bitterdiva

Tales from the Ward...

I always thought that working in a mental health facility was my dream job. Unfortunately I was very wrong. It wasn’t until a couple of months ago when I was going around blindly not aware of the dangers of this job. At first I didn’t believe many of my patients and sided with my colleagues about the strangeness and oddities of the place. Then the truth was revealed.

Many patients in this facility have some severe mental disorders, ranging the gamut from schizophrenia, multiple identity disorder, delusional psychoses and whatnot. There are several wings of the facility along with several floors based on their problems. Typical the more rational and mild patients are housed on the lower levels. The more complicated the disorder, the high number the floor gets.

The lower levels of the building contain doctor’s offices, emergency rooms, diagnostic wings, a cafetaria, and a gift shop. The lowest level being the physical maintenance facility and the morgue. Not many individuals get the privilege and honor of visiting that level, luckily.

I’m an assistant here, never finished off my doctoral degree in psychology and psychopharmacology. I made it far enough to be an assistant; administering pharmaceuticals, and because of my size, I’m often pulled to help secure a patient to their bed when they enter a psychotic stage of their disorder. It can definitely become a health hazard when the patient starts scratching and kicking you, some even develop superhuman strength. I’ve seen some petite individuals take over a 6’5” 350lb 25 year old male.

12:51 PM

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Posted by: Doug Kenline at July 2, 2002 10:04 PM

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