In my province it's not a rare thing to see mentally ill people roaming the streets. Often a times they've proved to be a danger to the other citizens. About two years back there has been a spate of attacks on other people,with one recorded fatality.. .the question arises what are the provisions of the Act? Who is responsible to see that they get the necessary care and management without posing a danger to the society at large?
Everybody's responsibility - citizens and relevant government agencies. A 'Yoruba' (local Nigerian language) says, " If your neighbor is eating a dangerous insect and you are indifferent, his noisy cough, dyspnea or emergency situation would not allow you to sleep at night.
Thank you Bridget,this is quite interesting. This raises the question as to where to start engaging the various stakeholders,the citizens,relevant government depts in making a difference. I like the saying, more in line with the concept of Ubuntu (Humanity), that is "we are what we are because of others"
The mental health act clearly says that the patients should be admitted to the psychiatric hospital by the police, and they needs to inform the concerned family members. So you can approach the police department to solve the issue.
I am fascinated by the cultural differences this question exposes in terms of language and conceptualisation of mental distress. Here in the UK, we reckon that 25% of the population will experience mental health problems. So as you can imagine, "they" ("we") frequently "roam the streets" and rarely are we violent!
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