The State of Mental Health/Downtown/Mon March 27/3:48 pm: This report has two victims and no suspect. Officer Beemster reports: "I was dispatched to the listed location to investigate a report of a disturbance involving one of the clinic's clients. [One] victim stated that the [other] victim has repeatedly come to the clinic and caused a disturbance. Today, the [second] victim refused to leave. The [first] victim stated that the [second] victim has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was prescribed the medication Abilify for that condition. The [first] victim stated that the [second] victim stopped taking his medication several months ago and that led to his deteriorating state.
"The [second] victim was quiet and sat motionless on a couch in the clinic. He appeared fixated on people wanting to hurt him. 'People want to hurt me,' he said, '...they do things that are kind of evil... they assault me.' He stated that this has been going on for years. 'Basically,' he added, 'I'm a little confused. Sounds weird. If you go along with them... If I go along with them... I'm going to get hurt badly. People... are taking over my mind.' The victim could not elaborate."
I will begin by pointing out that the makers of the antipsychotic drug Abilify maintain that the proper treatment of schizophrenia requires not only regular consumption of their powerful drug but also "education and psychotherapy." By the looks of this report, all that the community clinic can offer people suffering from schizophrenia and other mental disorders is one part of this treatment: drugs. If the victim needs more, if they have nowhere else to go for help, if he/she causes a "mental disturbance," then the only other option is to call the police, who, as this report makes clear, must perform a role that they are not trained to performâthat of the psychiatrist.
Crossing the Styx/Downtown/Mon March 27/4:48 pm: Officer Paouette reports: "I was dispatched to the Coleman Dock (Washington Ferry Terminal) at 819 Alaskan Way to respond to a death. Upon arrival, I was met by SFD and Medic-5. They were in the process of taking the body out of the ferry. WSP C. White relayed to me that the victim [from Grapeview, Washington] was en route to Seattle when [she was struck down by a heart attack and died as the ferry crossed the cold waters of the sound.] The victim's son-in-law was at the ferry dock waiting here to pick up his mother-in-law. The son-in-law ID'd the body. The body was then turned over to the medical examiner." In this report, which has a strong mythic pull, the city of Seattle becomes the city of the dead and the city of Bremerton becomes the city of all that there can ever be, the city of the living.
