Friday 20 November 2015

Mental Illness is Real

So today at work the most strange/scary/heartbreaking thing happened. Im sure this isn't the first time this kind of thing has happened because we do live in a world full of mental health issues, but for some reason it had a massive affect on me at the time.  So, there is this regular customer, a girl about the age of 19 that comes in probably about once or twice a week. She is always with what I guessed was a male carer and she has some kind of mental disability. But regardless of this she was always really happy, sometimes singing and always talking to people. I always talked to her and tried to make conversation.
But today was different. She was quite when she first walked in and her carer man looked a bit on edge. Anyway, I went off to smoko and came back as they were going through a register. She was at the other side of the register when she just started screaming bloody murder. It was like a full on scream, not holding back. And she just kept going, until she started to get really worked up. She started throwing things and the carer was trying to calm her down. She got to a point where he must have been worried that she was going to hurt someone so he kind of stepped in front of her so she was against a wall blocked in by him. At this point she was getting really violent and starting abusing him, kicking and hitting, and the carer guy was taking all the hits. I was freaking out by this point, the situation could have easily gone bad. The male managers that were working at the time instinctively made there way up in case the situation got worse and it did. She started banging her head against the wall and banging the glass windows with her fists. He ended up calling the police and it all got sorted.
Now, hearing this story I know the thoughts that are going through your mind, and at the time everyone else minds. In this situation the carer looked like a victim and the girl looked like the offender. And that is what saddens me the most, it is actually the exact opposite. The girl is the victim, the victim of a horrific mental illness. She is a kind hearted person that is stuck with a body and a mind that has a glitch. And I take take my hat of to that carer, he isn't the victim. He knew, when he started his journey with this girl, what the job would entail. But he did it, he endured all this because he sincerely cares for human beings and their welfare. He is willing to take care of her when she can't do it herself, and that, I think is heroic.

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