The state should be protecting the mentally ill - not using the police to kill them and the prisons to torture them in as they do in Florida and so many other states and nations around the world -
Anybody can suffer an emotional crisis and at least in the so-called more "civilized" world we supposedly have systems in place to help - protect and support the most vulnerable - those going through the frightening and traumatic experience of mental illness -
Anybody can go through a temporary or long-term period of confusion - pain and disorientation - perhaps to the level of psychosis which could include auditory or visual hallucinations - There are many causes for these types of crisis - Particularly in the developed Western world stress is so common as to be an almost universal disease - Suicide is the number-one killer of the 18 - 30 age-group in both Britain and the USA - To me this suggests a cultural sickness that affects societies - not just individuals -
In other words a healthy culture - a healthy socially-integrated life in a positive environment would not produce runaway suicide figures - let alone the other types of crime and distress that result from the dehumanization of our daily lives in the name of progress - modernity - security - money and material goods -
In these highly stressed conditions it is hardly surprising that so many people reach crisis-point - particularly with so many financial worries - austerity - lack of opportunity - bad-diet - vast social pressure to conform to somebody-s idea of a standard - all these and many other factors contribute to emotional crisis and when it comes it can often be a public incident - a public outburst - and this is where the police all too often get involved with tragically fatal results due to over-reaction to people who are not a genuine threat in many cases -
Having been writing about and campaigning on this issue for many years it is still deeply distressing to discover the extent to which people are dying when police intervene in what is commonly termed a mental-health crisis - All too often the police use over-kill tactics - particularly if the "suspect" or "patient" has picked up any kind of weapon - no matter how ineffective it might be - the police frequently shoot first - whether with taser or gun - and ask the questions afterwards -
My correspondence with the British Government over the issue of taser goes back to 2010 - Just recently the MP for North Norfolk stated that the UN regard taser-usage as potential torture - This is the first time I have heard of an MP making such a statement so it is very encouraging that someone in his position is listening to the UN - After all - we did draft the treaty against torture in the 80s so surely our nation should live up to the spirit and meaning of the convention -
With my own MP refusing to talk to me on this issue - despite a filmed promise to do so! - and the Chief Constable for Cornwall and Devon Police also failing to deliver a promised response on this issue - it is hard to have much faith in the credibility of the British democracy -
Help with depression - suicidal feelings and other problems: The Samaitans
the luminous nature of mind - how consciousness is seen in Buddhism -
Anybody can go through a temporary or long-term period of confusion - pain and disorientation - perhaps to the level of psychosis which could include auditory or visual hallucinations - There are many causes for these types of crisis - Particularly in the developed Western world stress is so common as to be an almost universal disease - Suicide is the number-one killer of the 18 - 30 age-group in both Britain and the USA - To me this suggests a cultural sickness that affects societies - not just individuals -
In other words a healthy culture - a healthy socially-integrated life in a positive environment would not produce runaway suicide figures - let alone the other types of crime and distress that result from the dehumanization of our daily lives in the name of progress - modernity - security - money and material goods -
In these highly stressed conditions it is hardly surprising that so many people reach crisis-point - particularly with so many financial worries - austerity - lack of opportunity - bad-diet - vast social pressure to conform to somebody-s idea of a standard - all these and many other factors contribute to emotional crisis and when it comes it can often be a public incident - a public outburst - and this is where the police all too often get involved with tragically fatal results due to over-reaction to people who are not a genuine threat in many cases -
Having been writing about and campaigning on this issue for many years it is still deeply distressing to discover the extent to which people are dying when police intervene in what is commonly termed a mental-health crisis - All too often the police use over-kill tactics - particularly if the "suspect" or "patient" has picked up any kind of weapon - no matter how ineffective it might be - the police frequently shoot first - whether with taser or gun - and ask the questions afterwards -
My correspondence with the British Government over the issue of taser goes back to 2010 - Just recently the MP for North Norfolk stated that the UN regard taser-usage as potential torture - This is the first time I have heard of an MP making such a statement so it is very encouraging that someone in his position is listening to the UN - After all - we did draft the treaty against torture in the 80s so surely our nation should live up to the spirit and meaning of the convention -
With my own MP refusing to talk to me on this issue - despite a filmed promise to do so! - and the Chief Constable for Cornwall and Devon Police also failing to deliver a promised response on this issue - it is hard to have much faith in the credibility of the British democracy -
Help with depression - suicidal feelings and other problems: The Samaitans
the luminous nature of mind - how consciousness is seen in Buddhism -
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