In Chiang Mai last month I saw a small person kneeling with its bowed head in its hands.

This was on a grass median along the canal in a busy area.

It wasn't moving.

 

I went over and asked if it was allright.

No response.

 

I asked again and it raised its head and looked at me but said nothing.

 

It was a young woman, with green facepaint on.

She seemed Caucasian but may not have been.

 

I didn't know what further I could do as I had found out she was alive, not responding verbally, and could move and it was seemingly a mental health issue and not a medical issue.

So I walked on.

 

Is there any group/agency that can be called in that situation that can help and not possibly make her situation worse?

E.g., if she was coming off a bad acid trip and had drugs in her pockets her life would get worse.

 

Any volunteer group not involved with "law enforcement" who can help with this situation?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, you could try calling the medical emergency number 1669. Mental health issues are a type of health issue.

 

But I think usually it is the police who deal with this sort of thing and they are not (usually) at all bad at it, in fact they seem to have the most up to date info on which psych hospitals have beds available and so on.

 

Another consideration is that there would be a need to examine her pockets etc to try and find some ID so that family or (if foreigner) Embassy could be notified and that is a task for the police or ER staff.

"Mental health issues are a type of health issue".

 

Yes, I agree completely  and almost amended that sentence before hitting "Submit Reply" when I reread it.

 

But a better way to phrase it didn't instantly come to mind.

 

Physical illness vs mental illness?

But the brain/nervous system is physical also.

 

I think I should've spent  more time seeing if I could communicate with her and get a response.