Yesterday started off with the birth of a baby daughter to friends of ours. There is something so special about a new born baby, the innocence and unknown potential, all wrapped up in this tiny helpless package. Two very proud and happy parents smiled at us when we went to visit.
It ended with a visit to a new friend of mine whose life is in absolute turmoil. Yesterday he committed his wife to a mental asylum. One cannot begin to imagine the path that he has travelled over the last two years. A path that began with his wife falling off a horse and injuring her head, and ending for now with a process to lock her up for the rest of her life.
Besides being traumatic for all involved, the mental process is rather final. It starts with a trip to the police station, followed by two officers being dispatched to pick up the ‘problem’ person. A 72 hour observation period in the local government psychiatric ward ensues. If the doctors feel the complaint is warranted, they will then commit the person to the local government psychiatric institution, forever. The only person who can get her out again is the person who put her there and only through an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Imagine having to weigh up your promise to love someone through sickness and health, with the need to commit them to an institution for the rest of their lives for their own good. A kind of Morton’s Fork if you will; a choice leading to the same undesirable outcome; in that everyone is unhappy.
My heart goes out to this man and his family and to our friends and their newborn. There can be no doubt that this life we lead is incredibly fragile and tenuous, and we need all the help that we can get!
1 comment:
Oh thats absolutely heartbreaking! And what a dreadful process to have to follow!
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