my wednesdays

for the past 4 months I have been volunteering every Wednesday at the Utah State Mental Hospital. I was a favorite part of my week. i love the patients there. we had so much fun each week making crafts, playing games, singing karaoke, and just simply talking.
these are some of the volunteers that came every week. we had so much fun together.

 

one funny story to share, there are quite a few, but this is my favorite

man #2: well i haven’t sleep for 6 months straight

(this banter went on back and forth for a long time….getting a little more far fetched with each thing)

one:
we were playing the game i have never {for those of you who don't know it is a game you play where you go around and one person says the statement i have never gone to disneyland…and if you have gone to disneyland you have to put one of your m&ms in the bowl.} anyways we played it as i have…so statements went i have…and then they stated something they have done…..well this is how the game went

man #1: i have….played professional baseball for Italy

man #2: i have…mediated to nirvana for two years

man #1: well I have…sleep for 4 months straightit finally ended with man #2 saying: yea well one time i almost blew up the whole world……

after that we realized the game was lost and decided to end it..

but i learned more about mental disorders from this experience than i have from any class i’ve ever taken. something so important i have learned is that the patients have emotions and feelings, just like me. i think the public generally thinks that people with mental disorders aren’t really there, meaning there is something affecting their brains they must not be able to feel anything…well it’s wrong, they feel just as much as us. they want to be better so incredibly bad..it really has affected me and gave me an even stronger desire and resolve to be involved in the field of psychology. imagine what it would be like to feel like you were a normal functioning independent and yet on the outside you weren’t showing it. it would be incredibly frustrating and scary.

i certainly have developed a respect for those who suffer from mental disorders.