Psychiatry

Based in Orchard Clinic, which is a medium security unit for the mentally ill. Medium security is a step down from the prison hospital where patients who are deemed a bit better but not safe enough to be left alone and needs constant monitoring. Most of them have some sort of forensic history, be it murder, assault, sexual offences or breach of peace.

The people here are quite scary. I managed to make an enemy for myself out of one of the patients, who said that the questions I asked him brought back too much memories of his past. He was trying to jump from a bridge for 3 days when the police finally managed to bring him down and I asked him what made him not jump. Apparently that question triggered his anger and he suddenly got very restless in the interview before standing up and saying that it was time for his methadone.

Not realising what was wrong, my partner and I told him that we will return later but when I returned the next day, the staff nurse told me that he had kicked a chair over and slammed down on the table the evening before.

This incident was then reported at the Clinical Team Meeting where the patient upon seeing me gestured towards me saying that I pushed too far.

-_-

Hello, my job okay. I HAVE TO ASK OK. Maybe I didn't sound to nice or whatever.

The consultant then told him that everyone is pushing at the same doors and that he has gotta learn to deal with it even when he goes out to the community in the future.

2 days later, I was in the Duty Room reading up his notes. The room is separated from the ward with a piece of glass so this patient saw me reading his notes, marched up to the door and demanded that, 'I do not want the student reading my notes!'

-_-

The nurse then took him aside and calmed him down before coming to tell me 'for goodness sakes' to go read his notes somewhere else.

-_-

Fine lor.
Jeez.

But as my flatmate tells it, these people are in there for a reason, they are mentally ill.