Most Dangerous Places to Work: Life On the Psych Ward | Free Documentary

They made it clear that I was different, unusual, strange and that my differences were al

most

unacceptable. I think it's also largely about choice. You know, I made the decision to go to the pub to buy the drink so I could pay for it and drink again. drink again and drink and drink and drink I made that decision I made the decision to go to the kitchen to look for a knife to attack the person because I didn't have a solution it just didn't occur to me I wish I had one no it is rarely seen little known the world of forensic

psych

iatry is a mystery to

most

of us we deal with the most complex and risky people in our country we

work

in one of the most

dangerous

parts of the NHS treating extreme paranoia I have said it very well please please please daily yes I don't change I'm going to drink and if I drink I'm going to reoffend These patients have committed some very violent crimes I decided to dismember the old man with a razor blade You have to learn to live with what you have done and the majority are here because they have been considered too much mentally ill to be in prison.

There is a long history of violence. When he is

psych

otic, he has really been very threatening, very aggressive, but how can he contain himself? People who pose such a threat to the public, can you cure them again? I've just shown you that you know dad's not angry anymore, danny, he's getting better and it's possible that some of the most

dangerous

ly ill people in Britain will ever rejoin the outside world, they want to see me out because they know what I'm like on the outside. I can understand why certain elements of society simply don't want to give people like me another chance.

The Royal Nativity Scene in South London Houses 120. For mentally ill offenders, a bed here costs four times more than one in prison, so we are actually

work

ing with patients who are mentally ill and who have been involved in serious crimes; We are not talking about minor crimes, but rather major acts of violence, such as homicide, serious sexual violence, and patients are further complicated by having very complex mental and emotional health problems. 250 staff work on these

ward

s and their goal is to reduce patient risk to a level where they can one day be safely discharged. Most offenders will be discharged. at some point, but the time needed to achieve that release could be anywhere from a few months to perhaps many years, even a decade.

James arrived in Belén Real from prison two and a half years ago during the last month that he was allowed to venture out. outside the closed doors of the

ward

s, this is the river house, it has about eight wards, six to eight wards, all different, cute diseases and you all are different, you know what I mean, yeah, you know You have to be attentive, friend. You're not a man, yeah, you have to be on a labeling system for uh, I don't know, six months to eight months, you know it's baby steps at a time, but it's all progression, you know a couple of months could be a great path. a companion you know, who is looking for volunteer work in the community, you know the words, my oyster is what I do with it.

James is serving a

life

sentence for committing a violent attack while in prison. He has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and he has been under it for a long time. term psychological therapy a lot of it is like, you know, therapy portfolios and folders and folders and this is all about my story where I've been wrong, you know what I'm saying, yeah, it's just working, you know, he's just working on things to help me improve my chances of getting ahead, you know what I mean? Yeah, so he's completed the main treatment program on the unit, although he's made quite a bit of progress and he's certainly been involved in quite a few incidents on the ward he's been verbally abusive made death threats really quite serious incidents I'll give you I'll give you a chance when we need to close it down here and I think the difficulty we have is trying to reconcile the fact that he is saying that he wants to change and that he is willing to continue working with the fact that he continues to engage in that type of antisocial behavior.

Lovely Mike applauds me for anti-social behaviour. I'm 45 so let's say I've been at the age of 15 I've had three decades of this that's not something you can just throw away and put away overnight the room wasn't built in a day you're not bad yeah antisocial in At that time, behavior for me was my identity. It was about who I was, you know what I mean, yeah, quit and just say, well, not anymore, I'm not going to be like that anymore, it's not going to happen that way, are you planning on dating? from here, yes, you absolutely know what I mean, yes, uh, this, this painting that I finished a couple of days ago, so there were two titles, the first one had twice as much anguish as a tree in a storm or, a Sometimes, a river and me. sometimes opted for a river, it was easier to manage john has been in secure institutions for 22 years growing up in zimbabwe had corrective surgery for a rare birth defect, i mean, a lot of my friends just accepted me, but There was a minority who didn't make it clear that I was different, unusual, strange and that played with my confidence and self-esteem?

