Social Work Blog Social work updates from NASW
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I have an interesting dilemma for my fellow social workers. How to you play both sides of the desk? For the last seven years I worked at a job I loved with elderly and dementia clients. I supposedly sat on one side of the desk and doled out help to those who came in my office. After being hospitalized numerous times during the year for depression I was suddenly out of a job, thinking I might lose my house, and paying exorbitant rates toCobra to keep my heath insurance. Life was bliss. Ha. I recently was hospitalized again and once more told myself I was a patient and needed to take care of myself and not the other patients in the psych hospital. Some things are hard to resist. I was eating lunch with another patient when a staff member pushed a woman up to our table. They slapped her tray of food in front of her and walked away. I waited to see who would come and help her… and waited and waited. I finally pointed out her sandwich which she ignored. Finally I said, “Look you have cheesecake and it’s really good.” I took her fork and put a bite on it for it and handed it to her. She simply took the fork and cheesecake and threw it back down. The woman next to me knew what my previous job was and said,”I’m going to go before she throws food at me.” I joked back, “Can’t you tell that I was good at my job?” as I laughed. It reminded me how thin the line is between being the professional and being the patient. It is a very difficult lesson to learn. I would often want to question other patients about what medications they were on and basically stick my nose in where it was neither appropriate nor wanted. The staff did a pretty good job of not announcing my profession but I did notice I was treated differently. One nurse brought me a book to read on mindfulness and depression while a mental health technician printed off about 50 sheets from a book he thought I would get help from. He made sure I knew that I should buy the book for consumers and not the book for professionals. I was able to talk a different talk at times with the workers when I wasn’t screaming in rage that was due to a medication. Being in the hospital after a hiatus of 15 years showed me how much has changed. As I was in my rage, probably looking like something from Jurassic Park, I demanded to be put in restraints because I was scared I would hurt someone. The nurse told me they don’t do that much anymore. What?! Here I am screaming things I didn’t even understand and I couldn’t voluntarily go into restraints? Instead I was given a low dose of something and someone to watch me. The “crisis” was soon over. I have had time to think of the many things I experienced as a patient and also as someone who knew the system. It may not look like it as a professional , but as a patient we have come far.
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