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Well lets bring on mental health reform, I'm sure the budget can be cut in some ways so the country can allocate more funds to mental health. Would you mind paying 1% or 2% extra in sales tax to help pay for mental health reform? I see it as a investment worth making.
Well, just last week my husband and I saw a "blind man" begging for money in the parking lot of Sam's Club. While we watched, he used his cane to make his way across the lot to another guy in a wheelchair with a sign that said he was a disabled veteran. They talked for a bit and then the "blind guy" TOOK HIS GLASSES OFF AND QUIT USING THE CANE. He was laughing and cutting up with the other guy for awhile, and then he sauntered casually across the large parking lot, through cars, stopping for other cars, etc. without using his cane. He dropped something and stooped over to easily pick it up, and then as he got closer to the WalMart next door, he put his shades back on and began "using" his cane again. About half an hour later, we saw him across the street, with a sign saying he was blind and needed work, with a can, right by the drive thru at Wendys. YEAH, RIGHT.
Boy did that tick me off.
I have a brother who is schizophrenic. When he is on his meds, he's pretty much ok, and currently he is incarcerated on several felony charges that he acquired when he went off his meds. When he gets done with his sentence, he will be put back out on the street - penniless. He is impossible to monitor because he doesn't WANT to take the meds and then he self medicates with drugs and alcohol. Then of course he will have another psychotic break. He will likely end up on the streets somewhere, because he is impossible to live with safely, and because we have no other system in place to handle the mentally ill in our society.
Two different scenarios - but in both you can see the difficulties involved in "handling" some of the people who are homeless (or pretending to be) or jobless. Neither the "blind man" nor my brother are employable. What's the answer? I don't know.
Isn't that the one you said smoked too much marijuana, and it made him psychotic? Or do you have another one that schizophrenic?
What are you talking about? I get it, not everyone wants to be helped but some actually do, do you get that? Some homeless people as I mentioned a few pages back would attempt to find work daily, while some decide to spend their lives behind carts. What I'm saying is assist those who want to be assisted because they may actually be able to benefit society rather than offering zero help because some don't want to be helped. Is that so hard to understand?
Isn't that the one you said smoked too much marijuana, and it made him psychotic? Or do you have another one that schizophrenic?
Yep - and I said on that thread that his diagnosis was paranoid schizophrenia (which is a psychosis - in other words, he is now psychotic) induced by marijuana, according to the diagnosis by his medical team.
I clearly explained the whole scenario on the other thread. His psychosis issues started in about 2009 from what we can tell. He was prescribed meds then and went off them and committed the felonies which got him incarcerated and also involuntarily committed for the first time in his life.
What are you talking about? I get it, not everyone wants to be helped but some actually do, do you get that? Some homeless people as I mentioned a few pages back would attempt to find work daily, while some decide to spend their lives behind carts. What I'm saying is assist those who want to be assisted because they may actually be able to benefit society rather than offering zero help because some don't want to be helped. Is that so hard to understand?
There is plenty of help. Tons of help.
I live in the DC metro area. There are multiple agencies, charities and churches available for help.
Anyone that WANTS help GETS help.
Conversely, anyone not getting help clearly doesn't want it...
Did you ask her permission to take pictures and post them on the internet? If not, you're rude and you used her. Don't accuse society of being cold-hearted when you just took advantage of some poor homeless woman!!
I live in the DC metro area. There are multiple agencies, charities and churches available for help.
Anyone that WANTS help GETS help.
Conversely, anyone not getting help clearly doesn't want it...
And sometimes they are mentally ill and therefore unable to make good choices - it's a tough call. Clearly we have a number of mentally ill people who live on the streets. Without their meds and without close supervision, they are simply not employable. And if they don't commit a serious crime, they are not going to be jailed. It's a serious problem.
And sometimes they are mentally ill and therefore unable to make good choices - it's a tough call. Clearly we have a number of mentally ill people who live on the streets. Without their meds and without close supervision, they are simply not employable. And if they don't commit a serious crime, they are not going to be jailed. It's a serious problem.
Mentally ill is an overused catch all.
Most, if not all, homeless people (not out of choice) that are mentally ill are in fact schizophrenic.
Us beepers that are in the wild tend to die quickly, well most beepers die quickly, and we cycle so its not constant bad judgment. Those with other issues such as PTSD are not mentally unable to seek help, they just chose not to.
