Believarexic by J. J. Johnson

Author:J. J. Johnson
Language: ara, eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Peachtree Publishers
Published: 2015-08-31T20:19:29+00:00

Wednesday, December 7, 1988

Treatment-planning Objectives for Jennifer

Patient is granted extension on personal history essay. Patient should plan to share it this week.

Patient request for weekend passes—approved.

Notes: Patient should work on feelings of individuation/separation from family.

Bronwyn and I went to our first Chemical Dependency meeting on Adolescent today.

“Which of the stages of alcoholism would you say you’re in, Jennifer?” the social worker asked as she escorted us downstairs.

We’d only met CD Lady yesterday. She was straightforward and no-nonsense; brusque, but not mean. She had handed us thick packets of reading and worksheets to do on a weekly basis, in preparation for CD meetings. And she made it clear that she had read our case notes and met with our therapists. She told us she was “fully informed” about our chemical use.

“I think stage one,” I said.

“I agree. Tell me why.”

“Because I drink to escape. And I look forward to it all week. But I don’t think I’m physically dependent. And I haven’t developed much of a tolerance.”

“Good. And you, Bronwyn?”

“Probably early stage two,” Bronwyn said.

“Yes. Why?”

“Because I’ve started blacking out more.”

“Very good. I think both of you girls are right on target. And you did your homework.” She leafed through our worksheets, not really looking at them. She sounded pleased and surprised. Probably the kids on Adolescent were uncooperative. Adolescent was where parents sent kids who were defiant, suicidal, addicted, and alcoholic.

My heart was in my throat. I’d had visions of the Adolescent Unit as a prison, with inmates reaching through cell bars trying to grab me. Hard-core punkers with safety pins in their faces, and überweird goths. Also with safety pins in their faces.

We turned the corner from the elevator and walked down a non-prison-cell hall, into a big room filled with Adolescent patients.

It was totally silent. No tin cups banging on cell bars.

Everyone stared at us when we came in. The freaks from the EDU. They’d probably heard as many stories about us as we had about them. How messed up everyone on the EDU was, and how we had to eat everything on our trays, and our bathrooms were locked, and we couldn’t flush our own toilets, and we had to measure our urine, and get our vital signs taken and be weighed every day. Maybe they were glad they were on Adolescent and not the EDU.

The kids all looked like they were between thirteen and eighteen. It was a mix of girls and boys. It hadn’t occurred to me that there would be boys. Boys had thus far been such a nonpart of my life in the hospital. I self-consciously ran my fingers through my hair, realizing that it had been good to have a break from worrying about how I looked to the male species. I was not ready for their return to my life, not yet.

Most of the kids were white. There was one African- American girl, along with Bronwyn. The patients didn’t look goth or punk or have piercings. They looked normal, except none of their shoes had laces.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.