Ask a psychiatric/hospital security guard...

[Bob Kelso]

have you ever doubted your own sanity?

No, but I do flirt with the thought that maybe I'm just a brain in a jar from time to time. 

---

Have you ever had a moment where a raging lunatic became completely calm for about thirty seconds, said something lucid and wise then went back to being crazy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq2S4g9ZqYM

Something similar, and it's incredibly creepy. Not because of the situation itself, but because you have to wonder if there is just a regular person trapped inside a warped mind.

I know it doesn't really work like that, but the thought is nonetheless disturbing.

[Angrboda]

Ever lose a patient / have one escape?

[Bob Kelso]

Ever lose a patient / have one escape?

My shift has never let one escape, but the midweek shift has. Idiot left his post.

[paulpablo]

Feel free to ask me anything, barring personal information about patients... cos, you know, privacy laws and such.

How did you get into the job?  I just got my SIA badge for CCTV and door supervision ( I don't know if you have these wherever you live) I just got my first security job to build experience but it's looking after a warehouse in the middle of nowhere, it's quite high tech for CCTV but it's not exactly taxing work.

I'm guessing you get paid more than an average security guard?

What's the part of the job that makes you most on edge?  Is it dealing with specific cases or situations?

Do you ever do nightshifts and is the atmosphere ever spooky there at night?  I do night shifts for group of huge warehouses sometimes, and it's basically like the set for every horror film you've ever seen combined into one place, there's random boiler rooms around the place (nightmare on elm street) Random sewage and shower rooms in the place from whatever the location was used for before (IT pennywise the clown) part of the facility is woodlands in quite a remote area. (Friday the 13th,blair witch project, resident evil, the thing)

which of the patients would you least like to be your neighbour?

Are you provided with any weapons?

What is the youngest age of any person there?

What in your opinion do you think is the most common cause of mental illness?

[Bob Kelso]

Feel free to ask me anything, barring personal information about patients... cos, you know, privacy laws and such.

How did you get into the job?  I just got my SIA badge for CCTV and door supervision ( I don't know if you have these wherever you live) I just got my first security job to build experience but it's looking after a warehouse in the middle of nowhere, it's quite high tech for CCTV but it's not exactly taxing work.

I'm guessing you get paid more than an average security guard?

What's the part of the job that makes you most on edge?  Is it dealing with specific cases or situations?

Do you ever do nightshifts and is the atmosphere ever spooky there at night?  I do night shifts for group of huge warehouses sometimes, and it's basically like the set for every horror film you've ever seen combined into one place, there's random boiler rooms around the place (nightmare on elm street) Random sewage and shower rooms in the place from whatever the location was used for  before (IT pennywise the clown) part of the facility is woodlands in quite a remote area. (Friday the 13th,blair witch project, resident evil, the thing)

which of the patients would you least like to be your neighbour?

Are you provided with any weapons?

What is the youngest age of any person there?

What in your opinion do you think is the most common cause of mental illness?

• I had to be certified by the state of Tennessee, which basically boiled down to taking a class that was qualified by the state. 
  
• The initial interactions with someone that's causing a problem in the hospital, patient or visitor. There's always a nervous energy that comes from dealing with an unknown aggressor. 
  
• Actually I only work nights and weekends, twelve hour shifts. We have boiler rooms, and empty halls in the main hospital -if there's a low patient count-, and wooded areas around one of our exterior buildings outside of the main hospital, so I can sympathize. I don't really get the creeps anymore, but during my first few months it was downright hair-raising being on a round alone. It works to my advantage though since I write short horror stories.
  
• Unfortunately not. The administration has thus far refused to grant us even secondary weapons, so it's all physical force really. The laws are changing though, and by the end of next year, most likely, they will be forced to give us some form of weaponry. 
  
• The youngest guy we have is 22, with myself being the second youngest at 24. 
  
• Genetics most likely. We do get the odd accidental, like wreck or trauma survivors. 
  

Edit: Typos.