It Must be a full moon!!

[JennyFromTheRock]

The idea that she's accusing people of having "demonic thoughts" and then yelling at them really causes alarm bells to go off . Vince Li thought that his victim was an alien before killing him and eating his flesh on that Greyhound Bus. I completely agree that there needs to be more help for these people, and I think that alerting authorities to a potential problem may result in help/medication for the person as well as averting a senseless attack on someone around them.

Yes exactly!! That was a point my husband brought up as well!!

As for the comments who are jumping on the people who say a person like this needs an attendant because "they" ( mentally ill ) have rights, I agree that they have rights. But as the general public we deserve rights too. We deserve to be able to shop at a store without the fear of being attacked. My son deserves the right to be a happy little 2 year old, without a lady screaming in his face that he is a f****n little deamon. My child is so sweet and innocent, he didnt deserve that on a day out shopping with his daddy.

As a person with a mental disability, it is their or their families responsibility to ensure they are taking their medication and are safe to be in public. If I took it upon myself to get drunk and go out in public and cause a scene... if they decide not to take their medication and cause a scene, it should be no different. If they cannot take their medication on their own, yet again another reason they need an attendant. Again, remember the grey hound bus situation, apparently he was a very calm man, but was not taking his medication. Look how that ended.

I'll all for equal rights, equal rights would mean they have the same rights as the rest of us. If a person without an illness acted like that, they would have been kicked out, or even arrested. So technically, be being able to act that way, they not only have equal rights, but more rights.

As for driving.... if a person has trouble containing themselves in a store, or around a little 2 year old boy.... what happens if they lash out because someone is taking too long crossing the road? Pulling into an intersection? Or any other situation?? Everyone deserves to be safe....

I would never feel this way towards a person with a mental illness that is not causing other people fear or harm. People with depression, and many other forms of mental illness can properly function as well ( or even better ) than the rest of us. But when it becomes an issue of public safety, you have to consider the rights of everyone, not JUST the mentally ill.

As for this comment made

Mental illness is not now, nor should it ever be a reason to be turned away from entering a store or being in public, or for that matter, driving. Someone with only one leg would instill fear in a young child as well, and most likely in the adults around just as this woman did, but it seems silly to turn someone away from a store because they only have one leg. They can't control that they have one leg, just as I'm sure this woman can't control the issues that she has. Hearing things like "I can't believe that LD even let her in knowing she's like that" or "She should have an attendant" is, I believe, the majority of the reason why when people suffer from mental illness they're not willing to turn to anyone about it.

My child certainly would not fear a person with one leg!! I have raised my children to know that beauty comes from within, in all shapes, sizes and forms. Black, white, one leg, 2 legs, or even 1 eye. My child would never fear a person because of their appearance. My child is fearful when a stranger comes up to them and screams in their face profanities though. *IF* there were equal rights, that person would have been arrested for assault.

[JasmineMcdonald]

Its nice that the LD allows this woman in their store, the manager must know someone who has been in a similar situation.
I agree that this woman needs help, there is the possibility of violence since it can be hard to know if a person is going to react positively or negatively.
I'm thinking that she genuinely thought your hubby asked her to hold your son, and she most likely thought that he was thinking something he wasn't.
I have worked in the past with people with differences and it really helps to know how to protect yourself non-violently.
(non-violence crisis intervention) its a little course that helps you protect yourself without hurting your innocent attacker.
Like you said, we all deserve rights. We need protection. There are many good people with differences, but there are also many bad people who have differences.
And we all try our best to be open minded, but these people can be scary, abusive, aggressive, and increadibly dangerous. Often they are really great people when they are medicated, so funding is sooo needed to help these people funtion and be good people.
I apologize if my comments offend anyone. I do not mean any of it unkindly.