You really know, and one of the ways that I thought I would combat the feelings that that gave me later was to drink and that just magnified some of those feelings that I already had. John has a personality disorder and when he drinks he can be unpredictably violent. This is a timeline so these are historical events important events in my

life

that may have had an emotional psychological impact on me in some way this is uh this is part of the violence reduction program um so these are ups and downs um so a low point, for example, would be when a child is bullied uh some sexual abuse and um this is my index crime, it's the main offense I stabbed a man several times I spent the night drinking with him I was drinking from a can in his living room and I told him he could bring me a glass for the beer and he directed me to the kitchen and when I went to the kitchen I started to open the cupboards but I completely forgot why I was in the kitchen and I saw a block of knives and I came out with a carving knife and attacked it, they can do a lot. from therapy, understanding their criminal history, their crime, their risk profile, but at some point you have to test it with reality, you have to be out of the hospital to see how you handle community life, the stress, the challenges of being in Nowadays, a big city like London, John faces those challenges after decades inside, he has permission to enter the local community without a staff member, it is really very exciting to be unaccompanied, to be alone, it feels quite liberating, everyone is fascinated by the concept of murder with extreme violence. mental illness the type of terminology that the world news always used was the phrase stop scum of the earth is a very powerful statement isn't it scum of the earth? uh they are very aware that our patients obviously want to return to the community in a safe and successful manner.

I suspect that often the public would wish to stay here, perhaps indefinitely, most of them seeing them as sick, dangerous and unpleasant individuals. We have to persuade them in many ways that what we are doing. It is safe, carefully thought out and very responsible. I can experience anxiety and I do every day, but there are different intensities and depths to it and most of the time you know it's manageable, you just know it's okay, I'm okay if it's okay, you're okay, we're okay, we're okay, Random things will happen, that's life, it just feels, it feels unmanageable, that's me, my mind is playing tricks on me, so I don't commit to them, I stick with my plan, what everyone else is doing. to do that is his plan my plan is different my plan is to take care of myself one of his problems is that when things don't go as planned or when others make mistakes or when things are unpredictable he gets very stressed very anxious and in the past he has arranged by drinking alcohol, taking illicit drugs that would pose a risk of violence to others when I was a child and did something wrong.

I was very aware that I had done something wrong, but you have that feeling that I am in trouble and I have been in situations where I have had the feeling that I am in trouble, that I have done something wrong or that I have panicked and have to call someone and invariably what I do is call the police. John called the police in 1998 after he stabbed a man he had been drinking with he was found guilty of attempted murder at the time the police officer arrested me he asked me how many times I stabbed and in my mind it was a time my mind had completely censored the entire event and it seemed like it was just one time but in reality it was several times, it was 13 times hello, I'm Helen Brousseau, this is Tony, are you awake and were you supposed to be ready?

I think I need to review the risk assessment on him. Hello. Mike, can you do us a favor? Tony, are you out? Bethlehem Royal Hospital treats mentally ill offenders who pose a risk of violence today. Ward manager Helen is preparing a patient to see her clinical team. They want to decide if it is safe to go. outside the hospital alone oh this happens Tony are you decent? Hello, remember we talked about that yesterday? It's a quarter past two in the afternoon, let's just get up, since I don't think it looks very good what you're spending. all day in bed, so come on, let's see some action, alright, thank you so much, Mike, that's great.

Tony has been in and out of secure institutions since he was 18 years old. He has been diagnosed with a personality disorder and paranoid schizophrenia. Tony is at risk of assault. and violence um when he is not well and when he is not well he tends to use illicit substances and when he uses these substances he becomes even more risky he has an attack staff in the room and then when he was in the community previously he would attack the people when they have not been feeling well and have been under the influence of substances. Well, we should all fight.

I'm not happy that we have a total of 36 convictions since 1997. That's quite a high number, oh yes, yes. it's still a big risk his parents are quite worried um because he ran away about the risk of violence and assault the risk of him using drugs abroad and it's only recently that he's been using he's been using illicit substances here in the ward the recovery Tony's is at risk from the high legal levels of cannabis that, despite strict security measures, are smuggled into the ward by patients on leave. Tony has great difficulty understanding the dangers of drugs and how these substances change his mental state and turn him into someone we would consider dangerous. to be furious with Tony, he's been trying, he's certainly making good improvements, but I think it's a small step too far to give him an escort leave at a time when you could have done with a shave, but it doesn't matter, so what? why do you languish in bed? because I don't have toothpaste in anything good, I'll get some we'll organize it why not didn't you tell me that yesterday he has no idea of ​​the fear that has been engendered in his family and in the people around him when he gets angry or becomes aggressive or violent, let's look at it then and see what it says, so our job is to try to help you understand what you need to be before you can get that escorted permit.

First of all, what I would like to say is that, in general, I think we all agree that you have been doing very well and we are all working to eventually get you discharged from the hospital, but I think it is too early to Think about the fact that without support, the best thing you can do is move forward. with your meds, take them with the groups and the most important message I can give you is to stay away from legal highs or drugs, yeah, yeah, okay, um, yeah, I gotta get by, I gotta keep going without do it.

