At Least He's Honest...

[Client that keeps hitting me in the head]: See you tomorrow, sir.
Andy: Good night, [pt.]
C: See you tomorrow.
A: Good night.

10 minutes later...

C (stepping out of his room): Can I come out now?
A: Where are you going?
C (calmly): I'm gonna go hit somebody. (sprints away at full speed)
A: huh? Wait! No! Stop!

*****

The frustrating part about all of this is that I'm the staff that he likes. When he first came, I could redirect him, talk him down, take him for walks, and all that good therapeutic stuff. Now, I'm perpetually guarded when around him, because he's so unpredictable. He's still polite to me, but it's difficult to be as open as I was around him on account of his randomly administered beatings. I feel like I should be making a much better effort towards figuring out his needs and what makes him tick, but instead I put more effort into keeping the other clients, my coworkers, and myself safe.

One reason there are so many bad mental health workers is that it is so hard. It's hard to keep an open mind toward a client who continually beats on people. It's hard to keep one's patience when a client asks for the same things he is not allowed to have approximately 18 times every shift and will argue every word you say. It's hard to feel good about going into work when one's shoulder is still sore from the last takedown. It's hard to address the cooperative clients' needs regularly when a few uncooperative clients demand the attention of the entire staff.