My comments on the Bondi incident:
I find it interesting how this crime is being reported in the media-absent any accurate information about mental illness, in particular, psychosis. Just piecing together the information that has been reported, the offender was in Queensland living an "itinerant" lifestyle- meaning he was drifting from place to place, estranged from his family, then a month ago he hit Sydney. He didn't have fixed accommodation, only hiring a small storage unit he may have been sleeping in. The media are also reporting he worked as a male escort- some reports stating he was living a "double life" which I find quite ridiculous- it seems to me he was living one life and it was pretty rough going- being an escort is a way of making money when you can't work any other job and if he was experiencing mental health difficulties he likely couldn't work. This type of life lived on the margins of society or on the streets is stressful and can trigger psychosis- a condition where the person loses touch with reality. Although every psychosis is different, what is common is a tendency toward extreme interpretations. For example, if in psychosis you are experiencing paranoia, it feels like there is not one person in the world you can trust. Similarly, if your psychosis produces ideas or plans, you may be plunged into desperate action, guided by voices or intrusive thoughts- to the psychotic mind these plans feel like the correct course of action- and the person feels extreme confidence in carrying out sometimes horrific courses of action. Once a person is in this state, it is often pointless trying to reason with them.
I very much see this crime as a consequence of society and its treatment of the mentally ill. This offender was left to his own devices- probably due to his strange behaviour- he arrived in Sydney which is a tough town to master for a homeless tourist- and it seems his brain got boiling with an idea. It is important to realise that psychosis is a desperate state in response to survival stress perceived or real- a last ditch attempt by the organism to change his or her fortune in life, so it follows that behaviour in psychosis is dramatic and determined. I see this stabbing crime as a clear message: what happens when society fails to accommodate the vulnerable- sometimes they lash back in spectacular fashion.
So, the question to ask now is how many other vulnerable and mentally ill people do we have roaming the streets on the brink of psychosis? Of significant concern is the fact that vulnerable people often have difficulty engaging with government support services because of the rigidity of the bureaucracy- which is a challenge at the best of times, but often becomes overwhelming for the mentally ill- and they fall further through the cracks.
My recommendation would be for society to stop treating the mentally ill as if they are Somebody Else's Problem. Families in modern society often choose to reject the mentally ill family member which only serves to increase the vulnerability of that individual and hence the likelihood of psychosis and the associated loss of behavioural control.
So society, the ball is now in your court. If you object to displays of random violence such as that seen in the Bondi stabbing, it might be time to face up to the reality that there are many vulnerable mentally ill people in society. Add to this mix the stress caused by the cost-of-living crisis, resulting in an increase in homelessness, and you have the right conditions to trigger psychosis. So ignore us at your own risk. We are dangerous in psychosis as we have little or no control over our behaviour in that state and can become hell bent on retaliation at a society that treats us like we don't exist.
