I find that the weeks pass by in a blur here. A blur of human right’s abuses and a hazy smell of urine. Each week you wonder what kind of challenges you will face, what , new kind of emotional pressure you will feel under. Sam and Laura’s experience and friendship is invaluable to me in such a pressurized and difficult environment.
We always say we feel exhausted at the end of each day, and realised it was because we were trying to keep a brave face in front on the patients, not showing that we were appalled by the conditions in which they live. We want to keep their spirits up, give them a bit of escapism from the place that they find themselves in.
I know for most of the patients they wonder when they will ever be able to get out, a lot of them have faced up to the fact that they will never get out.
The sadness of a country which lacks in a proper safety net for the most vulnerable. Many people moan about the welfare system in England and how others take advantage. But I realise now, the fact is if it is not there then where else will vulnerable people go? They end up in institutions. We have to consider what systems we would like to have if we were to find ourselves or a member of our family with a mental health issue. I know for a fact that I wouldn’t want anyone locked in here, no one should be.
StephThought 