Allow me to introduce myself. I have lurked these boards since I was 18. I am now 25, have graduated college, and fortunately have landed a fulltime job.
I work in a max security mental hospital; complete with all the trappings: razor wire etc.
This job has been one of the most eye opening experiences of my life. I have pondered about posting this for quite sometime. After tonight, I deemed it worthy. I was sent to the emergency room and then home after being choked with a pay-phone cable and straining all the muscles in my left arm.
To clarify my position there: I am a security aide. This means that I protect the nurses, doctors, social workers and whoever else that is on the ward that may not be trained to protect themselves from these type of inmates/clients/patients.
I have seen some really crazy things. I work w/ serial killers and anything else you can imagine. I love my job and plan to pursue a career as a psychiatric nurse…as my history degree is worthless.
So, any quesions? If not, I will not be offended. So if ya got 'em, fire away.
By the way, it is about time I became an SDMB member!
What kind of training do you have? Are you employed by an outside security agency, or by the hospital itself? Do you get creeped out talking to some of the patients? Do you get angry at them even though you know they’re not in their right mind? What led up to the incident where you got choked tonight?
I am not trained by an outside security agency. I am trained by the hospital. Some of the patients are creepy, due to the way they carry themselves I am a supervisor at this point and am at the point where I feel I have almost seen it all…so in retrospect, not really anyone freaks me out anymore. The last time I can remember being really disturbed was when a patient told me he stabbed his mother and brother and did not feel a thing. Then he went on to explain how he would eventually shank me in the face and eat my brains while still living. I will never forget that. He did eventually get to me, but not in the way he described. He made a shank out of paper he had rolled over and over again and stabbed me in the arm.
In the incident tonight a patient was told he would not see his family because he received a physical. This means he violently attacked another client or staff. He proceeded to rip the phone off the wall. During the course of the take-down he managed to wrap the cord around my neck, choking me and severly scaring my co-workers. Everything worked out, even though I did have to go to the emergency room.
I strained all the muscles in my arm because when we fell to the ground he fell directly on my arm, which at the time I had flexed in an attempt to stay on our feet. It strained my muscles because my arm was bent nearly backwards. Seriously though, all in a days work. This is considered a very mild injury.
Is it true that you really can’t be committed like in the old days, where your stay is indefinite? I’ve heard that from experience, yet I don’t really desire to know if it’s true first hand. Perhaps you’ll be able to tell me.
Thanks for starting this and the work you do. By those of us who have been there, we certainly appreciate employees that love their job and want to help.
This question is very easy to answer: Once you have been committed to the care of the Departmen of Mental Health your stay is INDEFINITE. We have people who have been in our care for over 15+ years simply because of possession of paraphenalia. Many of our patients would prefer prison, since there is an outdate. When it comes to he DMH (Dept of Mental Health), there is no outdate. The doctors, the social workers, and the judges must deem you necessary or removal from our system. For me, even, it is a very frustrating dilemna.
For example, to be considered for a transfer you must go six months aggression free. Imagine how hard that is. You deal with the same people day after day in what is all honesty a non-therapeutic env. So someone who has a simple assault charge is in there with someone who has raped their own children. They cannot take this and will attack them based on their perceived “principles.” In the Department of Mental Health - there is no release date.
BTW. Thank you for the accolades. It is nice to know that what we as security aides go through does help and is recognized by those on the “outside.” Again, thank you. We do not get that at work much.
I appreciate your answer. And as someone who has been on both sides of the fence, I really am grateful for the sort of work you do. When I’ve been hospitalized, it’s been extremely frightening to see some of the more violent outbursts that can sometimes happen and it is indeed a blessed thing to have competent security nearby and taking care of the situation. It allows us to deal with the real problems that got us there versus being afraid of an unhappy patient down the hall.
I will not bullshit here. When I was in college I checked myself into a hospital. I felt that if someone did not intervene to stop my drug use or self destructive behavior I would kill myself. So, in a way, I feel as if I can understand both sides of the spectrum. Anyways, I am glad you made it to the side w/ access to internet, or we both know your questions would not have been answered.
Are the patients as random and “crazy” as they are portrayed in the movies?
Do you think that there are patients being held there who shouldn’t be there?
In other words, are there people in mental hospitals who are mentally sound?
When I think of situations wherein I would lose my mind, that is–perhaps oddly–one of them. Like if I was committed to a mental institution against my will, I wonder how long I would believe in my own sanity.
How is it different from a prison? (besides the aforementioned release date vs. no release date)
It is quite different from a prison. Patients are only locked in their room at night; this doesn’t happen on all wards, only on mine. We have patients who are incompetent to stand trial, so they get locked in. There is only one patient per room. The rooms are about the size of a prison cell with a door rather than the old school jail bars.
If someone attacks another client or staff they are usually put into a seclusion room with a camera. Someone must sit outside the room and observe them to make sure they do not start hurting theirself.
If seclusion isn’t an option due to the violence of the patient they are 4-pointed. They restrained to a bed by four leather straps and someone must sit in the doorway and observe them. They are let out once they are calm.
Befriending a patient is a big no-no. To be honest, however, there are patients who I respect and in a weird way consider friends; I spend more time with them than I do my girlfriend or family. To be in this place you almost have to have committed a crime. On my ward alone we have patients that are in there for a variety of charges from murder, rape, to writing bad checks. There are probably two patients who I would “hang out” with if they were on the outside on my ward.
Do you also protect the inmates from the staff? I’m only being 73% snarky here: I’ve been held involuntarily in a psych bin a couple times in my life and there was a definite need for that (and no one doing it) but never a max security cage by any stretch of the imagination. I’m thinking such institutions are a lot more formal and that perhaps that actually is among your responsibilities for all I know?
Is the personal safety of all people present something that you are charged with protecting (from unprovoked assault, etc)?
Also: do you protect inmates from other inmates as need be?
Are you afraid of the patients/inmates? I think I’d be in fear during my entire shift if I had a job like that…but I’m a 5’6" 115lb woman so maybe that makes a difference.
Also do the inmates ever make inappropriate comments to you and if so how do you deal with that? I have a friend (male) who once toured a maximum security prison and he described very aggressive taunts from the male inmates that were mostly sexual in nature (and very graphic). He said that even though he knew he was physically safe, he still felt uncomfortable and couldn’t wait to get out of there.
ETA: Just to clarify: when my friend toured the prison, the inmates were locked in their cells, so he was never at risk of a physical attack. He also said that every inmate had a mirror that they held out to see who was coming down the hall. Not sure why that creeps me out.
This is going to sound silly, but is the seclusion room actually padded? What is in the room with them? Are they allowed to wear normal clothing inside? I’ve heard horror stories about people put on suicide watch and forced to wear; special tear proof clothing, paper clothing, blankets, or even being deprived of any clothing at all so they “had nothing to hurt themselves with.”