Starbucks Schizophrenic     March 3, 2017

I made another early morning visit to Starbucks in Denver recently. I was hoping to see one of the individuals I had met previously to have an opportunity to check on them or pray with them. Instead, I witnessed some unexpected drama.

I was sitting in my corner working on my new website when I heard a man talking loudly, so I looked up to see who it was. It was a middle-age black man sitting at the counter complaining to the staff about something. I tried to ignore it but he became increasingly louder and I could hear him accusing the store clerk of putting something insanitary in his water. He escalated and finally stood up and began shouting loudly. It was obvious that he was delusional and as he became threatening and intimidating, several men in the restaurant stood up to assist the store clerk who was calling the police on her phone.

A stout Jewish man got between the black man and the clerk and tried to calm him but the angry man knocked over a chair and became louder and more threatening. Several men stood by ready to assist and I was also ready to help. The Jewish man motioned to the door and moved towards the black man and eventually succeeded in getting him out the door, at which time the store clerk locked the door. The angry man continued shouting and banging on the door, then went to another door and tried to re-enter. He continued shouting in the parking lot until the police arrived and took the man into custody. I stood by ready to assist, but to be honest I was a little anxious. I know that this incident reawakened some fears I have had since childhood of violence. I prayed about some early memories that were reawakened during this incident and the Lord gave me peace.

This was a reminder of the mental health epidemic in our country. This man was delusional but he was also full of anger. Schizophrenia is real and psychiatrists use this to disorder to sell their medications and their belief that it is a biological disorder or brain disorder. They also lump other mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and addictions into the category of “serious mental health disorders” that can only be solved through medications. However, Harvard-trained psychiatrist Peter Breggin, M.D. and psychologist Bertram Karon, Ph.D. have both worked extensively with schizophrenics and found that it is treatable and is not a biological disorder but a disorder caused by severe childhood trauma. Research has also shown that antipsychotics can temporarily reduce the overt symptoms of schizophrenia, but when used long-term has many adverse side effects and prevents the person from experiencing healing and the medications eventually lose their ability to suppress the symptoms.

This man that I witnessed in Starbucks may have been under the influence of illegal drugs, which can lead to such delusionality and to such violent behavior. He may even have been under the influence of psychiatric medications which can also lead to such delusions and violence, or he may have simply been schizophrenic. His anger and violence, however, reveal that he had a lot of underlying anger and probably had other unresolved feelings such as grief and shame. Such individuals are very complicated but can be helped by competent therapists. They can be more effectively helped by those who understand how to help them resolve their underlying feelings of grief, anger and shame.

Individuals who withdraw from their medications too quickly can become delusional, hallucinate, and be violent so it is important for them to be gradually withdrawn under medical supervision. Those who are not placed on psychiatric medications do recover in time and we can help them by loving them and teaching them how to pray and cast all their anger, grief, and shame upon the Lord, who can set them free from their emotional bondage.