My mental health experience.
It was truly an incredible experience..You learn not to sterotype people with mental conditions, and how to accept their behaviour. Luckily for me, i was in a female ward, and the patients are in a more stable condition, although there are some overflow cases..But no worries, i wasn't physically abused..hehe..

Let me share 1 case.. One patient has some kind of hallucination, I'm not very sure, and she will always shout: "Hip! Amen! You married! " haha..This is the line that we hear the most during the shift. I've tried lots of ways to talk to her, and finally, on the last day of my posting, i figured out a way to stop her from "chanting". I took out the bible dictionary, and placed it in front of her, "forcing" her to read the paragraphs a-loud for me. And, she did as i told..She completed a whole passage without being interrupted with "Hip! Amen!". At that moment, i felt such a great surge of joy, and sense of accomplishment. I don't know..Some kind of miracle? I was so touched.

However, the party that we planned for the last day of work, kind of flopped. The morning shift gals went home at 3pm, before the patients came out from their dorms. So the 4 of us were left to be in-charge. The atmosphere was not very lively, although i brought more happening CDs, like this R&B CD, Gwen Stefani and Pussycat Dolls. They only wanted to play 1 round of musical chairs. So we just got round to distributing the "treats" we bought for them. They are certainly more interested in the food. Gobbled up all our junkies, some even asking for more.

This reminds me, we also conducted a healthy eating talk with a few of our patients, and since i will be talking to them about food labels, i decided to buy the Marigold 100% fruit juice to use as a demo. When i took it out from the NTUC plastic bag i was carrying, i could practically see their eyes sparkle! As if they saw real treasure like that lor..And they were like, "Can we drink? Can we drink?" Of course i gave it to them la..They drank 2, 3 cups at one go..And they were saying, "Wah, so nice! Long time never drank this already." We see already very heartache for them.. Such small little things we do give them so much pleasure. Well, not that the staff ill-treats them. Don't be misunderstood. Well, a hospital is a hospital. And in a subsidised class, what can we expect?

Anyways, so much for that place..I don't see myself working there too..I've got lots to complain too, not of the staff or patients, but of the environment. There is only 1 canteen over there, and if you eat in there, you will come out smelling smoky and oily. The lifts to the wards are so old, and cranky..Ought to do some renovations, not on the outside, but the inside!

Oh, by the way, "Blood Diamond" is good! It is worth watching! Storyline is good, touching and sad in a way too..