A few weeks ago I was working on the adolescent girls unit. I like working this unit, but it is very different from the child unit.
Lots of cutters. A lot of these girls will cut themselves superficially (as in surface cuts that will bleed and scar, but not deep enough to be classified as a suicide attempt).
It is strange. I worked with a lot of teenagers at Meadows 4 years ago, and while some of them cut, I don't remember as many of them doing a strange phenomenon.
Instead of just cutting themselves (and they cut everywhere- arms, faces, thighs, feet/toes) they also carve words into themselves. Often this will be song lyrics, names of their boyfriends/girlfriends/children, or some disparaging word. As I sat talking to these girls I was specifically reminded of this scene from Harry Potter.
Yes, the clip is bizarre, and so are these girls.
At another point in the day I was reminded of a scene from A Beautiful Mind (but I couldn't find a clip of the scene to post on here).
We were sitting in a therapy group and one of the girls tugged on the therapist's sleeve. When the therapist questioned what this girl wanted, the girl replied, "Is that real?" and pointed out the window. The therapist asked her "what, specifically?" The girls responded, "That woman." From my angle I couldn't see anyone, so I thought... well there goes her discharge which was scheduled for today, but either there was someone out there who I couldn't see from where I was sitting, or the therapist was sharing in this girl's delusion (I think it was the first one). It reminded me of the scene at the end of A Beautiful Mind where John Nash walks out of his classroom and a stranger starts talking to him, so he stops one of his students and asks her if she can see the man who is talking to him. It really is a great, eye-opening, and terrifying scene.
Anyway, later in the shift a few of the girls started talking about having babies. When one of the 15-year-olds turned to a 14-year-old and questioned, "but do you think you are ready to have a baby now?" and the 14 y.o. responded, "yeah, I think so," I really started to miss my screaming, aggressive children and had a strong desire to escape the disgusting reality that "Teen Mom" has turned this world into.
4 comments:
That is so sad! And I feel emotionally drained after being around normal teens all day...how do you stay awake?
Where are you these days? I thought you were on the east coast? If your nearby I'd like to be on the list of people who harass you when your in town, preferably the top of the list.
Carlee- the thing is my kids stay for less than a month before I get at least a short break... Unlike you :)
Ashley- I am in san Antonio. I make it back to humble about one weekend a month these days... I think you are really close to my parents, because I recognize the park from the pictures on your blog... I'll let you know the next time I am in town.... What's your email?
San Antonio! How long have you been there? Do you like it??
And yes if you don't mind me and a handful of crazy kids then I would really like to see you when you come back into town.
mrsadk at yahoo dot com
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