Its really only the schizos or those that self medicate themselves to junkieville or the junkies that develop drug induced illnesses.
These are not the people that are amenable to help and the poor rates of saving these people bears this out.
Medicine is basically triage. Our money needs to go to those that can be saved if they absolutely want to be saved.
As bad as it seems, sometimes people need to be allowed to wither away or die. Especially when they wish to.
So I have an aunt that lives on the Maryland side of the DC metropolitan and with such a beautiful day outside, I decided to visit her and walk up to the local grocery store. What I see disgusts me. As I casually walk pass a few carts covered in towels, coats, etc I hear someone behind those carts talking to themselves; how can this happen? At first I didn't believe what I was hearing or better yet seeing, so I stepped back to see if someone was living back there and indeed it was. How can society allow someone to slip so far down the cracks that they are sleeping behind carts for the rest of their lives? I was going to give her a few dollars, I'm not sure if it was because I felt guilty, bad for her, to make myself feel better, or what but unfortunately I don't carry cash anymore as I'm strictly debit cards. I walked into the grocery store and purchased her a gift card for the grocery store, so hopefully she can eat every now and again. Putting aside my charity work, what do you guys think of the following photos? What emotions do you evoke? And what do you think needs to be done? Living in one of the wealthiest metropolitans in America, its really heart breaking to see people still living this way with such high inequality.
And don't get me wrong, I've been one to believe in capitalism to a degree and I believe those whom are on welfare shouldn't be allowed to stay on it forever but there has to be a way to help these people. Personally, if I were a billionaire I'd buy a few hundred acres in the DC metropolitan and invest heavily in 3D-Printing technologies in effort to use 3D-Printers to build homes for the lower-class, or homeless.
I can expect some of you to say things along the line "I expect her to get off her lazy butt and work" or "No more of my tax money to help those who can't help themselves" and while I'm inclined to agree that she should work for a living just as most of us have to, we don't know her situation. So let the discussion begin.
The fact that she was living behind a grocery cart does not bother me nearly as much as the fact she was talking to herself. Obviously, people who choose to live this way are not mentally stable (or healthy), so I DO believe that there should be programs to get these people off the streets because they clearly cannot care for themselves.
That being said; from what I can see in the photographs that appears to be a very nice coat she has therel. Much nicer than any coat I have had in recent memory. And what is it, EXACTLY that she is schlepping around in the grocery cart?
Because she is mentally unstable, she apparently cannot take advantage of the many, many social programs which exist to help people like her. This is unfortunate. Perhaps someone will help her get into the system and get some help, or perhaps she will be arrested for loitering or tresspassing and someone assigned to her "case" will feel sorry enough for her to get the ball rolling.
If she continues to "live" there you might call social services and see what they can offer.
Oh yeah? Is that why you put forth the massively obtuse reference to the homeless/mentally ill military veteran? Is there any particular reason you decided to leave out of your post that veterans have more resources available to them than any other constituency in America?
Yes, you left it out for a reason. And that was to try to make a point that really doesn't exist. The fact of the matter is that the Veteran's Administration, while not perfect, does a pretty decent job under the circumstances to help those who need help. Are there people who fall through the cracks? Absolutely. But short of the VA creating a nationwide caravan of buses driving around cities to round up people off the street to see if there are veterans needing help, there's not much else that can be done to make sure that a veteran seeks the help he/she deserves and is entitled to. No one can force a person to seek help. That is a fact, whether it's convenient to your argument or not.
Perhaps you could stand to place a bit of logic in your posts instead of being obtuse to the point that sarcasm is required?
Aero, you completely lost my respect when you posted
"A person doesn't end up perpetually living on the streets without some level of personal irresponsibility along the way."
It was in response to that cold-hearted and false statement of yours that I brought up the topic of veterans with PTSD, (which came to mind due to a personal family situation involving my b-i-l, who ended up dying after his military service and severe PTSD, not that I expect you to care).
You brilliantly posted, and I quote: "blah blah blah," and other impressive retorts, frequently describing me using one of your apparently favorite words, "obtuse."
I never said anything at all about a lack of resources available for vets. I merely used vets suffering from mental illness as ONE of many examples I could have chosen to counter your statement, which I will quote again: "A person doesn't end up perpetually living on the streets without some level of personal irresponsibility along the way."
I've explained why I don't believe your statement to be true, you've been sarcastic. I'm done.
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