(Dec. 1, 2014) Chris walks his route through Georgetown every day, picking through the various trash cans looking for half eaten sandwiches or pizza. He picks off his finds and eats them right there to the horror of any nearby witnesses. In the nearly thirty years that I have been working with homeless people I have learned that many of the people who live on the streets can be diagnosed with various types of brain disorders that drastically impair their ability to function in modern society.
The worst part is they usually do not understand that the bizarre thoughts and suspicions they perceive are not reality. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard from mental health professionals in DC, "If he doesn’t want help and he isn’t holding a gun with his finger to the trigger there is nothing I can do."
When I talk to Chris about treatment he becomes angry, hostile and sometimes enraged, but never violent. Everything about his behavior seems dangerous but he never threatens to hit me or anyone else and so he is never considered a danger. Our hands are tied. We need tools to reach people like Chris, whose mental illness prevents them from understanding that they need help. Their lives would be so much better with treatment.
Gunther Stern
Georgetown Ministry Center
This article originally appeared in the Washington Psychiatrist.
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