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RE: Need some advice on work place abuse - 2/22/2013 3:31:11 PM

cordeliasub

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I am glad there seems to be some resolution happening. As someone who has bipolar disorder myself, I echo that regardless of how good someone feels, going off meds is just....not an option. Just like someone with type I diabetes can't decide to stop taking insulin.

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RE: Need some advice on work place abuse - 2/22/2013 5:16:45 PM

littlewonder

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I'm kinda surprised you went off your meds. I mean, working at the job that you do, I would think that is something that would come second nature. You work with clients who are most likely on meds and you most likely have to make sure they are taking their's.

Had you said you had gone off your meds, all of this would have been soooo much clearer and more understandable in your reactions. I do hope that this boy has shown you why what you were doing was inappropriate and that you now seriously think about your situation and that you realize you cannot ever, not ever, go off your meds.

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RE: Need some advice on work place abuse - 2/22/2013 8:21:07 PM

erieangel

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Going off my meds was something my doctor and I had agreed I would try. When I lasted a year, I quit paying the $50 a month co-payment to see him. I mean what was the point at the time? I knew eventually I might have to go back on meds and I did so when I needed to. I didn't do what some people with mental illnesses do and just stop taking my meds--I'd done that, been there and ended up in jail for 5 days for bounced checks actually. Learned my lesson the hard way.

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RE: Need some advice on work place abuse - 2/22/2013 8:45:50 PM

erieangel

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To be clear I went off my meds years ago and back on them a few months ago--long before this latest incident. And like I said in my OP, this young man isn't the first one to call me vile names, nor was this the first time he'd done so. One young man had been evicted from the program for doing so. And my supervisor reminded me yesterday of another young man two years ago whose probation officer revoked him due to his vile, abusive language toward me that he refused to stop even after she gave him repeated warnings that she would do just that if he didn't behave and show respect.

Oh, and despite the massive meeting yesterday I approached the young man this afternoon, a full 30 minutes before my shift was to started as I am typically early to work to let him know that we needed to get together to do a new goal plan because his is about to expire and he started arguing with me. He even asked me why I think I always have to be right. So I brought his goal plan up to his room to show him the dates on it and he insisted that I must have changed them. Because he knows that he just did one last month. I immediately called my supervisor who was unavailable, so I called his supervisor, who was also unavailable. So I sent my supervisor a text. 30 minutes later, he called the young man. It took an entire 45 minutes out of his day to get the paper done. I didn't say, but I wanted to tell that the reason I think I always have to be right is because I usually am.

I did ask for a transfer that I don't really want and I'm not getting anyway--not right away. I've also realized that there is something very lopsided about the agency. I never really intended to go into psych rehab work. I started out being a peer specialist. That what my job was when I was hired and it morphed into something I never planned on doing. Most of the psych rehab workers have college degrees in social work, theology or some other "social" program. I have 3 years of college as an English major. Yes, the agency trained me to do the job and I do it well, but I am the least prepared to do the job and I am the only one expected to be proficient in all domains of psych rehab. I'm going to begin to look for another job at another agency.

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RE: Need some advice on work place abuse - 2/22/2013 8:51:30 PM

LafayetteLady

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That's great that you and your doctor discussed it. Not going every month, sure. But how often did you go? You can't have it both ways, no meds, no medical oversight.

The bottom line is that what this young man told you in a calm moment, you still won't take responsibility for, but rather put it on his defiance. He flat out told you how you were different off your meds and how this week you were over emotional again. But you see it as a failing in him, rather than in you.

You work with mentally ill people who need someone stable overseeing them, as well as setting an example. This young man basically told you that when you relapsed you set a shitty example, and in his way that perhaps the meds you are on right now need adjustment considering your emotional outburst. If they are the same as before, it doesn't mean 3 years later, they will work again.

