@Talzy_T wrote:
Hi All,
I hope anyone who works in Peer Support Work is able to answer this but in this type of work are there any consumers who abuse you verbally, physically or absolutely get triggered and have a outburst? is these the kind of situations I will face in the role?
I know I've been in many mental wards and I've seen the environment there and it is very scary at times can hard to deal with people who dont want to talk, verbally abuse you and absolutely not in the right mind to communicate properly?
One of my former peer workers once told me a story where he was trying to talk to a group of inpatients about recovery, and they weren't really engaging. One of them had a packet of dried crickets, like, edible dried insects, and they told him that today was National Eat a Bug Day. They said they'd listen to him about recovery if he ate one of their crickets. So... what did he do? 🐛
Most of the group chats in the inpatient ward are optional, so in theory, the ones who attend shouldn't be the ones who are likely to go off at you. In other situations where I've been a servant-leader, dealing with frustrated people, if someone's going off at you, it's usually more about them and what they're facing than it is about you. If I were in this situation, I would tend to listen to the person, restate the issue back to them so that I'm sure I've understood it, and ask them what they want done about the issue, and then see if I can do anything about it or not. I'm sure @Daisydreamer , @Former-Member, @hanami or one of the other peer workers can speak to your question better, though.
