A wet and windy night

Winter has continued on its distinctly unmerry way. Enough dry spells to permit me to not get soaked when walking from carpark to the unit and vice versa. Yet, mostly we are being hit by strong winds and heavy rain. Such a difference from the beautiful (even if slightly cool) day we had yesterday.

The day started with an appointment at GreenLane before a quietly full day at the Unit. Still managed to get away at a reasonable time, and then after getting to the apartment, I needed to take J out to Glen Eden . Peak traffic time.

On the way back, not having even thought about a photo during the day, I was on the lookout for something interesting. A bit too dark for the first thing I thought of as I passed through Point Chevalier. But I caught sight of the old Auckland Insane Asylum, which ended its days as a hospital as recently as 1991, having gone through a number of name changes and dealt with a number of approaches, both clinical and legal, to the care of the mentally ill.

Earlier today my registrar told me that she had seen a report from Germany that showed that the suicide rates from units that are locked is not significantly different from those that are unlocked. I have been making a big point of the fact that for the ten years I worked at an old fashioned psychiatric hospital (Kingseat in South Auckland) I did not carry a key as it was not needed. The unit where I am currently working has many locked doors; to the extent that patients in the the mis-named open wards have to ask the staff to unlock the doors (at least two) to let them out for a walk, or even just fresh air and sunshine. The doors are locked by management decree.