I have a small background in healthcare and the prompt howl immediately brought back memories of how patients would howl to express their frustration even when they experience no physical pain.
I used to take cab rides to my place of volunteer work in a mental health hospital and before my driver dropped me off at the porch, he would hear patients’ howls which echoed off the high ceilings in the wards, even though the entire hospital was air-conditioned and pretty much sealed.
The howls sounded as if patients were tortured and this couldn’t be farther from the truth but this was tough to explain to sane people who have never seen mental illness, so the drivers asked me if I was afraid to work inside the hospital as they assumed all patients would express violent behaviors towards staff.
Many patients have recovered or ready to be re-integrated into society but their families have abandoned them, thus they have nowhere to stay and remain in long term care as wards of the state.
No matter where we live in the world, many of us “burdened beasts” complain about our state not doing enough to ease our lot but seeing how the country loves and pays indefinitely for the sustenance of her unfortunate residents, I was moved; to plead for families to bond and help one another progress onward in life’s journey – that is the common dream for broken families.
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The link below is a sample of my comic based on experiences in the mental health care facility.
Prompt “howl” from Sunday Six Sentence Stories from girlieontheedge1.wordpress.com blog.
