Posted June 5, 2023, 7:02 p.m. by Captain Dira Myqian (Commanding Officer) (Lindsay B)
Posted by Lieutenant Achilleas Petrakos (Chief Science Officer) in Side-sim: Time well spent?
Posted by Captain Dira Myqian (Commanding Officer) in Side-sim: Time well spent?
Posted by Lieutenant Achilleas Petrakos (Chief Science Officer) in Side-sim: Time well spent?
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻(snip)
“I concede that we shouldn’t initially judge a person as bad.” Achilleas nodded in agreement but then shook his head. “How does a bad person have worth? If they did a bad thing once and then redeemed themselves that would be one thing where forgiveness should be given but in a scenario where a bad person continually does bad things that hurt others, then are they worth a thing to society?” He finished off his wine glass and reached for the bottle. He poured some into his own then offered the small amount left to Dira.
CSO Petrakos
She didn’t even bat an eye and simply held out her half-full glass for him to top-up. She was taking this glass a bit slower, but only by a little.
“Who are we to say they don’t. If each person is born with an inherent and undeniable worth simply because they exist, who are we to say they no longer have that and that they shouldn’t exist.” Dira shrugged. “If there is anything I know all too well, it is that the more you try to control people, the more it backfires. If a person potentially has the capacity to change but chooses not to, does that mean they never can? I don’t believe that. But, like I said, there are certain and very specific exceptions and they are more rare than people are often led to believe.”
Captain Myqian, CO
“What would you say these exceptions are?” Achilleas asked curiously. He took another sip of his wine after he put the bottle on the table and got comfortable.
CSO Petrakos
Dira drank from her glass, and savouring the taste which conveniently bought her some time to formulate the precise answer she needed in this moment. “There are people who, due to mental illness or brain injury are incapable of change. You can lesson the symptoms but they still have the capacity to create great harm and you can’t therapize it into submission. But it’s not something we can look at a person and judge and say, they don’t deserve to exist because there are variables in their life they can’t control. If they could control it, we’re back to the previous part of our discussion.” She spoke matter-of-factly, and it was easy to just let this be a philosophical debate.
Captain Myqian, CO
“I’m not a therapist so I can’t comment on the validity of curing mental illnesses or brain damage, but if someone showed the propensity and willingness for violence wouldn’t there be a chemical approach to prevent that?” Achilleas asked as he thought of the various chemical combinations that could do the requisite effect. “I mean medicating someone would be preferable to someone getting hurt right?”
CSO Petrakos
Dira studied her glass. “Yes, but often we don’t know about their capacity to harm until its too late. So they create harm first and after that it’s preventing more harm. You can change brain chemistry but does that do anymore than suppress those impulses? Well, I suppose it depends in what you believe.” She drank more heavily from her glass.
Captain Myqian, CO
“That is certainly an issue. I’m guess psych profiling can’t catch everything either.” Achilleas said while contemplating. “What’s the usual protocol for psycho analysis of people with mental illness or brain trauma? I think that medicating someone to suppress violent or destructive urges would be similar to doing the same for those who deal with depression or anxiety. Would you not direct someone to take medication if it improved their quality of life or prevented them from harming themselves or other?”
CSO Petrakos
Dira chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment before takin another sip “You can only do so much. At least in the Federation, we believe that a patient is a key part of the process of their own healing and mental health. You can remand someone to therapy but if they are unwilling to be there it rarely does anything useful. The same thing with medication. Just like in medicine, you can prescribe medication but compliance with the regimen is up to the patient. If they decide they don’t want to take something we can’t force them. The patient still has to consent to treatment. And even in a penal setting there are the same limitations. Unless they are remanded to a psych facility where treatment is forced upon them to a degree we are limited. And still yet, if we force treatment, do we actually improve their mental health or just induce another trauma on top of whatever else they are experiencing.”
Captain Myqian, CO
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