I don't have to fight with anyone, um, I don't have to get into any trouble, stay alone, mind my own business and slowly but surely get along, yeah, and take with respect that the people around me are trying to help me . and I am trying my best to cooperate, but there are times when I get against the staff and I think: well, should I do?, what should I do?, what should I do?, but when everything goes silent and no one Explain to me, I don't know. which I don't know how to continue, you know, stay away from the camera, yes, okay, well done, thank you, regards, have any of your patients committed serious crimes again?

They have and I think that's one One of the most difficult parts of the job is that my risk assessment is clearly not an exact science and we don't always get it right and on very rare occasions patients have committed other crimes so why take the risk of letting these patients out? ? campbell, I firmly believe that they should be given that opportunity to address their very real mental health issues rather than just pretending it's not a problem and keeping people in prison for as long as necessary before the risk is reduced , which in many cases Never be ready, yeah, okay, come on buddy, we'll go to the placenot being able to face it when you feel like doing it. he comes back very quickly panicking and getting very emotionally excited and just losing his confidence it's nice to be able to get back to normal in that guy yeah, just watching the world go by you're not bad yeah, away from the room you're not bad yeah, I love coming here , friends, yeah, it's just a different pace of life here, you know, at first, when I came out, I was quite blocked, you know, it felt very unusual, I'm on leave, I'm on the label, all the different aspects, you know? what I mean, yeah, it's like, but you just ignore it at the end of the day, nobody doesn't know who I am, what I'm doing, you know, I'm just blending in like normal people, I'm normal, you know what I mean, yeah.

I have personality disorders, that doesn't mean I'm a raven lunatic, you know what I mean? It's all good buddy, hello buddy, did you make any pork belly strips? Can you have a couple of them please, yes, do you know what I do? I'm asking what yeah, yeah, wait a second mate, I guess that bag, can we check that bag for a second? Oh, that's all it's freshly made and I thought I'd lost a lot and now I found it. You know what I mean? what a relief mate I feel like I'm going to pass out man I felt so stressed knowing that I actually did it let me get some air mate cuz I feel so stressed mate James left his wallet at the record store that visited before.

During the day, I got stressed, so I was like, oh God, did you know what a testable test was? Because internally I was screaming inside, ah, cheers, thank you so much, Mike, I appreciate you, buddy, thanks, yeah, cheers, lifesaver, you've got a long way to go before I do. I think he is ready for a longer community license and is even starting to think about unaccompanied leave. I think it's a long way from being able to move next year to 18 months, but I think that would be the best case scenario and I think sometimes you underestimate how difficult it is.

It's going to be yes he is he uh he's not high and dry yes, I'm going to go back to the room now I'm depressed I want to come back here my real world continues with my life and yes, greetings for today friend and thanks for your company, greetings friend, as the prospect of being discharged from bethlehem royal becomes real john has started looking for volunteer work dsm volunteer subject madame is currently admitted to the royal bath at the hospital i am up to date, i am currently on extended community leave and i am currently looking for, Currently, I would appreciate it if you could inform me about any position.

You have a terrible photograph. Honestly, you sent me a beautiful one. This is me when I was a girl. I think I'm 13 years old. And with the bowl cut, but. I just think it's uh, I think it's sad because, uh, you know this kid, he doesn't, he doesn't smoke, he doesn't drink, oh, it's good to see you here, how are you and where has life taken you? You see? How do you respond to that? Where are you? It even starts with that, where do you start? Hello friend, I don't even know where to start. I was in the hospital recently, buddy.

I had some psychological problems over the last 35 years. A letter or two via email, how do you explain it? 35 years doctors care and I am proud of the fact that I am working with a group of patients who are probably the most disenfranchised rejected in society. Patients' shame and isolation increase their risk. If we address that effectively and compassionately, reduce the risk, we have two options as a society: either we lock up criminals with personality disorder and simply remove them from society completely or my position, which is to try to get something positive from these horrendous incidents, these individuals did not emerge from a vacuum they came from families that lived on the streets and had neighbors and they too are a product of society and I think we have a responsibility to think about how we support, manage, understand them, to me, the options of doing nothing, it just doesn't make any sense, you just got in there on time, I know, I know, okay, yeah, I just got stuck, don't go in there, yeah, but you're okay, yeah , Tony, you know the rules, it's once a month, yeah, okay, then and I'll talk to you guys soon, okay, I love you all.