Following the decapitation of a four-year-old girl in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) last month, the media went into overdrive with image-rich saturation coverage, including publishing a picture of the knife used in the attack, and lengthy and detailed articles on the crime. It is exactly the same kind of media frenzy that followed the suicide of Taiwanese comedian and actor Ni Min-jan (倪敏然) in 2005.
Research at the time said that the media’s reporting of the suicide prompted a string of copycat suicides and a significant increase in suicide attempts. Because of this, over time, the media became more restrained in its reporting of suicides.
However, after last month’s violent attack, the media covered almost nothing else for two days, while overlooking the fact that such blanket coverage could cause people with mental illnesses to try to emulate the attack.
Reacting to a strong feeling of uneasiness among Taipei residents, and faced with sliding opinion poll ratings, Taipei Mayor Ke Wen-je (柯文哲) asked borough wardens to hold activities to “find odd people in their boroughs.”
Deputy Mayor Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) blamed the suspect’s parents for not taking responsibility, and, in doing so, demonstrated a lack of empathy for parents whose children have mental illness.
Taipei Department of Health employees began making frequent telephone calls to mentally ill people under their jurisdiction, asking if they recently felt like attacking someone, which has unsettled otherwise stable patients.
A homeless man nicknamed “Wobble-wobble Man” was forcibly taken to hospital by the authorities on the day of the decapitation.
City officials have even suggested that the Ministry of Health and Welfare should consider amending the law to ease restrictions on mentally ill people receiving compulsory medical treatment and to allow the emergency services to forcibly detain people who are “wandering about aimlessly and appear to be in another world.”
These are examples of over-the-top, unprofessional responses to the decapitation that very likely impinge upon rights of mentally ill people and cause nothing but damage to their treatment. Regretfully, neither government officials nor media outlets respect professional advice.
According to Yang Tien-wei (楊添圍), director of Taipei City Hospital’s Songde Branch, compulsory treatment for mentally ill people is insufficient; it is more important to find a way for patients suffering from serious mental illnesses to voluntarily accept a long-term and stable course of treatment.
Long-term drug therapy is the only way to effectively control the symptoms of delusional paranoia or hallucinations, but patients often forget or refuse to take their medicine, which leads to a relapse. Furthermore, the families of mentally ill people are often mentally, physically and financially exhausted.
The ministry has set money aside for “home treatment” — where the patient voluntarily accepts treatment — and “compulsory community treatment.” Either a patient’s relatives or a hospital can apply for home treatment. Once approved, psychiatric medical staff make regular visits to the patient to administer treatment and provide therapy.
There is still a great deal that needs to be done in this area. Once the symptoms are brought under control, rehabilitation and treatment within the community is possible. It is hoped that the ministry and health departments of local government make the necessary reforms.
Andrew Cheng is a professor of psychiatry and a distinguished research fellow at Academia Sinica.
Translated by Edward Jones
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