THE image of a psychiatric patient lying on a mattress on the floor may seem appalling to some people but senior consultant psychiatrist Dr Beresford Connell said this would be a normal occurrence at any mental health facility.
He said the Psychiatric Hospital had clients who had moderate to severe levels of mental abnormality who were functioning at the level of a three- to six-year-old.
“Some have deficiency in muscular and nervous function and they just lie there stretched out. Sometimes being on a flat surface is not only comfortable, but safe, because they could roll off the bed and hurt themselves.
“There are other cases where someone might be acutely suicidal. You cannot put that patient in a room with a sheet of clothes because they may use that material to hang themselves and that has happened here before.”
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