It was quite funny as Sara and I walked into Target after class sporting our "authority"...because from a distance you the badge is the focus...now all I need is a weapon and a ticket book...and by the way...my bruises from last week have not totally healed...

Tonight we learned about the Crisis Intervention Team: officers who are trained to effectively address situations involving individuals with mental illness. We did an exercise where we listened to a cd for about 30 minutes that had all of these different voices laughing, yelling negative things, etc. It was to represent an individual who actually hears voices. We also tried to do other mental tasks while listening to this cd. Not easy...We had the luxury of turning the cd's off after awhile, individuals with this illness do not.

We also watched a wonderful presentation by NAMI the National Alliance on Mental Illness. This week (Oct. 5-11) is Mental Awareness Week. There are many stigmas related to individuals with mental illness. Their presentation reminded us that an individual with mental illness is no different than a person with diabetes...just that the organ their condition affects is the brain...

Next week's agenda: We get to drive the car they use for illustrating drunk driving...no we're not getting drunk...well, I don't think we are...