Man sets himself on fire at National Mall

[Reader]

People that set themselves ablaze have always puzzled me.

Me too, Elley Mae. I know I could never do that. To me, it could be ideological or psychological. The first like the Buddhists in Vietnam who were willing do die in protest for their ideal of stopping the war. The second, some poor soul who has so much pain inside that he/she is willing to suffer the ultimate pain to make it go away.

Neither cause merits our scorn.

 

[LietKynes]

Burned my elbow as a teen on a glass pan my mom had just taken out of the oven... didn't hurt much at first, felt like ice touching my arm... until it started to hurt and I yanked it away.
Hurt so bad I was awake for 2 days, used up alot of ice bags and put Sylvadine (sp?) cream on it to speed up healing and stop the pain.

Cannot imagine wanting to harm or kill myself in this way !!!
I'd send my condolences to relatives or people who cared for this man...sadly I'm feeling like there was no one who gave a CR4P for him, and maybe what led to him doing this action.

 

[Sonya610]

To me, it could be ideological or psychological.

It had to be psychological primarily. If psychological factors weren't at play he would have sent his "manifesto" to ALL the major news outlets along with video of him giving a heartful plea....and also he would have made sure to douse the ground around himself to keep "helpfuls" from helping him.

It wasn't even a full moon.

 

[Gardenlady]

I can't stop thinking about this man. Still no news on who he was/why he did it, that I can find.

 

[MissJ]

JMO but I feel bad for anyone who is suffering so much that they want to die. I care so much that I made it my life's work to try to help them.

 

[Elley Mae]

He poured gasoline over his body from a canister, and, before igniting the fuel with a lighter, gave the Capitol a crisp military salute.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...c2932e-2ddf-11e3-b139-029811dbb57f_story.html

bbm

there are some good pics here, no graphic pics.

 

[Linda7NJ]

If I purposely doused myself w/gasoline and lit a match, I would hope people would stand back and let me go. The pain and suffering must be immense for this poor man now. I know the passer'sby meant well, but this man's physical pain must be excruciating. And his future quality of life is very low, most likely. Poor soul.

The people that helped need to live with themselves. Thankfully there are still people willing to take risks to help others.








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[Linda7NJ]

There must be something wrong with me. I do not feel sorry for this fire ball.


it is natural for people to help in emergency situations and they probably thought it was. Now if this guy really did set himself on fire to die he should have selected a more private place (out of the public eye) to do it.

I bet tax payers will have to help pay for his recovery. JMO

IMO I think it's incredibly sad that someone suffering so with mental illness didn't get the help he needed, resorted to this, lost his life in a horrible way and I feel really bad for all the people that witnessed it. It's horrifying!

It says more about the attitudes towards the mentally ill than it does about this poor man.




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[MissJ]

IMO I think it's incredibly sad that someone suffering so with mental illness didn't get the help he needed, resorted to this, lost his life in a horrible way and I feel really bad for all the people that witnessed it. It's horrifying!

It says more about the attitudes towards the mentally ill than it does about this poor man.




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Yes and you might be surprised at how many people have no compassion for mentally ill persons. Or maybe you wouldn't. Some people act as if they asked for this disease or that it is a character flaw. BTW I was just jumping off your post..I know you don't feel that way.

 

[Elley Mae]

Interesting read.

‘Boarding’ mentally ill becoming epidemic in state

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2021968893_psychiatricboardingxml.html

Far more involuntarily detained patients are stuck in chaotic hospital ERs and ill-equipped medical rooms. They wait days, even months, for treatment. The practice is traumatizing thousands of mentally ill residents, wreaking havoc on hospitals, and wasting millions of taxpayer dollars.

A lack of space forced those involuntarily detained to wait for treatment 4,566 times in the past 12 months — more than double the number in 2010, according to an analysis of state, county and hospital records.

In King County, boarding quintupled between 2009 and 2012. Now nearly two of every three detained patients spend time warehoused.

bbm

 

[Linda7NJ]

They're warehoused in jails too where they receive no treatment at all.


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[LadyL]

why are people assuming this guy was mentally ill? what if this was a political protest like the monks? were the monks mentally ill too?

 

[Karmady]

why are people assuming this guy was mentally ill? what if this was a political protest like the monks? were the monks mentally ill too?

I was going to say the same thing. Some people think of life and death differently than others and don't have to be mentally ill to chose death and use that choice as an opportunity to make a political statement (or vice versa). There was a man in a foreign country that did this not too long ago making international headlines and, as I recall, no one was saying that he was mentally ill. The concensus was that he was making a political statement out of desparation. I think he was on the cover of Time maybe.

