6-18-08

6-18-08

Wednesdays are fun for most people because we play bingo during the first group in the morning. We had 17 people today, one of our largest groups. While the consumers were playing I went around and assisted some of the people who can not see their boards very well, or who just need help keeping up. There is one female consumer who is not allowed to come very often because she is very obnoxious, loud, disrespectful, and just annoying to most people.

As a social worker we are supposed to try to be indifferent to these behaviors, especially in the mental health field. We are supposed to treat everyone the same regardless of whether they sit quietly or if they act as this consumer does- but it is hard. Especially with a room full of consumers I felt like this one particular consumer was really trying my patience, and just trying to get attention by acting out. When the bingo caller would say a number she would repeat that number, sometimes yelling it out or saying something about the number. She kept talking loudly about everything going on with her, from being in pain, to what she did the previous day, what she will do later that day, her friends, telling jokes, or anything she felt may draw attention.

She decided to be the second bingo caller, yet did not begin calling when she should have because she thought she was going to get a bingo prize for calling. I explained that she does not get one for that but she argued with me about how she was supposed to. Every time she called a number she had something to say about the number. When she called on someone who had a number she said their name differently and tried to use “ghetto talk”. I try not to let her behaviors get to me and I try not to allow my negative feelings for her to come out in my interactions with her. Its one of those kinds of things where someone makes you want to grind your teeth but you still try to smile.

After bingo we worked on a worksheet that evaluated the consumers’ fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol intake during nutrition group. Today was free lunch day so we made ice cream sundaes with all the toppings to go with lunch. It was interesting that the just thinking it was reduced sugar made the consumers not want to even try the ice cream. We also had Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr Pepper, but again just hearing the word diet made them not want to drink the soda either.

After lunch I did current events a little different than I usually do. This time I went through the paper and found articles the consumers would enjoy and read it to them. I would begin the article so they knew what it was about then I asked if they wanted me to continue with the rest of the article. I think they enjoyed this more because they were able to just listen to all the news, and were able to hear and understand everything. Most days when we do newspaper everyone grabs an article and reads it, but some people can not read very well or do not read very loud. This keeps the other consumers from being able to hear or enjoy the actual article.

For the last group of the day we just watched a movie about people reentering into society who have abused drugs or alcohol. It was lecture style where the consumers were able to learn about substance abuse, support groups, and what it is like afterward. We discussed things about the video afterward that the consumers thought were interesting or wanted to point out, such as key points the lecturer wanted people to remember. Some of these were Work on the moment, take it one day at a time, and you must rearrange your priorities.

This was a long and stressful day for Pam and me both. In the morning we had a room full of consumers, and it just seemed like everyone wanted or needed something. I know Pam is feeling stressed and overworked from having to fulfill two different full time jobs at the same time. She is definitely ready for Amanda to come back!