I’m very glad you were not badly hurt. I used to work with severely mentally handicapped adults. This is in no way a global hate remark- but it is unquestionably a truth that many severely mentally ill people are completely unpredictable in their behaviors, especially in public or when facing new stimulii. It is just the way it is.
I would have immediately called the police, and NOT because I believe anything should have happened to the fellow. But because the family members who know that he is especially unstable/ sensitive/ unpredictable in large groups need to learn more about choices. Should he be shuttered away in the dark? Um… no and I am in no way advocating that he and his family should never go out, or be in areas where there are large groups. But a lot of prep needs to occur if you KNOW someone is likely to react a certain way.
Trained professionals- who I pray that family already is working with- could best guide them in preparing their family member for a big day out with lots of other people.
Now, to you. You will be upset for longer than you think you will right this moment. Talk about your upset. You may be angry. Irrational. Deeply unnerved around strangers, especially those who move fast or yell.
Or, almost as bad, he runs across someone bigger, stronger, meaner and without any compunction about beating the absolute snot out of him. That isn’t going to do anyone any good either.
I’m for the tell the cops plan of action; for all we know, the caregiver is full of shit, and this guy does this kind of thing all the time, and he needs a different caregiver and different care.
The posts in this thread actually are doing a good job of convincing me to rethink my position re: the APA’s redesignation of mental retardation.
The OP said the individual appeared mentally disabled. I encounter people all of the time who appear mentally and emotionally impared. Relatively few of them are mentally retarded. In fact, of the mentally retarded people I deal with on a regular basis, very few of them “appear” any different than the vast majority of non-retarded folk.
Hell, many if not most mental/emotional impairments have little to do with intelligence - so I don’t know why you would bring Einstein into the discussion. I guess we can agree the OP was not jumped by Albert Einstein, since he’s been dead for some time.
Is it silly for me to expect folk here on the Dope to have any interest in defining and using words with any care and precision?
Minor nitpick. The OP states that she was going to see Ironman 3. Her assailant could very well have been there to see Veggie Tales. Unless I missed a data point somewhere.
Well, yes, because calling the cops on the thug would be because you have no idea if the situation is under control. You have a pretty good indicate that the mentally ill guy is under control and that the problem has been dealt with. Calling the cops is something you do as a last resort, something you do when nothing else works.
Also, the guy has given us no reason to think he is a thug. A thug is a morally degenerate person. This guy almost certainly is not. This is the type of dehumanization I hate seeing being used about the mentally ill. I note that no one in this thread is treating him like a person, but like he’s some sort of violent animal who needs animal control called on him.
No one was seriously hurt. You do not proactively try to punish someone, especially when they are likely not in full control of their actions.
This whole thread makes me want to go take a shower to rinse off the filth.
I do not think that word means what you think it means. The OP was attacked. Punishing her attacker for that is not proactive.
I think the OP should have called the cops. Certainly, it’s possible that this was the one and only time this person has ever attacked anyone. It’s more likely that it’s not. If he does have a history, the cops would know about it, and if he doesn’t, it’s a good time to have social services intervene.
You can’t let someone–mentally competent or not–be a danger to random strangers.
No, you are correct. On re-read, it all happened in the movie theaters lobby, not in the theatre itself. The guy could have very well been there for something more appropriate.
Not true. He’s being referred to in the same way we refer to infants and toddlers (who are also people unable to fully communicate or control their actions). And that’s because he has shown, though his behavior, that he IS in fact unpredictably violent, which is something that needs to be taken into account when future outings are planned.
Nobody was seriously hurt THIS TIME. However, this guy has shown that he isn’t capable of controlling himself, and his caretakers also apparently can’t control him, and THAT’S why the cops should have been called. The situation is unacceptable. Maybe he can’t be taken out into crowds at all, maybe he needs more supervision in crowds. But this incident does need to be documented and the caretakers put on notice that they need to be more careful about taking him out, and supervising him when he’s out.
Mental illness isn’t and shouldn’t be a Get Out of Jail Free card. Just because someone might be mentally ill doesn’t mean they can’t control their actions, nor does it mean you can’t be a thug.
I mean, by that logic, they shouldn’t have called the police when Andrea Yates drowned her kids, since she was suffering from post-partem psychosis.
If anything “demanizes” the mentally ill, it’s this patronizing, pittying, “oh, the poor dear, he didn’t know any better” attitude.
You’re equating a slap or punch with child murder? Maybe you fall on the side of “let’s execute the mentally disabled, because, why not?” If you are, you can rest assured that you will never, ever be “demanized” for thinking so, mostly because that isn’t a word.
It was hyperbole to make a point. Read it again. :dubious:
I said by BigT’s logic, it seems that being mentally ill means you’re absolved of all responsibility. Which is bullshit. I suffer from OCD, and if I attacked someone, I don’t think I should be excused on that basis.