Mental Illness
By deemazing
@deemazing (395)
United States
July 24, 2008 6:05am CST
There are some people in the world who legitatemly suffer from mental illness of some sort. Sometimes, it is easier to recognize than other times, but just as hard to understand and cope with. For example: a neighbor frequently has anger outbursts and screams at other neighbors for no apparent reason. Most of what he says does not make sense. Some neighbors can't recognize him as having a mental illness, and therefore, continue to argue. An argument between two neighbors quickly turns into an argument with three neighbors and before you know it, it escalates into the entire street arguing.
How would you hanlde such a situation? Would you defend the neighbor who you believe has a mental illness, or would you argue with him when he says something offensive to you? Would you start to yell at your other neighbors? Would you contact the police to end the disruptive behavior? This discussion is mostly based on morals and reactions and how your morals can change due to certain situations.
2 people like this
2 responses
@highlyclever (1111)
• United States
24 Jul 08
I know people who assert that everybody has a mental illness of some sort or other, but I think that it is some sort of reverse-hypochondria. There are legitimate cases, though, as you have said.
What would I do if I had a neighbor that was frequently prone to anger outbursts and screamed at me for no apparent reason? I would probably do my best to avoid that neighbor. I might even put up a fence. Or move.
If I was able to live next to such a neighbor (maybe they were not always angry at me?) but witnessed other neighbors getting into fights with this neighbor... The nice thing about arguments is that the arguers often stop talking to each other, go home and slam their doors, and make it a point to avoid one another.
LOL. I have absolutely no idea how I would handle such a situation. Like I said, I think I would probably start shopping around for somewhere else to live...
@alokn99 (5717)
• India
24 Jul 08
I would try to handle the situation with utmost care and not let it get into a brawl. I would try and calm the situation by tring to explain the mental illness to the other neighbors and what they are doing wrong in aggravating him. At the same time I would try to talk to the family members of the ill person and get them to fet him out of the argument. The police should only come into the situation in the event of the argument getting to be disruptive or the indication that this is likely to get physical.
