First Experience of Mental Patients

Thursday was a lot of fun! I loved hanging out with the adolescents at the mental hospital. They were way more normal than I expected. Sadly, most of them were in there for drug problems or for being suicidal. A few of them had admitted themselves, but most were brought in by their families.

I felt like I was back in high school again- with the cool older boys picking on the geeky younger boys, the girls talking constantly, especially while the teacher was talking- you know, all that fun stuff. I mostly talked with the boys, although they weren't too willing to tell me about all the personal stuff I was supposed to ask about.

I got to go to an arts & crafts session with them where they were split into three groups. Each group was given a word to depict through any type of art medium on a poster. My group (mostly made up of the cool older boys who didn't want to be split up) was given the word "fun." I was really saddened to hear the boys disappointment that they couldn't draw any form of drugs as their depiction of fun. I asked them if they ever did anything besides drugs, and they had a hard time coming up with an answer.

I left the hospital that afternoon with a very different perspective on mental health and the issues that contribute to it. I have been praying for all of the kids I met, and I am hoping that their time in the hopsital will be beneficial.