After a neighbor called 911 on her, Melissa Perez explained to two responding police officers that she had cut the fire alarm wires to her southwest San Antonio apartment building because the FBI was using the system to spy on her. The cops asked her to walk over to their patrol cars, but instead she hurried back into her first-floor apartment and locked the door. “Hey, lady, get over here,” one of them yelled. The 46-year-old grandmother, who, it later emerged, had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, was exhibiting telltale symptoms of the disorder. Someone undergoing a schizophrenic crisis often can’t distinguish between reality and what they’re imagining. Mental health professionals know to handle such cases with care, seeking to avoid further isolating or frightening the…
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