Franks Psychiatry 4 #48: not a lot, anymore

Frank Prem

we're standing in the Staff Courtyard
it's break time
and we're doing coffee and a cigarette
when he says to me

 

I've always worked in Psych
I love it

 

I've never been tempted
by anything else

 

it's changed though
from the old days
oh
a hell of a lot really

 

he takes a deep drag
lets out the blue smoke
of a reflective moment
has another sip out of the Styrofoam cup
and says

 

you know what

 

about a year ago
we had a real old-fashioned case come in
like we used to get
in the old days

 

no drugs
no family history
no obvious causes
just crazy

 

mad as a cut snake actually

 

it was a first presentation
and it took a while
but we fixed him up
he got better and we turned him loose
he hasn't been back

 

that's what I like best
good straight-forward madness
that you can do something with

 

but you don't see much of that
anymore

 

~

  • Author: Frank Prem (Offline Offline)
  • Published: April 26th, 2018 04:47
  • Comment from author about the poem: Franks Psychiatry Pt 4 - acute observations.
  • Category: Unclassified
  • Views: 11
  • Users favorite of this poem: Laura🌻
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Comments +

Comments3

  • Goldfinch60

    It sounds as though very few made it out without needing to come back.

    • Frank Prem

      The average length of stay in an acute unit these days is less than 10 days per admission, GF. Not very long at all to deal with the illnesses and issues that come in with the folk receiving treatment. Quite a lot of people end up having more than one admission over the journey. Also, I'm writing about the public mental health end of the scale. Problems here are pretty profound in a lot of cases.

    • onepauly

      I was a patient
      in many psych wards.
      I like what you write.
      keep em coming.

      • Frank Prem

        Sorry to hear it onepauly. Never a good experience, IMO.

        Hope all is well now.

        Glad you're ok reading these offerings.

        • onepauly

          a fun read.
          I enjoyed my experiences at the hospitals
          ha! ha!

        • Laura🌻

          Frank,
          Glad he made it out!
          You’re right about not
          keeping them for too long!
          There’s a problem all over
          with too many troubled
          individuals in need of care!
          There’s too little hospital space to accommodate them and not enough health insurance to cover the cost!

          ~Laura~



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