[JennyFromTheRock]

Its nice that the LD allows this woman in their store, the manager must know someone who has been in a similar situation.
I agree that this woman needs help, there is the possibility of violence since it can be hard to know if a person is going to react positively or negatively.
I'm thinking that she genuinely thought your hubby asked her to hold your son, and she most likely thought that he was thinking something he wasn't.
I have worked in the past with people with differences and it really helps to know how to protect yourself non-violently.
(non-violence crisis intervention) its a little course that helps you protect yourself without hurting your innocent attacker.
Like you said, we all deserve rights. We need protection. There are many good people with differences, but there are also many bad people who have differences.
And we all try our best to be open minded, but these people can be scary, abusive, aggressive, and increadibly dangerous. Often they are really great people when they are medicated, so funding is sooo needed to help these people funtion and be good people.
I apologize if my comments offend anyone. I do not mean any of it unkindly.

Unfortunately there was no way she could have thought my husband asked her to hold my son, my husband and son were standing in the isle as my husband was comparing 2 items... she turned the corner on him just as he was turning and she was behind him, but didnt say a worrd, to her nor my son.

The other lady she attacked didnt say anything to her either.

[etherealone]

She has issues, yes, but it does not mean she has to be locked up away from the world. My cousin's son is autistic and makes occasional outbursts in public, but does that make him an animal that needs to be locked away? No. Being out in the world is good therapy for many of these individuals, and some of the comments here I find somewhat offensive. Just because the lady has a disorder that causes her to have outbursts at others DOES NOT mean she is a danger to anyone. Yes, you may feel uncomfortable, but imagine what she goes through for just an hour in her life. Lets try a little compassion, hmm?

I think all people were getting at is that for her safety and others, she should have an attendant maybe? Have some compassion for the OP...her husband and her dear little child were verbally assaulted and frightened!

Your child does have autism and is prone to outbursts like you mentioned. would you let him wander around with out some assistance? would you be afraid for his safety?

[Minou]

Honestly, if a stranger like that woman attacked me or my child physically, I wouldn't be thinking of her as an "innocent attacker" and trying not to hurt her, I'd be protecting myself and my child in any way I could that would allow us to get away.

The store really needs to contact the police when she behaves like this in the store. Has your husband contacted store management?

[vibrantflame]

I've been thinking a lot about this. Unfortunately I don't think there is a "simple" solution. People with mental illnesses do deserve to be helped and they do not deserve to be stigmatized. However, people also deserve to not have to worry about being traumatized by a stranger with a mental illness.

This reminds me of an experience I had a while back at a hospital. I don't remember why we were there, but I was there with my husband and our two young boys. This young man came in (with someone else), and he was in need of his medication. He wasn't there for very long before he started yelling at the nurse at the desk. From what I gathered, he couldn't find a family doctor, he needs regular medication, and he has to keep coming back to the hospital every month and wait for hours to get his prescription refilled. At any rate, he soon became very irrate and started threatening to bring a gun in and shoot the nurses and doctors! Now, I sympathized with him and his situation, I truly did, but I was also ready to get out of there as fast as I could (husband insisted it was fine) because I truly was frightened. Obviously the nurses had experience with him before (I am guessing) because they didn't call the police.

So yeah, it's a very tough type of situation and there really isn't any easy answers....

[Insane]

sigh... I too have debated whether to comment or not....

Here's what I will say...situations like these are opportunities for you to instill compassion and caring for those with mental health issues, addiction issues, ect... not fear, even at 2. We always discuss these sort of things with our children. We talk about how the person has a problem (ie the intoxicated person stubbling and argueing with himself) and needs understanding not judgement. Or the autistic adult who sees the world differently then them. I would have said something like "that woman was kinda scary eh? But it's okay. She didn't know she was being scary. She doesn't understand that her words were scary." to my 2yr old. 2 year olds don't take anything personally.

And for the record not every person with mental health problems is a potential Vincent Li. That's an extreme overgeneralization.

[Minou]

I definitely agree that there would be a need to offer an explanation to the two year old. The situation would have been quite scary for him! As for the situation at the hospital, the staff members on duty probably understood the situation and were in a position to help him. They might also understand that many of the threats were coming from frustration at not being able to gain access to the medical care and medication he knew he needed.

While not everyone is a Vince Li, this woman is actively having delusions and verbally attacking strangers in public, and it sounds like her behaviour has been escalating. She needs to be brought to the attention of authorities so that things can be brought under control. I'm sure she doesn't want to be feeling and behaving this way.

[Candini]

It's a shame your dh and ds had this happen to them.