Arizona Shopper Regrets Destroying Face Mask Display in Target Store, Seeks Help
Arizona woman Melissa Rein Lively has recorded herself destroying a mask display in a Target store early July. Now, she regrets her actions and is in treatment for mental illness.
Lively posted the video on social media, where she can be seen pulling face masks off a display rack at a Target store in Scottsdale, Arizona. She can also be heard saying expletive-filled rants. After the "face mask meltdown," people online called her "Arizona Karen," said a Market Watch report.
In a USA Today report, she said when she came home from Target, her husband called the police and had to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Since then, her husband had filed for divorce and lost all of her clients in her public relations firm.
"I think mental illness has been really something that has not been addressed as a result of this pandemic," she said.
She noted that what happened to her was "scary," and it "changed [her] life forever." She added that she felt as if she had no control over her actions.
Lively had to stay in a mental health facility for over a week. She said her meltdown was a result of a "manic bipolar disorder" brought on by stress.
She knew that her actions were "unbelievably inappropriate," and even called the woman in the video "classless." It was not how she conducts herself professionally and personally, claiming that her actions were "completely out of character."
Since her video spread across the internet, Lively had received death threats, said an Insider report.
Encouraging Others to Seek Help
According to her, she will be going to a treatment program next week. She wanted others who are struggling to "know they are not alone in facing mental illness."
She said she is hoping to regain her reputation for the sake of her PR firm as well.
However, she knew that it was going to take a long time to regain trust from clients and get her career back on track.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has online resources for mental health care in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, as seen on their website.
The center said stress could lead to worse health problems and mental health problems as some people will go through changes in sleep and eating patterns.
The CDC also said public health measures like social distancing could make people "feel isolated and lonely," which can lead to more stress and anxiety. But it noted that the actions are needed to reduce the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Not the First Time
The Target incident was not the first time there have been concerns about Lively's behavior.
The Arizona Republic first reported that some of Lively's social media postings, she had used the N-word. Lively, who is CEO and founder of a public relations firm, also posted a photo in late June wearing a burqa and said, "Fine. I give up. I'll wear the damn mask."
Adrienne Bryant, who hosted a Black economic forum and had Lively as an organizer, said she was sad the woman was "enduring from a mental health standpoint." But, as she reassessed her interactions with the woman, she tried to see what behavior was caused by mental illness and which behavior reflected her true self.
"I don't want to discount mental health," Bryant said. "But mental health is not her escape of who she is as a conscious being."
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