When the Hospital Fires the Bullet.

The New York Times published a piece last week while I was on holiday in Victoria. I e-mailed myself the piece to make sure I read it when I returned to my world. When the Hospital Fires the Bullet discusses the way which those in need of mental health services are often faced with systems that ignore their mental health needs and are faced with violence.

The article focuses on 26 year-old Alan Pean, who was shot while seeking treatment for bi-polar disorder. The violence Alan faces is by no means an anomaly:

The same day Mr. Pean was shot, a patient with mental health problems was shot by an off-duty police officer working security at a hospital in Garfield Heights, Ohio. Last month, a hospital security officer shot a patient with bipolar illness in Lynchburg, Va. Two psychiatric patients died, one in Utah, another in Ohio, after guards repeatedly shocked them with Tasers. In Pennsylvania and Indiana, hospitals have been disciplined by government health officials or opened inquiries after guards used stun guns against patients, including a woman bound with restraints in bed.

Pean's story is very sad, I hope the justice system dismisses the charges against him, and that these hospital policies are reviewed. It makes no sense that considering his history he wasn't placed in the psychiatric ward ... and that he wasn't seen by a psychiatrist.

I'm sorry Alan.