(October 4, 2023) By Meghan Caughey
On June 23, 2023, in San Antonio, Texas, a 46-year-old woman was having a mental health crisis. She had the psychiatric diagnosis of schizophrenia.
It was the middle of the night, and she was scared that the FBI was spying on her through the apartment fire alarm system. When she cut the wire to the fire alarm, the police were called.
She was outside walking her dog when they arrived, and when they tried to get her into their police car, she got scared and ran and locked herself in her apartment. Three police tried to get into her apartment, and one officer tore the screen off her window and shouted at her, “You’re gonna get shot!”. Melissa held a hammer in her hand, but she was not a threat to anyone since she was behind a locked glass door. Nevertheless, three officers fired their guns at her through the locked door. Even though she was not a threat to anyone, she was hit with multiple rounds from their guns and was killed.
The officers there at no time tried to use de-escalation techniques and did not call for trained mental health support.
I am telling you this sad story because I also have the diagnosis of schizophrenia, and I realize that some similar tragedy could happen to me or my peers who also struggle with serious mental illness. I moved to Texas last year from Portland, Oregon. In Portland, I helped with the Crisis Intervention Training for the Portland Police. I am an artist, and I would show the officers slides of my drawings and paintings because seeing them made it easier for the officers to understand what the experience of being in psychosis is like. (www.meghancaughey.com) .
I have become very frustrated and discouraged because, despite repeated efforts, I received no response to my offers to contribute to training the San Antonio Police. I am aware of how hard it must be for a police officer, and I have firsthand experience of times when I have personally witnessed them act with respect and kindness. But there seems to still be a problem in our culture, with prejudice towards mental illness, which held the awful, violent response that led to Melissa’s death.
So, I finally turned to making art to express the tragedy of the death of Melissa Perez. I hope my painting will help honor her life and bring about awareness and reform. My painting shows Melissa walking her dog and her golden spirit rising toward heaven as she left this world.
And guns and bullets are filling the air. There is a lot of the color cadmium red in my painting, and yes, it is blood, but also it symbolizes the life force.
I believe that Mellissa is in a better place now. She is free. But her four children and family grieve.
May we who are still living honor her memory by making her life count in the practice of kindness, empathy, and love, especially in the face of mental illness.
Learn more about Meghan Caughey’s work at her website: https://meghancaughey.com/
Altered States of the Arts (Psychiatric Survivors) 