Regarding the sensationalist headline “Man wanted for harassment gets naked during police chase,” May 24 and the Facebook page manager posting that stated: “this would have been quite the sight.” I would like to provide background.
My son has bipolar disorder and had been under a lot of stress leading to poor and disrupted sleep. He recognizes this as the first trigger of hypomania, but was caught in a Catch 22 situation. The emergency room doctor would not admit him as he presented too well and it would be too unethical, and the psychiatrist at the Daly Pavilion in Trail would not take him as a voluntary patient as he might leave against medical advice. So he was given a prescription for sedatives and antipsychotics and sent away. This was on Friday, May 17. Unfortunately his state escalated to full-blown mania which culminated in the apprehension in such a dramatic and embarrassingly undignified way on Monday night.
So much for preventative medicine or being proactive in one’s own health. This situation equals going to emergency with a gash on the arm and told to come back for treatment when it becomes infected. Waiting until a health concern worsens is so very costly — in this case emotionally and monetarily to our health care system, police resources, legal system and so on.
May 6 to 12 was Mental Health Awareness Week. Please educate yourselves. Start conversations about this amongst your circles of family and friends.
Mary Anderson
Nelson