Mother Se’May Sayer: The ARC of Time
Season 3:
Episode 6: Why Change the Code?
Prologue:
(It has been allowed to linger far too long. This belief that chains, iron chains, are the way to prevent unruly people from harming mentally adjusted people. By mentally adjusted Mother Sayer means that this category is what she falls under as well. Mentally aware that it is in our own ‘self’ interest to corral our thoughts to be under ‘order’. Now Mother Sayer has some history of mental illness in the family. We know her Mother suffered from a lack of self-control. The control that must happen in order to align the family to goals and meeting the family purpose. The family must do more than survive or exist. The family must thrive.
Now in order for the family to thrive; everyone in the family must be known. The behaviors of everyone in the family has to be known to all members of the family. When this dynamic is achieved; the family can thrive and prosper. That said, Mother Sayer knows that when one or more members of the family is acting in ways that says the family member is unable to meet the behavioral requirements; the family must act to address the problem the family member is having.
Mother Sayer has tasked her medical department to fully come at this dilemma concerning the ‘Black Sheep’ of healthcare. Mental health. Yes mental health has been defined by uninformed, flawed and undedicated people. Mother Sayer is bound by her experience to come at the discrepancies in the treatment of mental disorders with an open mind. Mother Sayer will lay all her ‘cards on the table’ to let anyone examine them as a ‘winning’ hand or ‘losing’ hand in the treatment of mental disorders. If you are unable to restrain your shock or disgust, so be it. Mother Sayer says she must entertain all treatment procedures.).
——————————Sensory readjustments————————–
(Mother Sayer walks into the medical department on the second floor and immediately she hears screams and yelling, but she hears it like in hushed or muffled volumes and tones. Mother Sayer catches herself because it caught her senses off guard. ‘Nice’ she says to herself. Even you can’t stand when people yell and scream for no good reason. She actually laughs. Her Father taught her that if she yells or screams again ‘He would give her something to scream about’. Black people?).
Mother Sayer: Manesh? What is going on? I heard hollering and screaming as I walked onto the department.
Manesh: (Pronounced: ‘Man – ness’). We’re testing some responses to auditory disruptions that are commonplace in a behavioral facility. At what point do we intervene if the ‘noise’ level lingers to the point that other patients are disturbed enough to want to make it stop.
Mother Sayer: Okay. How long before you have to act to make it quieter again?
Manesh: We’ve concluded that we have to jump in almost immediately in order to keep other patients from being triggered to do something about the noise themselves.
Mother Sayer: So. The voice sensor technology. How has it performed?
Manesh: In terms of enclosed spaces? It stills produces a slight ‘popping’ in the eardrums akin to water draining from the ears.
Mother Sayer: That’s something I can live with. Improve on it if you can. Keep working on the other items. Tell me more about them?
Manesh: We’ve really found quite a bit of progress in the visual items under development. The ‘Dark Eye’ platform is really good. It is made into a head covering. Slimmed down with a cover for the eyes built in. It has a slot cut in where it continues down over the face and it is secured with a buckle less strap under the chin.
Mother Sayer: What does it prevent the patient from doing or does it have many applications?
Manesh: You are as perceptive as I was told. It starts with reducing sight stimulus. It ramps up with vertigo features that keeps a person from moving around if the patient is told to stay in one place.
Mother Sayer: Good. Restricting movement is what I like to hear. What else?
Manesh: Now the ‘Dark Eye’ has an ear feature. If the patient needs to be ‘sound’ restrained the ear feature has a vibration and an audio compliance setting. The vibration can go all the way up to an intensity that’s sort of like wanting to scratch your ears really bad to stop the sensation. The sound feature can be deployed to ‘ear blind’ a person in order for staff to subdue the person.
Mother Sayer: Moving right along.
Manesh: Yes. We’ve made some improvements to the ‘straight jacket’ model. We call it the ‘Black Belt’. It is simply a belt that can be slipped on. The belt has a self-locking mechanism. The hand gloves are designed to keep the hands and the arms at a patient’s side. There is an optional extension that can actually be adjusted to the contour of the body if the patient is in a seated position.
Mother Sayer: Okay. Before you continue. What can you do about the noise level on the ‘unit’ itself?
Manesh: Oh. Good you asked that. That is actually easy. We just integrated it into the sound system. You know how we all can raise or lower the volume of our favorite music?
Mother Sayer: (Mother Sayer nods like Brother come on. Just say it.). Yes.
