When a patient who had been given a day pass arrived back at Unit late and inebriated. Customary search of belongings was omitted due to patient agitation. When patient was finally let onto Unit he pulled a large knife from his coat and started to threaten staff. As the resident on-call, I had to figure out what to do while awaiting security. Grabbed a spare mattress to block patient’s attacks, gathered all staff behind me and we retreated to safety of the lockable central nurses station while awaiting arrival of security team. Next morning, attending psychiatrist commended me for taking the best action when confronted by an agitated patient with a weapon- RETREAT TO SAFETY!

Showed me how meaningful mental health Research could be done under ideal conditions- namely all Patients admitted had to agree to a 7-9 day “wash-out” period of medication before starting on new medication or voluntarily entering a treatment Research protocol; families had to participate in evaluation and treatment process; biopsychology labs were integral part of each clinical unit, and each clinical unit was staffed by top notch experienced Psychiatric Research faculty and post-docs from the academic institution that ran that particular treatment/Research/training unit.

That everyone working there had to provide blood and tissue specimens, without informed consent, for the schizophrenia Research Program of one of the Unit Chiefs. This was done during the physical exam process required of all new hires into this State controlled mental health treatment and research facility until a legal suit against this practice brought it to an end