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Notice The Signs

I have no idea what this tumblr thing is, and what brought me here is quite sad and probably a reason at least a few people are here. Elisa Lam’s story, so unbelievably sad, and of course, I was curious about some of her blog posts.

Now, I haven’t figured this tumblr thing out so I don’t really understand what were her posts, or like reposts, or quotes so I’m at a loss there.

But I will say, that Elisa Lam’s story, I hope, has opened at least some peoples eyes to mental health. It’s incredibly unfortunate that it’s been and remains such a blase topic in society.

But conspiracy theories? That runs rapid. And I get it, a lot of these ideas come from somewhere, and I think we, as curious people, truly believe that there are conspiracies and almost desperately want to prove that at least one is true. Thus being able to point and say, HA! I told you! So if this is true, it means that this other thing can be true, and potentially opens the floodgates.

However, Elisa’s case was not a conspiracy. When I was watching the special on Netflix, at first of course I got wrapped up in the idea of a like, haunted spooky hotel. HA! Proof! But as the story went on, and I saw her elevator clip, I said to my husband, it looks like she is having a psychotic break. I bet she didn’t take her medications or at least wasn’t taking them properly.

I was shocked when the story went, seemingly, left field on a whim of conspiracy theories, from tuberculosis, LAPD cover ups, hotel cover ups, coroner cover ups, Pablo Camilo being accused, etc etc. (By the way, that man deserves a huge apology from anyone who sent him any kind of accusatory messages, but that’s just my opinion). Of course, I was like OOOOOO this is all so interesting! The movie thing too, wow!

But again, I came back to, this girl has a mental illness. I am sure it is going to come back to that. Sadly, it did.

I cannot start to fathom what she went through that night, how scared she was, even though she was her own worst threat, she did not know this. In the past when she was spiraling, she had her family to catch her and take care of her. This time she didn’t. She was alone. No one at the hotel helped her. No one asked her if she was OK. Had the manager and workers of the hotel become so numb from all of the drama that ensued on the premises on a daily basis, that they didn’t notice this young girl in distress? Or did they not care to notice? 

“Send her to a new room so she stops causing problems for me”, feels like the attitude of this hotel. And to top it off, they took no responsibility for this. No, I am not talking about responsibility of her mental health, or the fact that she was spiraling. But they had a moment, when she was in the lobby yelling that she’s crazy, a moment in time that they could have helped her. That they could have added up the puzzle pieces, but they chose to ignore her.

This ambivalent attitude on people with mental health challenges, to ignore them, to toss them aside and make them someone else’s problem, shocks and saddens me. To this day, the attitude of people not wanting to take responsibility to care for their fellow human, to make sure we are protecting and keeping each other safe from the true horrors in this world, is...saddening. 

This could have been avoided. Elisa’s death was not an absolute that night. Maybe if someone would have asked her if she was OK, as depicted on the series, maybe she would have been OK. Maybe they could have saved her. Maybe she would have made it home safely. Maybe.

And to answer the managers question on how much she should have gotten involved in a persons life (I am paraphrasing).... when it comes to the safety of your guests and the possible mental breakdown of a young woman totally by herself? A lot more. I hope you learn from this, and I hope that if you are in the hotel industry still, that you take more heed in the future. And understand that as the manager, the leader of your team, you need to take much more responsibility of what happens in and around your hotel. No, this is not your fault. But, your empathy for her in a brief moment of time, may have helped her in some way.

So, let’s try to be kind and understanding of people, and I hope that if something is taken out of this tragic event, it is that people need more caring. Help. Love. Empathy and understanding. Mental illness does not make someone weak, but it can make them vulnerable and susceptible to dangerous circumstances, so watch out for your fellow man. Learn and notice the signs, reach out and get them help. You may save their life.

Best,

A

#elisalam #mental illness