Unhealthy Encounter at the MARTA station!

I’m at the American Probation and Parole Association in Atlanta leading some yoga classes and presenting on mindful leadership. Good to be back where I completed undergrad Emory University.

Took MARTA in from the airport and got off at the wrong stop. There I was confronted by a mentally ill person in a wheelchair who started yelling at me asking what was my problem, “have you never seen a serial killer before.”(answer was yes, many, and they don’t usually advertise their status)

Thinking that not responding was the best course of action, they got close enough to where they throw a punch, I was close enough to my face that I could feel the rush of wind. The person with them said keep going, and I was yelled at all the way to the elevator that took them upstairs.

Had the punch landed, I may be reflecting a little differently instead of thinking about what this person has gone through in their life and how this mental illness manifest in such anger and assaultive of behavior.

Attributing my non-reaction to an early morning flight and just generally being tired, it made me think about those that I’ve met over the course of my lifetime who have harmed multiple people and affected so many lives. The victim’s families who have lost a loved one, the reaction of the people associated with a perpetrator, and the effect on the community.

The Judicial system is ill equipped to provide the remedies and services needed for people who are mentally ill. When people live on the streets and have gone off the medication, if one has been prescribed, the element of danger is ever present as mental illness/psychosis governs their thoughts and actions.

We can learn from the communities all over the world who have created the support systems necessary to mitigate as much as humanly possible, destructive actions of body, speech, and mind! A collaborative effort using the most up-to-date research would be one of the avenues by which we can confront this issue. But this cannot be done without a society willing to spend the resources to not only develop the science and best practices, but to put them to actual use.

Too many times I have seen the end result of the failure to do so. We live in a society where there is a certain amount of freedom that we all enjoy. Many of the people who are homeless and dealing with mental health issues stay under the radar as they medicate themselves with alcohol and street drugs.

I pray that the person you confronted me well one day access the resources they need without being forced to do so by court system, because more than likely, a law has been broken and someone may be hurt. We need to start a real conversation on how to make that happen now, instead of running through the same circles we have as long as I can remember.

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