by Alice Rush
I DON’T know where the hospitals are in the Netherlands. I may have driven by one or more multiple times, but I didn’t know it. The same is likely true of any mental hospitals there. I work in a mental hospital in the United States, and it has been an enlightening experience.
I think that the Dutch do a better job teaching than we do in the States. There are options in Holland for students who learn better with hands-on experience as opposed to lectures and book study. I wonder if the same is true for treatment of mental illness?
I know very little about mental illness, and still I have learned so much. Many of the patients in the hospital where I work have been through severe trauma. Others may have a chemical imbalance or a personality disorder. Before I worked there, my impression of similar hospitals was that they were scary places with potentially dangerous residents.
What I have learned is that many of the patients are only there to find a path to better mental health. They work with all the medical professionals in the hospital to learn how to overcome the emotional/psychological/psychiatric challenges that they face and navigate a better life. There are others who may never reach that path. Still others cannot be treated at the hospital where I work. There is another facility that is better suited for patients who could be a danger to themselves or others.
IT TRULY takes a team of professionals to treat a patient working toward better health. Doctors to evaluate and prescribe medication and treatment. Social workers who can help find housing and beneficial environments. Therapists who know how to talk through treatment. Nurses to oversee daily life and medical care. Then finally, mental health workers who work with the patients on a daily basis.
I am humbled by all these professionals who do their very best every day to help the patients toward better lives. It’s a tough job to stay removed and unemotional (or to appear so), yet still be very caring and supportive of patients.
My job at the hospital does not involve patients. I have the pleasure of working with many of the nurses and mental health workers. I see how hard they work and how many hours they put in. I’ve become more aware of all the sacrifices they make.
Thank goodness for all of us that in both our countries, there are people who are so willing to dedicate much of their lives to benefit the health and well-being of others. I am inspired by patients who struggle daily to change their perspective and heal unseen wounds, and I learn more reasons each day to be respectful and appreciative of those who work with them.
* Alice is a Maine realtor and a licensed helicopter and fixed wing pilot. In addition, she shows up every day as a staffing scheduler in a psychiatric hospital that cares for the state’s severest mentally ill. She first met her Dutch husband in Maryland in 2005, and married him four years later.
