Crashing Eden by Michael Sussman
On one end of the room was an old beat-up television. Several patients were watching The Young and the Restless, lounging in sofas and easy chairs that had seen better days. Along the wall, two others were paying a game of ping pong on a table with no net. There was also an upright piano with a basket of tambourines and maracas on top of it. At the far end of the room was a kitchenette and several small, bolted-down tables with plastic chairs.
Most of the patients were in their teens or twenties, with a few older folk in the mix. We were allowed to wear street clothes, which was a relief after dealing with hospital gowns. My only image of a mental ward came from the Jack Nicholson movie, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, so I was relieved to discover that the nurses weren't scary ball-busters and the patients acted pretty normal.
What are your experiences / expectations of being suffering from mental illness?
