Several years ago, my child was working with vulnerable youth
in a residential facility. One of the teenagers returned to the house after
weeks of in-patient psychiatric care and when she returned, she had a huge area
of matted hair at the base of her neck. Her hair was waist length and brushing
out this huge knot was going to be a project. The house didn’t have a good comb
or any of the other things needed and there was a sense of urgency as this
young girl had to return to school the next morning.
I was called and went to CVS and purchased anything I
thought would help- several types of combs and brushes and hair ties. When I
arrived, I got straight to work and little by little worked this matted area
loose. It took several hours of steady work, but in the end, the girl had a
lovely tangle free braid and a new array of hair stuff to keep it well managed.
Two things kept running through my mind. The first was about
the focus on self-care in the world of mental illness. Whatever happened to
this girl that caused her to be admitted clearly left her unable to tend to her
hair without assistance. And nobody working at the hospital had over two undivided
hours to dedicate to getting her hair free of tangles.
The second thing that
kept running through my mind was that she was expected to go to school,
regardless of how her hair appeared. All I could think of as I drove home was if
we had not helped her, this mentally fragile child would have had to go to
school with her hair a mess- opening her up to the ridicule that too easily
flows in High School. At least she was protected from that.
My daughter recently reminded me of this story- it clearly
made an impression on her. I honestly had not thought of that young girl since
the night I helped her comb out her hair. I hope she is happy and safe in the world.
