LETTER: Psych. patients don't need religious leaflets in offices

Editor,

Let's create a whole new category to exonerate Andrea Yates: "not guilty by reason of religious view." Once again we have an attempt to recast a mental health issue as one where crime can be absolved by religion. Keep reminding the public that her psychiatrist was Mohammed Saeed and you even get to take sides.

Closer to home I find that UNM's Mental Health Center allows regular placement of religious literature on tables in waiting areas for patients. This in a government-run facility; the only one in town for indigent residents. How on earth are psychiatrists going to tease apart geniune mental illness from vulnerability to religious doctrine?

Arun Ahuja

UNM nondegree student