Shawn Maxam tells a story of how his mental illness was used as a reason to treat him like a criminal instead of a human being in need.
ARCHIVED POST: Originally written August 2012
*Before we start criminalizing and dehumanizing people with mental illnesses let’s remember they often need society’s help not stigma and scorn.
My fellow GMP blogger Ozy Frantz linked to an interesting article today The Criminalization of Mental Illness in Black America.
The emphasis on locking up versus treatment, the focus on making people disappear instead of making people healthy, and the power of a white racial frame that sees black bodies as criminal and dangerous contributes to mental health disparities.
-David J. Leonard
Much of the information and perspectives shared are wholly familiar to me. Just like Delonte West I used the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel. Can you imagine telling your friends and family you have to take a drug that prevents you from having symptoms associated with psychosis? Shit, I didn’t even want to take my medication because I associated the word psychotic with serial killers and mass murders. But this is another example of where the popular media meaning of a word has little or no connection to its real medical meaning.
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I had no weapons and I didn’t realize running in America was a crime but I was a Black man running in Harlem at night so obviously I had done something wrong.
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Just like Delonte West, I had a episode with the cops while experiencing an episode. I was having a depression-induced panic attack while at a public gathering. I decided to run outside. Unfortunately, I was running in Harlem. I was immediately stopped by four police officers who pointed their guns in my face. I had no weapons and I didn’t realize running in America was a crime but I was a Black man running in Harlem at night so obviously I had done something wrong.
The officers were actually engaged in the stop and search of vehicle when they spotted me. I was quickly handcuffed with face on the ground. I was still in the throes of a full-blown panic attack. Luckily several of my friends who were with me decided to pursue me when I exited the restaurant. They quickly tried to explain to the officers what had happened. I guess the officers heard the words bipolar disorder and believed I was dangerous because they wouldn’t remove the handcuffs.
My friends eventually convinced the cops to take me to a local hospital. They pleaded with the officers to remove the handcuffs, but they said it be best I remained handcuffed for both my safety and the safety of the officers. I was writhing in pain because the handcuffs were too tight. The officers after much prodding decided to put a second pair of handcuffs on my wrist to help alleviate the pain. I sat on the concrete with tears running down my cheeks with my hands behind my back for over twenty minutes until the ambulance arrived.
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I was embarrassed because at least a dozen of my colleagues and friends were standing around me. I knew they were there out of concern for my well-being but I still felt like crap. I was their Black friend who was being arrested. Talk about fulfilling stereotypes. Two of the officers said they would accompany me to the hospital and decided to ride with me in the back of the ambulance. The paramedics asked if I was under arrest. The officers said I was not but explained the handcuffs had to remain. Luckily I had a colleague riding along with me in the ambulance since I was in lucid enough state to advocate for myself.
We finally arrived at the hospital and as we entered, every single person in the lobby stared at me. I assumed they were afraid, because who other than a criminal would need two police officers to escort them to the hospital, right? As I sat down to have my vitals taken by the nurse I was still in handcuffs. More than an hour had gone by and was being treated like I had committed a crime. The nurse asked the officers if I was under arrest and he was told I was not. He echoed the sentiments of everyone before him in wondering why was I in handcuffs then.
Finally I was taken to the psychiatric ward to see a doctor. After the heavy metal door closed behind me, the officers finally removed the handcuffs. This taught me, as a Black man suffering from mental illness, that I had to be secured at all times. That I was considered dangerous. The psychiatrists asked the officers who were still present if they were going to arrest me and they said no. He said they could leave. I guess they were not aware of doctor-patient confidentiality. I explained my story to the doctor, who corroborated it with several of my colleagues and friends who had followed me to the hospital.
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I was having a medical emergency but I was treated like a criminal. Can you imagine putting handcuffs on someone while they were experiencing a diabetic seizure or a cancer patient having a reaction to their chemotherapy treatment.
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I didn’t want to spend several days in the hospital, but my fate was in the hands of others. Yes, these were people who cared about me, but I was a grown man and didn’t like that I had to cede control to so many other individuals. Finally the doctor decided to give me a few pills to calm me down and decided to let me go. The key words there are “let me go”. The events of that night have left me traumatized.
