"He gets symptomatic over rights."
I heard it from a social worker at Elgin Mental Health Center the other day, I'll call her Cindie. A patient for whom Cindie was responsible had been complaining that several dvd's had been confiscated from him for no good reason. The patient is a straight-A, on-line college student. The confiscated dvd's were relevant to an anthropology class he was enrolled in. He even had a letter from his professor saying so.
But the bossman of the clinical unit, a nurse's aide named Alfonso, had to prove to this patient that college success counted for nothing. The staff at a state nuthouse can take away anything they want to take away, any time they want to. Patients are bugs to be squashed at Alfonso's whim!
Cindie supports this kind of squashing in the bughouse, because it's really the only way she can obtain respect for her profession and activities. Patients who go to college tend to avoid therapy groups, because they find out that their classes are infinitely more valuable than the basket weaving and navel gazing Cindie teaches. When one of these (upstart!) college kids gets out of the nuthouse, Cindie and her therapy groups might get less credit for it.
Alfonso just steps on bugs directly, and laughs. I actually have been amused in a sick sort of way, by his unflinching cruelty.
Cindie, being much weaker, has to say, "He gets symptomatic over rights."
That is just wonderfully pathetic.
Don't forget the "graphomania" and "litigiousness".
ReplyDeleteYes. Yes! Remember, they took Chloe's books away that I sent her. But, not because her reading privilege was revoked. She was only allowed access to their books!! I saw the selection at a couple of the Psych wards they imprisoned her: every one I was able to scan over (~10) had something about abuse or anger, foster families, adopted kids - these were all non fiction, leisure reading. Oh, just remembered something that made me literally nauseous back then and now: They watched movies occasionally. Chloe was upset over the phone a few times over a couple weeks about a movie they were watching and studying - it was about the Holocaust, specifically she talked to me, whispered, about the "showers." I don't recall if it was "Night" by Wiesel or another novel. Of course, the study of the Holocaust is imperative - we should never forget.
ReplyDeleteBut, understand, Chloe was improsoned in Psych facility in a state 16 hours away from her family, had begged to come home for months, had been denied ALL contact with her mom for months and was only getting to talk to me as we "snuck" when certain weaker staff would overlook certain things for a few
minutes. About a month before we rescued her from the facility, I was allowed to visit her. The place she watched movies about the Holocaust, at 13 yrs old, is related in that the goal of both is POWER by the DEATH of others. She WAS but, unfortunately, is no longer afraid.
Thank you, Randy, for exposing the truth about what really happens in these fraudulant "hospitals." ~Shelley