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RE: Need some advice on work place abuse - 2/22/2013 8:56:56 PM

LafayetteLady

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I think that is a good choice to start looking for another job. Had you the proper education for dealing with this young man, things might be different. But I see a lot of you complaining to your supervisor about this client or that one, and that really isn't good.

I have no doubt about your love of your job or your desire to do a good job. I don't even doubt that you have been good at THIS job. But as Phoenix said, you might need a break to recharge your batteries. The kind of work you do can be very rewarding, but also very stressful and draining. There is no shame is saying you have had enough and it is time to move on. When it becomes apparent that you aren't doing as much good as you have in the past, you are done.

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RE: Need some advice on work place abuse - 2/22/2013 9:05:26 PM

erieangel

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I wasn't overemotional this week and nobody said that I was. A couple of months ago, prior to my going back on my meds that was this young man's complaint. Now his complaint is that I tell him what to do all the time. And today, when all I told was that I needed his time to do his new plan and he argued--yes, that was a topic for my boss because he was being purposefully defiant.

I ran into my former clients today and he mentioned that he was on his way to mental health association. I'm going to apply for job over there next week. One of my best friends is a supervisor of a program over there and has wanted me to work for him in the past.

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RE: Need some advice on work place abuse - 2/22/2013 9:24:53 PM

littlewonder

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I'm just kinda confused that if you have a degree in English, why not look for a job in that field? Working for a publisher or a teacher at a community college or something like that. I mean, isn't that why you got the degree in the first place? Is it that you really like the mental health field? If so, since you say you are the least prepared for such why not go back to college for it so you can be prepared?

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RE: Need some advice on work place abuse - 2/22/2013 9:39:55 PM

erieangel

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I don't have my degree. I have 3 years of college. I dropped out of college due to health issues and didn't go back. When I dropped out, I had my student loans forgiven and signed an agreement that if I accepted any state or federal financial aid to return to college in the future those loans would be reinstated. That's $27,000!! I'm too old at this point to take on that debt. And yes, I do like the mental health field. I like being a peer specialist. I do like doing psych rehab, too. And I am good at it.

It's just that most psych rehab workers specialize in one or two of the 5 domains, whereas I, who have no degree in any of the social sciences am expected to be proficient in all 5 of those domains. It is unfair to me. And it is unfair to my clients. That I have some difficulty in only 1 domain says something about how well I do my job most of the time--this according to my supervisor's boss.

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RE: Need some advice on work place abuse - 2/22/2013 10:28:17 PM

LafayetteLady

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But in your line of work it is also possible to become overwhelmed and need to step back for a bit. Look, there is always going to be clients that are jerks and difficult to handle, but it is part of your job. There is nothing wrong with taking a step back. Go to the other place and get a job. You will have a fresh start, which that alone will "recharge" your batteries.

You needing to be proficient in all five domains is not unfair to you. You lack the education the others have, so they want to make sure you can do your job. It is unfair to the clients, but that is because they deserve psychology professionals not someone who can interpret the works of Shakespeare.

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RE: Need some advice on work place abuse - 2/23/2013 3:50:20 PM

erieangel

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Yes, and did I not say it is unfair to the clients.

When I said it is unfair to me, I meant it as being unfair to me from the standpoint of an employee being thrust into a position for which I wasn't even hired to perform originally. When the agency changed my job description from that of a peer specialist to a psych rehab worker, they should have transferred me to a peer specialist position. Instead, they kept me in the position I was in and expected me to perform the duties of a psych rehab worker and for the most part I have done exceptionally well. Most psych rehab workers can not are not proficient in all the domains, which is why they specialize in 1 or 2 of them. Yet I have been expected to not only learn the responsibilities of the psych rehab worker but to become proficient in all 5 domains. And btw, I had asked for a transfer in the past when the change first took place with my job and my supervisor discouraged it. He was confident that I could learn the job duties.

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RE: Need some advice on work place abuse - 2/23/2013 9:12:20 PM

LafayetteLady

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Ok, I understand what you are saying there, and I agree. I still think it is time to find another job is peer counseling.

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