Manesh: It’s like sucking soup off a spoon. It doesn’t disrupt voice communications over designated channels.
Mother Sayer: Right. Like a commander giving orders to a pilot flying at 20 thousand feet painting a target not worried about noise. Noise unnecessary to what’s happening somewhere else.
Manesh: Right. It lets the situation that needs to be heard still be heard.
Mother Sayer: What about getting patients out of their rooms and actually participating in the treatment program? In an inpatient program?
Manesh: I believe I know where you’re going with this. Okay. There are roughly 15 hours to work with Monday thru Friday. There are possibly 12 to 13 on Saturday, Sunday and holidays. So. First we get them out of their rooms in the morning. We should not just tell them to wake up and do their ADL’s. Activities of Daily Living have to be drilled almost as regimented like the military.
Mother Sayer: Good. Of course. I like that.
Manesh: Yes. The rooms are locked at 0900. We designed the bedroom with retractable beds that stand against the wall. Nobody lays on a cold hard floor for long. Entry on the hallway bathrooms are designed where staff can readily intervene if a situation calls for it. Laundry entries are the same.
Mother Sayer: And the room door locks are digital on a backup electrical current that lasts for a couple of hours in case there’s a power outage.
Manesh: I was told you always read the reports about every project in every department in this building.
Mother Sayer: Manesh? (She looks at him with that Black folks look like, ‘Dude, really’?). My time is being wasted. Keep it moving sir.
Manesh: Yes of course. Sorry. Now the ‘Black Belt’ protocol stays on a patient after they make their first aggression towards staff or a patient. All of these responses to unacceptable behavior are addressed with the patient before the patient is admitted.
Mother Sayer: As well as you need their agreement or not.
Manesh: Right. Some patients are mandated and some are not. Everyone is told regardless.
Mother Sayer: What else you got? I know you got some more aggressive procedures you’re working on. Come on. Let’s hear them.
Manesh: Alright. Cold arms and legs garments. We’ve researched the potential of cold temperature based compliance methods.
Mother Sayer: Okay. Do they work?
Manesh: Yes Mother. They work. They can be considered to be cruel you know.
Mother Sayer: No they’re not. The military trains with ‘temperature’ torture all the time. The data showed that the organs most affected by cold temperatures are the brain, the torso and the groin. The arms and legs can be easily monitored for pain and distress compliance.
Manesh: Okay.
Mother Sayer: Listen to me Manesh. We are studying these methods so that our society can be relieved of some of this destructive behavior by people suffering from mental disorders. To be frank. These are non-lethal methods. None of them do permanent harm to a patient.
Manesh: If you say so.
Mother Sayer: Look. If you are uncomfortable working or leading this department let me know right now.
Manesh: No. I don’t have a problem.
Mother Sayer: Good. You’re doing good work here. Remember this if you ever have any doubt or bout of moral uncertainty. Let me know. I’m responsible. Mother Sayer. I’m the one always accountable to everyone and for everything that happens in this building. That’s how you change the ‘code’ on what needs to happen in mental health.
Epilogue:
( Everything has to come back to the patient understanding that their behavior has to come under some level of decency and order. I get it Mother says. But. There still has to be compliance like you know you’re still a human being. Mother Sayer knows that nobody will tolerate behavior from another human being that brings harm to them or the ones they care about. There cannot be a class of people that are excused from the normal decent acts expected of human beings. Something has to be done to help them get the message.
Now every technique Mother Sayer has tasked her team with developing are non-lethal. Mother Sayer remembers her indoctrination to military service. One of the main principles of military service is that the military also wishes for a world without violence. That’s not the world that exists. Violence exists in the world. We must live in that world. Therefore Mother Sayer knows that somebody has to do something that addresses violence in life.
Mental health is the logical place to lead that effort. Don’t let anyone tell you different. Mother Sayer recalls that truth because her life began with a heavy dose of violence. Mother Sayer thanks her Father Abelman Sayer for seeing she needed a ‘savior’.
Now she always thinks about the children. The children that she knows will never have a ‘savior’ as she did. I’m just not going to accept that ‘hurt people hurt other people’ will always linger in this life. I will do something ‘before or after’ the fact. Children or adults. Throwing my hands up in the air is not an option.
My code is locked in clearly. Mental health. She couldn’t do much about it as a child. It is certain. Mother Sayer will have her say about it now.).


