I respond to your editorial "Tucson and mental health" (Jan. 16), not as a mental health professional, not as a citizen concerned and confused by the tragedy and deaths in Arizona last weekend, but as an individual who has struggled with mental illness all of her life.

I am one of the lucky ones. Now almost 60 years old, I began treatment in my teen years and have been kept alive — I have thrived — through psychiatric hospitalizations, by taking medications, and with the help of psychiatrists, dedicated and expert. My family, my friends, my support circle, all have been there when I could no longer carry the weight of my mental anguish.

I have survived mental illness, I still struggle with mental illness, and I am blessed by my mental illness.

The idea of a program called "Mental Health First Aid" to ameliorate the stigma of mental illnesses and to provide working knowledge to the average person of how to intervene, where to go for help, what resources are available, is a good one.

First and foremost, is the courage to open our eyes and see the pain around us.

For some of us, darkness implodes into delusions, hallucinations, to places where reality is not clear. But this is part of the human experience, and if nothing else, the tragedy in Tucson is an opportunity to grow and learn and feel more deeply.

Leslie Robin Kassal, Baltimore