In the morning, the physiotherapist came in and shouted into the rooms: “Morning exerciiiiiiiiiiiise, it’s time to get uuuuuuuuup.” Sometimes this psychiatric clinic feels more like an army than a place for treating mental health issues. He shouted and left satisfied.
The first thing I saw when I entered the hall were the not-so-enthusiastic faces and sighs of the patients. Very motivating ha? The hall is the same room where we all have breakfast, lunch, and dinner, watch TV, read, sit and stare at the wall without moving our eyes or bodies.
Now, in this same hall, morning energizing exercises are supposed to take place. The chairs arranged around the table were moved down by the patients. The cleaner had managed to clean the floor already. We moved the chairs and tables aside immediately to make space for the exercise. In short, the exercise was supposed to start, but something was still preventing punctuality.
I looked over and saw the physiotherapist asking an elderly woman to finish her breakfast quickly and free up the last table to be turned around. She, however, stubbornly refused to get up and continued to calmly eat her breakfast. She had a cup of milk coffee in front of her and marmalade spread on a German bread. She ate her breakfast slowly and with small bites. I could only see her from behind. She was a small woman with long white hair.
She was struggling to lift the cup. It seemed like she wanted to control her trembling hand, but she couldn’t. I still noticed it. After two minutes of pleading from the physiotherapist, she stood up, said she was finished, and tried to carry her dishes out. She couldn’t do it; the dishes were probably too heavy for her. An elderly man standing nearby helped the woman. He showed he was a gentleman. With trembling hands, he bent over and reached for the tray. He still managed to help the elderly woman. The elderly woman was pleased saying how kind he was, and both left the hall peacefully.
The exercise ended just as it had started. It was followed by yawning after the applause we gave each other to encourage ourselves. What a paradox…
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