@AuntGlow My dream would be to work in the hospital as a peer worker.
TW
I still very vividly remember waking up in the ICU after my first very serious attempt. I was intubated and very terrified. I remained intubated for another day but was awake on and off. They sent the mental health person around to see but I was still tuned so that obviously couldn’t talk. I spent another day in ICU once they removed the tube but I never seen mental health again. I was eventually transferred to a medical ward and spent days there and again didn’t see mh. And then I was sent home.
I desperately wanted…. Needed to talk to someone, especially in ICU once I could talk. Yeah I had a 1 on 1 nurse care, but they don’t understand.
I also remember all the times that I have presented or been taken to the ED for SI. You’re not a priority. You sit and wait for hours. You’re seen as a nuisance and an attention seeker. You often don’t receive basic treatment and care. All while you’re in crisis and desperately needing support and understanding.
I would like to work in those spaces. Offer support and understanding to someone who’s just woken up from an attempt they’d hoped they wouldn’t wake up from. Be a listening ear when you’re terrified by what’s happening to their body and everything that’s surrounding them. It’s bloody scary!
Go around the medical wards and listen to patients there too. I’ve spent weeks at a time on medical wards with my eating disorder. You can’t be in psych cause you’re not medically stable, but medical wards do not provide any of that psych support. You might see the psych team once a week, if that. And the nurse have zero clue and zero time.
The ED…. Just want to again provide support. Make a cuppa. Get a blanket. Chase up some medication. Advocate if needed. When your in crisis in that place, you might have one opportunity to talk to psych who then make a decision on what happens, but gosh, sometimes talking can hard.
That was a lot sorry @AuntGlow but yeah I am in no way in a place to be able to do any of that. I’m on the verge of needing that support myself at the moment.
