for mental health patients.
[dropcap]P[/dropcap]eople with mental health issues say it’s difficult to receive adequate and relevant help in Saint Lucia. One individual who requested anonymity spoke of a friend who was raped several years ago and believes the perpetrator has returned to endanger her and the child. It has reached the point where the victim has been having suicidal thoughts.
Our source revealed that she had tried desperately to be of assistance but to little avail. First she turned to the police. All they did was record her statement; nothing more. On the question of protection, this is what this reporter was told by a police press officer: “They [victims and other concerned parties] have to make a report. It is entered, and an investigator is assigned to make contact. The official works on the matter as speedily as possible if a person is in danger, but they can also take refuge with family or at friend’s house during the process.”
Concerning the victim’s suicidal behaviour: “We don’t have the appropriate services available. We refer people in such circumstances to relevant agencies. We try to get assistance from Human Services, the Crisis Centre or the Suicide Helpline.”
Our source had turned to the Suicide Helpline, widely praised by the Ministry of Health. An attendant informed our source that the affected person must herself call the helpline. The victim was not accommodated at the shelter for battered women because she did not fall under the “beaten by her boyfriend” category. The Crisis Centre was also unable to help because she was “not a victim of domestic violence.” As I write, my source is considering, in a last-ditch effort at getting help for her friend, the National Mental Wellness Centre.
However, another source indicated to me that admittance to the facility is no less difficult. Naomi had been suffering with depression and visiting the institution as an outpatient. She said that her counselling sessions had not been as helpful as anticipated so she opted to admit herself as an in-patient.
“Inside, were women of all ages,” she said. “Some were yelling, some just sat staring. I slowly backed away as the tears filled my eyes. I started to have an anxiety attack. I was gasping for air. This wasn’t the place for me.” Naomi was especially disturbed at how the patients were treated like they were in a prison, not a medical centre. “The rooms looked like prison cells and were locked from the outside. The walls were in a deplorable condition.” Nevertheless, on the advice of her counsellor, Naomi agreed to see the doctor. After she had answered his questions, given a blood sample and undergone a thorough physical examination, he advised Naomi it would be in her best interest to be admitted. She asked if doing so meant she’d be locked up like the other patients. She was depressed but stable, after all. The doctor nodded his head affirmatively.
Naomi was having none of that. But before she was allowed to leave the centre, she first had to sign a discharge form. “Imagine that!” she exclaimed. “I had to sign that form so as to free them of any responsibilities, even though I was never officially admitted at the centre.” She insisted she’d have been worse, not better, had she stayed at the facility.
Some research on my part revealed that patients at places such as the Wellness Centre must sometimes be protected from themselves and from other patients. It is generally agreed, however, that not all patients with mental issues should be treated similarly. Some need not be locked up, only to be freed for an hour at lunchtime.
The National Mental Wellness Centre declined to comment on Naomi’s observations. At any rate, not without the permission of the permanent secretary at the health ministry. Finally, I was told this shocking story by another source. Her son has a mental disorder that at times makes him violent. One night when he was acting up very badly she called the police for assistance. The officers who answered her call casually informed her on arrival at her address that they would transport her son to the National Mental Wellness Centre but would first have to break his legs to make him more manageable. She declined and instead took her chances with her son at home. Did she report the matter to the authorities?
“Who would I report?” she sniffed. “The police?”
Again, the National Mental Wellness Centre was unavailable to comment. But a police press officer said: “From our end we don’t have everything to deal with mentally ill individuals. When you are dealing with a mentally ill patient, you have to take every precaution to safeguard yourself. The police on our own should not be responsible for transporting violent mental patients. We should be accompanied at least by a couple of trained nurses.”
On the other hand, he thought the idea of breaking a patient’s legs, for any reason whatsoever, was “extreme”. At last, something we might all agree on!
