Working with behaviorally-challenged people.

[arbusto_baboso]

And I'm not talking about my coworkers!

I work in the social services field. Some of my clients have some very real mental health issues, and I am NOT making fun of them. It's just that sometimes situations can arise that are downright funny!

About a year ago, I had been transferred to a new office, and walked into the caseload of a worker who went on medical leave.

My second week at the new office, one of the clients on this caseload dropped by the office. I had never met her before or even spoken to her. But, I grabbed the case file, found an interview room, and ushered her in.

The first words out of her mouth were, "I need a hotel voucher or something, because my upstairs neighbor is driving me crazy..."

Already, the client didn't meet our criteria for homeless assistance, since her residence was still habitable. I started thinking about what I would say to inform her of this.

She continued by saying, "If you came to my apartment, you'd she electrical tape running around the ceiling covering up all the spots where my upstairs neighbor has drilled holes, so she could insert a camera down to film me having sex." I immediately thought that sounded a little odd.

She concluded by saying, "And the local police are in on it, too, because they won't do anything about this." DING, DING, DING! We have a delusional paranoid!

Luckily, I was able to talk the woman down and send her away semi-happy simply by listening to her. Oddly enough, about a week-and-a-half later, she came back in to complain that MediCal was holding up on filling the prescription for her anti-psychotic meds. She had no recollection of our previous meeeting whatsoever.

That second visit explained so much!