I was having a medical emergency but I was treated like a criminal. Can you imagine putting handcuffs on someone while they were experiencing a diabetic seizure or a cancer patient having a reaction to their chemotherapy treatment. My story is similar to many people who have a mental illness and have an unfortunate run-in with law enforcement due to their symptoms manifesting themselves publicly. But when you have a history of mistrust between a whole community and the police, how am I supposed to believe the police have my best interests at heart? I was being harassed and brutalized when I didn’t have diagnosis. I am already seen as a criminal in America because of my skin color, and now that I have bipolar disorder, I am considered a dual threat. Black men are dangerous and scary. People (especially men) who have mental illnesses are dangerous and scary. So what’s a Black man with a mental illness?
Please share this with friends, enemies and temporary allies alike.
Thanks for reading, sharing and commenting!
R.I.P. SKH
Flickr image via MSVG
About S. Maxam
Shawn, I really appreciate your writing; thank you for being brave and talking about what happened to you. I live in Maine, a very white state, and I can’t remember what percentage of the people in jail and prison here are said to be mentally ill, but it is very high. The former sheriff of Cumberland County (home of the largest city in the state, Portland) is now a state representative, and mental illness is one of his primary concerns because he saw how the jail was expected to take care of people who did not belong there. But that’s where people end up because we just throw them away. I know some of this has to do with deinstitutionalization, but it mostly has to do with our society being so damn cheap when it comes to genuine human needs and not the needs of wealthy people who must have more, more, more.
I was having a psychotic episode following taking some medication that reacted badly with my body chemistry. I wasn’t dangerous, threatening harm to myself or anybody else, but I was pacing the halls of the hospital I was admitted to, and for some reason they decided that having the cops handcuff me and haul me of in a cop car was the best plan of action. It was terrifying, uncomfortable, and completely unnecessary. (I’m a young white female). The criminalization of mental illness is real. And it’s not limited to men or black people, though I’m sure the fear/prejudice is only heightened by these things.
Shawn, sorry to hear about your troubles, but I appreciate your candor. I appreciate hearing your perspective. I’ve worked as a paramedic in St. Louis, a city rich in both mental illness and racism, for nearly 20 years. My question to you is this: what’s a good solution that protects both you and me? I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been assaulted by mentally ill patients and, while I’m sympathetic to their situation, I don’t like getting beaten in the back of my ambulance. I don’ want to be a part of a system that relegates the mentally ill to the status of second class citizens, but I’m not willing to put my life on the line either. I’m sure you’ve given this topic more than a little thought. What are your ideas?
BC, perhaps the first thing to do is to teach medical staff, like yourself, some basics about mental health. Shawne is talking about having a panic attack, not a violent psychotic episode, and yet you automatically talk about violence. The first thing to do is to stop assuming that someone with mental health problems is automatically a danger.
The biggest problem seems to be the attitude police have that they must treat everyon as a danger, and this continual to mean that people with mental health problems are arrested, shot and killed every day because many cops go in feet first. More tragic deaths due to lack of gun controls as they have to assume everyone is armed.
As a person who unfortunately has to live w/someone who is suffers from bi-polar disorder, OCD, a paranoid schizophrenic, & as a healthcare professional, I know exactly where BC is coming from. I personally know exactly what BC means when they ask the question what is a safe solution for both you & me & the abuse that healthcare professionals & law enforcement receive from mentally ill unfortunately in-medicated or un-treated people. Having been abused both physically & having to deal w/constant psychotic episodes from a person who lives in my house, I can tell BC others may not want to here, but many are a danger to themselves & others even if no one has seen that danger before. The best solution is the one that is currently used WITH additional sensitivity training. Too many people who are just doing their jobs or attempting to live their lives are abused daily by the mentally ill & people on the outside looking in only see HALF of the equation!
Great read!
I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on American Horror Story: Asylum.
I was struck by many things in this article. One was this: “People (especially men)….”
Please allow me to bring up my own hobby-horse here. It’s related to the whole question of manhood, so it’s not just my own little axe to grind. I ask it as a hypothetical that can’t really be proven:
If you had been a black woman having such an episode in Harlem, would you have been in as great a danger from the police? Would you have been treated as someone as dangerous?
I’m not trying to discount the power of racism and paranoia about mental illness. I think it’s a crucial to examine the way that society treats African Americans as distinct from other people, and at the way our society views mental illness. I’m just suggesting that there’s an additional factor at work as well, which is the way that our society sees men in general as dangerous. The police and hospital reaction was not just because you were black or because you were having an episode, but also because you’re male.