I am new to this place, have read a lot of stories, but this time is the first time I myself publish something. (Please note: I am from Sweden, and my grammar and choice of words can perhaps be a bit... You know... Outlandishly funny/strange.)
Anyway, I work as a mental health carer in various psychiatric homes. Our clients have since the psychiatric reformation in the late 80's in Sweden, moved out of the mental institutions to smaller houses with their own apartments and common rooms, i.e., dinner room, TV rooms, etc.
I mainly work with clients that have quite severe diseases and delusions like schizophrenia, antisocial behaviour, schizoaffective disorder, etc.
I also work in different places. In the town I live in (which I can't give away for my clients' reason, but it is located near the coast, in the west of Sweden, and it's quite big) we have... I think it's 7 or 8 different homes. I currently work in 3 of them.
The homes are mainly located in old buildings. The psychiatric care in Sweden have always been the stepchild of the various care areas. I personally think that's why the buildings often aren't the newest. (I just have to say, though, it is a work in progress. One of the homes I work in was built last year, and it's super nice and very modern and the caretaker, as well as the staff, love it!)
Anyhow, I have mostly worked in one of the buildings set in a rough area (we sure have those here unfortunately, with shooting and assault and all...) and it is located inside an apartment complex. I started working there 3 years ago, which will be 2010.
First year nothing. I worked days and evenings. There was, though, a feeling of... I don't know, uneasiness? In the basement where our office and food supplies, as well as a sofa to rest on, are located. It came after half a year or so since I started working there. I am not squeamish. If that's what you are, my job isn't for you! Our clients CAN be dangerous and scream and say quite appalling stuff, and threaten you and you have to stand with both your feet firmly on the ground.
So the uneasiness in the office kind of took me by surprise. It was like... Always when you opened the door and came in, someone hastily moved into the room where the supplies and "resting-sofa" were. Like, if someone had been standing in the corridor and quickly backed into the sofa room. (When you open there is just a corridor, with shelves on the sides. The sofa room is located on the right side, in the end of the corridor, which isn't so long, but still a corridor.) But I never said something to anyone because nothing kind of happened except... Sometimes you could also hear something's withdrawal into the room. But as I said, you got to just do what you do, fetching more rubber gloves, band aids, apples, or whatever.
Then 2011 I started working nights. I don't recall (and that's a shame personally, because I have actually forgotten) who first said something. I think it was the second night or third night I started my night shifts. We were up in the common TV room, and just out of the blue, the person I was working with asked, "Do you believe in ghosts?"
"Well, I am a bit interested, but... How come you ask?" I asked. "We have them here... For sure" she said (because this year only women worked nights with me THAT I recall). I asked a bit about what people believed they saw, or heard, and got the explanation that there was a lot going on in the kitchen, right behind our backs. Sounds of bangings inside the walls, scratchings, things moved around, etc. Apparently the coffemaker turned itself on and off, pots and pans fell to the floor. This kind of surprised me because I had never heard anything, not myself, and I have not heard anyone else talking about it. We spoke for a short while, but nothing happened more than your interest coming to life.
A short while later, me and my newfound favourite night worker had the weekend night shift. She ALSO started talking about ghosts. I shared my experience downstairs in the basement and she said, "I know who that is!" I knew that a daytime carer died of cancer approximately 5 months after I started working there (very tragic, she wasn't very old) and apparently she used to sleep on the sofa in the basement when she worked evening with day shift the day after, due to her long way home! My co-worker believed that was the explanation for my feelings downstairs. And to this day, I still feel them sometimes but now when I "might know who it is" I don't feel so uneasy.
Then, the second night (Saturday night) the little lady that lived in the room next to the nurses' office (located upstairs) was walking in the corridors. We sat in the TV room (upstairs as well) and there is a small open doorway in that room, and I saw her passing by it. "Shiat," I thought to myself. "Now we're in for a ride." (This lady, if allowed up all night, will be very much to handle.) "I'll take Mrs. S." I said to my co-worker. "She's up?" she asked. "Yeah, she just passed by!" and I went out the open doorway. To see nothing. Barely night lighted black corridor, with no one there. NO ONE! I even went in Mrs. S's apartment. She was actually fast asleep!
This scared me AND my co-worker. She started telling me that there was so many tales about this home, and that people that spoke about the hauntings in the kitchen (actually made it up). The real thing is this little lady walking around in the corridors and one thing more..."Don't say it" I said. "The dinner room, right?"
That was correct. I had noticed under this short while that I always was assigned to clean the dinner room. The night shift workers always wanted to clean the office instead and believe me, the office is more stuff to clean!
After this night I started noticing that someone stood behind my back when I mopped the floors in the dinner room. Before I had barely noticed it, thinking it was one of the clients, although no one was there when I looked back, but after the thing passing the doorway I also felt a bit more scared mopping and cleaning in the dinner room. (This might, however, be a "thing of the mind" since she verified my thoughts around the dinner room.)
Now few more months passed, and I saw this thing walk past the open door at least three times more. It actually made night shift work both interesting and scary. When you see something dark actually moving just in front of an open door right in front of you when you are watching TV, and you go look and no one's there... In the middle of the night... I tell you... That's a...special feeling. I guess it's still there, but I don't work nights no more.
The last thing with the corridor thing. I always got the sense of a lady and that it was short. That's why I always thought it was little Mrs. S.
So one night, me and this fav co-worker of mine had this very special lady with us. She is one of our clients, and one that I like working with since she can have clear moments when she is actually funny and very witty. She suffers from delusional schizophrenia, and one of her major things is her interest in the paranormal. Now, we aren't talking about "normal" interest, but rather very obsessive behaviour with angels, demons, ghosts, alien abductions. This is quite common with the disease. And again, very... Different from normal interest.
We sat this night (she could not sleep) and talked in front of the TV. The show on was something ordinary like Ellen or so. Just like that, I saw the thing pass the open door! AND I SAW HER SEE IT, TOO!
In a voice far from her manic voice she said, "There's that little old lady again." I kind of froze for a second. As I can't go in to my clients delusions or behaviour, I HAD to kindly say that I did not know what she was talking about, and I started to discuss the show on TV and just make things normal as I am supposed to.
She was not as upset and "over the top" when she said this as she used to be, and it's quite out of the ordinary that I saw her follow it with her eyes and that she, just like me, feels that this is a little woman.
Later I have found out that this particular home was an elderly people's home. Many died in the apartments, from pneumonia and age. The home is now in planning to move, since it is old and worn out.
I actually think it is a good idea. Not just only for the area, which has so much problems. I think we have a little more people in there, especially at night, that we can't handle, nor care for...
Vigilant
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