Personal Narrative: Oceans Behavioral Hospital

I started working at Oceans Behavioral Hospital in October of 2013. I remember it well because it was particularly cold that October for Texas. The leaves had already began to turn orange and yellow, and the wind was howling. I could see my breath as I walked to the door. As I walked I was nervous, my stomach full of knots, wondering what the day had in store. Many questions ran through my mind, but one in particular I keep thinking about, what would it look like. Would it look like the psych hospitals I had seen in movies and on television. To my surprise it did not. The way they portray psych centers on television, is nothing like the one I experienced. As I walked to the door I had to use a badge they had issued to get in. It was white

Each day room contained a TV, a black leather couch and love-seat. There were also five round tables with chairs. The tables were made from a kind of plastic material and screwed to the floor. (I later learned why). Next she showed me the patient rooms. There were twelve rooms and each housed two patients. The rooms looked so empty, almost like you would see in a dream. The floors were bare and so were the walls. The room contained only two beds, two wardrobes, and two night stands. The twin size hospital beds had been screwed to the floor, they were covered with one fitted sheet, a sea green blanket, and one pillow. The huge window was covered with matching sea green curtains. The room had only one bathroom, that contained one commode, one sink and a stand up shower. There was a plexy glass mirror above the sink. After looking at the patient rooms we went to another room that I once again had to use my badge to open The room was the only carpeted area in the whole building. The carpet was blue and green, it was a commercial like carpet and was very thin. Dry erase boards covered the walls, along with drawings, and quotes. This is were the counselors would have group time, and the patients would have their

I learned from my time working there, that psych centers are not at all like what you see on television. There are no bars on windows. There are no people screaming, or tied down to beds. It is a place were people can go and learn coping skills, where they can figure out what medicines work best for them. Were they can get the help they need, without being judged. It is where I began to understand why I chose this career field. Where I began to realize that I could help somebody, and not in the traditional I helped you to do this or that, but really help