Of course it may turn out that this man was mentally ill. But I don't think it's a foregone conclusion.

 

[Linda7NJ]

why are people assuming this guy was mentally ill? what if this was a political protest like the monks? were the monks mentally ill too?

Yes. IMO



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[x_files]

Interesting read.

‘Boarding’ mentally ill becoming epidemic in state

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2021968893_psychiatricboardingxml.html

Far more involuntarily detained patients are stuck in chaotic hospital ERs and ill-equipped medical rooms. They wait days, even months, for treatment. The practice is traumatizing thousands of mentally ill residents, wreaking havoc on hospitals, and wasting millions of taxpayer dollars.

A lack of space forced those involuntarily detained to wait for treatment 4,566 times in the past 12 months — more than double the number in 2010, according to an analysis of state, county and hospital records.

In King County, boarding quintupled between 2009 and 2012. Now nearly two of every three detained patients spend time warehoused.

bbm

I lived in Seattle and they do not keep the mentally ill housed long enough they dump them homeless back on the street and then cause havoc. It is a broken system.

 

[x_files]

why are people assuming this guy was mentally ill? what if this was a political protest like the monks? were the monks mentally ill too?

The salute makes me wonder i he was a veteran with PTSD and was making a statement. They still have no idea who he was yet? horrible way to die.

 

[Elley Mae]

They have to know who he is by now.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/nat...cle_d6048234-c8a8-5bfb-adaa-d93c427648ca.html

the sentences below are on the left with the pictures.

Police investigators examine contents of a gray Ford Explorer at the scene where a man set himself on fire on the National Mall near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Friday, Oct. 4, 2013.

A police investigator photographs a car with a New Jersey registration sticker on the windshield near the scene where man set himself on fire on the National Mall officials and witnesses said Friday, Oct. 4, 2013,

 

[looneymama]

I hope they know who it is and have notified his family already if pictures of his car are being broadcasted :/

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[kline]

Interesting read.

‘Boarding’ mentally ill becoming epidemic in state

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2021968893_psychiatricboardingxml.html

Far more involuntarily detained patients are stuck in chaotic hospital ERs and ill-equipped medical rooms. They wait days, even months, for treatment. The practice is traumatizing thousands of mentally ill residents, wreaking havoc on hospitals, and wasting millions of taxpayer dollars.

A lack of space forced those involuntarily detained to wait for treatment 4,566 times in the past 12 months — more than double the number in 2010, according to an analysis of state, county and hospital records.

In King County, boarding quintupled between 2009 and 2012. Now nearly two of every three detained patients spend time warehoused.

bbm

Ive worked as a psychiatric technician for seven years.
The Dept. of Corrections in my state has been begging for a Forensic Unit facility to house and treat mentally ill inmates for years the legislature just turned them down again saying they couldnt afford it.
My Facilty for the past 6 months or so has been having to take on scores of evaluation patients from the jails.
Our Patient/Patient assaults and Patient/Staff assaults are through the roof as of course we have the same under staffing problem weve always had and NO additional security.
They did make everyone sit through a one day ' Nonviolent Crisis Intervention' seminar .(Whoopee!)
Its only a matter of time before a patient or staff is greviously injured or killed.
And yes MANY folks still see mental illnes as a 'Character Flaw' or an inabilty to cope condition rather then a bio chemical imbalance of the brain that could happen to ANYONE regardless of societal position or character.
One cant help but wonder how big of a role that kind of ignorance, when it comes to peoples perception of the mentally ill plays into to the financial allocation to treat them on a State Legislative level

 

[Sonya610]

Interesting read.

‘Boarding’ mentally ill becoming epidemic in state

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2021968893_psychiatricboardingxml.html

Far more involuntarily detained patients are stuck in chaotic hospital ERs and ill-equipped medical rooms.

Plus countless more end up in jails and prisons. While incarcerated they are given meds but as soon as they get out (often kicked on the street and expected to go to homeless shelters) many have no hope of complying with their medications and will certainly end up back in prison. Sheesh many clearly aren't rational or mentally capable even when ON meds yet they are expected to stick to that regime without supervision?

Sadly there are not enough permanent facilities or even group homes to keep an eye on them.

It is a horrible situation for the mentally ill and for the officers that have to care for them.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...tally-ill-inmates-inside-Kentucky-prison.html