The Violent side of Care Homes
From time to time, we all get angry. If something isn't quite going our way, we often excerpt our anger, by shouting, swearing or breaking something.
Now, Im in no place to be calling people out on their anger, considering I once snapped a TV remote, after missing and episode of the Simpsons. But what I have realized, after spending ten months inside care homes, is that certain healthcare patients can become highly irate within a split second.
Usually, I find myself getting wound up over the silliest of things. Wether it be, getting stuck in a traffic jam, running out of basil whilst making pasta, or missing an episode of the Simpsons ;). But regardless of what the reason is, my strop usually only lasts for seconds or minutes at a time.
It is rare for anyone to be angry about something for hours on end, however, Ive noticed that this isn't the case with some of the mentally disabled residents I've worked with.
‘The Flying Maraca’
Part of the service I provide in care homes, involves the use of instruments like triangles, tambourines and shakers. On a good day, the residents decide to take part, by shaking along, in time to the song. On a bad day, I have maracas flying past my head.
One wednesday afternoon, I was performing in a care home, which caters for young adults with mental disabilities. I was comfortable in this home, as I had played their previously, and had got to know a few of the residents by name.
If i can recall, I was half way through playing ‘Don't look back in anger’ by Oasis, when I felt some form of object fly past my head to the left of me...
I looked up in the direction it had came from, and quickly realized that one of the residents Phil, was having some form of panic attack/ schizophrenic episode.
He was clearly having a hard time in his surroundings and looked as if he felt threatened by the other residents, who had shown no sign of hostility towards him at all.
I continued with the song, however the carers began to make their way towards Phil, in an attempt to subdue him. A member of staff then put her hand towards Phil, hoping to comfort him and talk him out of his anger. She was met with a punch in the face.
By this point, the other carers had rushed in to the room, leaving their tasks in hand, in order to help restrain the startled resident.
I carried on playing, despite the action going on in front of me. I felt like a less impressive version of a musician on the titanic, playing songs to comfort the passengers, as everyone drowns.
Phil (or Myke Tyson), threw another punch towards his carer, however, this time it was muffled. The three carers forced their own body weight upon him, and instructed that everyone must go in to the next room…
I continued playing in the other room, as the carers attempted to comfort Phil. Not much was said about why he got angry, however it was clear that he suffered most when his environment changed. This became clear to me, when the TV was turned on to mute, just before I began performing. His subtle tension in body language, suggested he was easily triggered by the slightest of changes in his environment.
Being stressed, for me and you, may result in a tantrum at worst. The same cannot be said for patients with mental disabilities. Unfortunately, I see allot of people like Phil, struggling to cope with their moods and emotions.
I learn allot from residents, despite their lack of ability to communicate on a ‘normal’ basis. Sometimes I look at my own ‘problems’ and I think to myself, “Is it worth the stress?”
After all, these guys are locked up in a building everyday, without a say in the matter. They wake up, eat, sleep and repeat. They go to bed on a night time alone, some even unable to recognize photos of their loved ones.. And Im sat here complaining about not having onions on my Big Mac...