyde phenomenon, despite the popular hold of the Robert Louis Stevenson story. Most people with schizophrenia are much too ill to carry off double lives. Split personalities are rare and are a form of hysteria, not schizophrenia."

In 1911, the psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler invented the term schizophrenia from Greek "schizo" meaning "split," and "phrenia" meaning "mind" to convey the split between perception and reality. Today, many psychiatrists regret the existence of the term because it is misunderstood, causing serious and unnecessary grief. It is important that we all take responsibility for sharing our knowledge about schizophrenia with others, especially for the sake of those who suffer from the disorder.

Thank you, and please keep up the very good work of your publication.

Yarmouth, NS