Today I was in a store looking at some books with my fiancee and I noticed a woman acting strangely with one of the other customers. She kept going up to customers and each one became uncomfortable and removed themselves from the conversation. Because of the distance I couldn't hear what was being said but my alarms were going off.
Eventually she approached me and was looking at me but never said anything. I ignored her and she never spoke to me because I didn't acknowledge her. Thing is, my fiancee and I both work in the mental health field and realized that this woman was mentally disabled. However, before I realized this she put me on edge and I began to mentally prepare myself for all scenarios (I was CC'ing at the time). I noticed that another customer became very upset with this lady and began to raise his voice.
The topic I'd like to put out there is this: how do you react to people and maintain your composure until you can determine whether or not someone is a threat or has a disability. This lady had no ill intentions, but watching people approach you and talk to you always sets off alarm bells. Especially for people that can't recognize mental illnesses and disabilities as easily as we can, it seems like they might potentially kill or injure someone over a misunderstanding.
I know this is a somewhat frequent problem with police officers who kill people with mental disabilities because they haven't been trained to recognize and handle people in that situation.
Thoughts?
There are some that have mental deficiencies or disabilities that want no part of being helped and there are others that have a network of help. The thing is, the average person is never going to know which person they are encountering. Add to this, the average person will not know whether they are a danger to themselves, a danger to others, or no danger at all, but merely a nuisance. You bring up that you and your wife are in the mental health field and are able to recognize mental problems when you see them, but even you were highly cognizant of this woman and had your "alarm bells" going off. However, when she approached you, you claim you understood that she was mentally disabled enough to know how to react to her particular brand of mental disability.
It has then been hashed around that some are akin to Adolph Hitler because they would choose to not "help" this woman. No where in your description did it sound like she needed help. I personally would have ignored her unless she got to a point where I could not. Then I would have alerted the store manager or owner to deal with the problem in his store. No where did you intimate that she was violent or had violent tendencies, so anything to do with my firearm is a moot point.
As far as your assertions that these people get killed by police officers because they aren't trained enough in the mental field, to me, is a crock. You and your wife are trained, yet are you really sure she was never going to have a violent episode? I mean really sure? You didn't mention what she suffered from. I've known several who have mental disabilities and several that have behavioral disorders. Thing is, one really never is certain if they will have an episode. So your claim that cops aren't trained enough in the mental field, I believe is erroneous. If someone who is not in their right mind is becoming violent, then the time for group therapy sessions and interventions is over. The officers have to act at that point. If you have a specific case of a police officer shooting someone with a mental disability, then I'm all for debating that case with you, but to have a broad stroke pen to say that cops frequently kill mentally ill people because they don't have training is not a fair assessment. Please show us your data to make such a claim.
I believe if I were in your situation, I too would have ignored her, not because of special training, but because I've learned not to bait people in public. Use common sense. Be nice. If they are strange or bothersome, ignore them and be nice. It really is not my duty, nor responsibility to assess their mental state, figure out whether they need help or not, find out whether they have misplaced their medical care person, etc. If it becomes absolutely obvious that the person needs help, I'm sure I would assist. But if the person is just staring at people and making strange conversation that makes some people uncomfortable, really what is there to do for them?
