Going near a mentally ill person is scary, imagine yourself sleeping, eating or living with them for days.... must be a nightmare huh? well, I did and I survived. In fact, at a time, I was mistaken as one of the inmates. The guy who visited the mental center got scared when I went near him.
staying with the mental patients is also an adventure, though I was just forced to stay to watch a close kin. I was nearly attacked by one of them, They pee in their beds, shout almost the whole time til dawn. The first time I step inside the cell is not pleasant at all, its depressing, its almost similar entering a prison, windows are made of iron so as the door which is locked at 7 PM,until 6:00 AM, most patients are tied to their beds. Nobody under 15 is allowed. The cell where I stayed is like a halfway house where patients were treated for a week. After which, if their condition is not improving they were recommended to move to another building for further treatment that would last for months. Once you have pass the certain period and could recover, the management could now give you a certain period for observation, by this time you will be given responsibility like cleaning and is scheduled for release.
The brief encounter with them is not all scary but moving, when you began to interact with them knowing their stories, you would feel more sympathy to these people who were just unfortunate. It just that they run out of luck, and it happened to them, Once you began understanding their situation you start to pity them, they are individuals who needs more understanding and care and not as object of ridicule, to be hated or be feared of, or treated like having a contagious diseases.
In the past having this illness is the end of the line, like being dead but that was in the past, the illness is curable, all they need is an environment of love and care especially with their love ones... as the saying goes, Love conquers all...
