Man Brandishing Sword Taken Down by Police in Downtown Vancouver

Dear Diary,
no... He IS one of us.

I will own upto my responsibility. This act is the result of the 5 Vices, which I, being a human have as well. I admit that I have been under their control for all my life. I will do something about my own before I criticize another for being controlled by them. (pause)

 
Do share your immediate thoughts or reactions on this issue? We value your views! Login Now! or Sign Up Today! to share your views with us.. Gurfateh!

__________________
The intellect of the mind is like a drunken elephant. Whatever one utters is totally false, the most false of the false. - Guru Nanak, 351

although, yes, he IS one of us, I think you are incorrect here BhagatSinghji, you , like me, may be under the control of the 5 vices, but we also have free will with which we can decide exactly decide what we want to do or not.,

If this sikh turns out to be needing psychiatric help, then I am afraid it is likely that there is no question of gurmukh or manmukh, merely someone who is ill,

Harry ji,
The 5 vices are like a filter (as well as auto-pilot as I mention in the other thread) through which you receive and interpret information from the world. Your "free will" is dependent on the information you receive and how you interpret it. The five-vices guide your free will. i have no doubt he pulled out his sabre under free will.

Humans are programmed by Evolution through natural selection to function through the 5 Vices. This mechanism is 100,000 years old, and today we have the tools to wipe ourselves off the planet, along with most other forms of life...

I really agree with your statement Harry Haller ji. And I hope he gets the help he needs sooner rather than later. Unfortunately once an individual is apprehended by police for acting in a frankly psychotic way, a "danger to self and others," it is unlikely this will happen.

Someone, an advocate, will need to step in and have him released on the promise of supervised psychiatric care.

It is more likely that he will linger in jail for a few months, or in a state hospital, in restraints, over-medicated, misdiagnosed, unbathed, in his own filth, unable to communicate with family, even in a situation where authorities will not divulge his whereabouts. I will not continue the list because it is more information that most want. This is the likely outcome ....and I speak from professional knowledge on this point. Not telling scary stories about the mentally ill.

This is the price paid when early symptoms of psychosis are ignored and treatment for the first onset is delayed, sometimes for years. The clinical record indicates that for most these emerge in mid to late adolescence. Lotta stories out there like this. He is one of those stories and he is a Sikh.

I believe psychiatric cases are handled more humanely in Canada. At least I hope they are.

Whether or not, you are right. Ignoring or denying the early stages of mental illness is dangerous to everyone. Unfortunately, in some ways, we are a backward community and even getting counselling - much less psychiatric care - carries a stigma. I know when I was struggling through full-blown PTSD after 1984, part of the reason I left the sangat was because I knew I was "goofy" and I didn't feel up to battling those prejudices. (It is a myth BTW, that a "mentally ill" person has no idea they are sick. So know, some don't. I knew.) To this day, I occasionally get the beginning of flashbacks; fortunately, I have tools to handle that with and it never gets beyond that vague feeling of unreality.

My eldest brother is a psychiatrist (retired) and he has for long said that the biggest problem a Sikh with psychological problem has to overcome is - other Sikhs. Our lack of compassion is sad and tragic.

Again, as a community, we need to grow up. Mental illness needs to be treated as an illness, not as an individual volitionally misbehaving. An incident like this shows that our present attitude cuts the whole community. He needs help not only for his own sake, but for all of ours, as well.

Mai ji

Thanks for finishing my thoughts. When you say it, most will accept it more readily than they would if i say it.

Apprehended as he was, he will be viewed first as a felon, and then as a felon with a serious mental disturbance. Not as human being with a serious problem who made a mistake. I do hope Canada is more humane.

The truth is the truth, no matter who says it.

Didn't you know, Canadians are "nice"? It seems, however, many Canadians are fed up with Sikhs. (That is a topic to take up some time. Why, and is there any justification. That belongs in another thread, though.) I hope Canada's disenchantment with its Sikh population doesn't harm this poor soul who, as you say, needs compassion and help, not a jail cell.