There was a demonstration Monday in front of the offices of The Boston Globe in protest of the June 26 Spotlight article highlighting homicides committed by people with mental illness (“The desperate and the dead’’).

I would like to see the Spotlight team, which does great work, present an above-the-fold graphic showing those people with mental illness who are receiving care, most of whom are working, volunteering, being responsible and loving family members, and providing other valuable services to the Commonwealth.

The Globe could not put their faces above the fold because they number in the hundreds here in Boston alone.

The science is there for improved lives; the funding is not.

Stigma is not helpful. In fact, it is overwhelming. As someone who was diagnosed in 1964 with schizophrenia, and who received care years later at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center, I can attest that getting well has been tough, but even tougher is dealing with the stigma that comes with this diagnosis.

I applaud the Globe’s writing and its intentions to throw light on these tragedies. Unfortunately, by promoting stigma, the graphic presentation of the article may set people with mental illness back many years.

Linda Larson

Cambridge

The writer serves on the consumer advisory board of the Commonwealth Research Center, as part of the Massachusetts Mental Health Center.