You ever try to get a social worker to chase a naked woman down a street at 6am? Or deal with a naked 6'7" 300lbs man off his meds and preaching hellfire and brimstone at 3am in the middle of a severe thunderstorm? I have, more than once or thrice.

It was just me and a deputy sheriff trying to catch the naked woman and then both of us pleading on our phones with our respective bosses for somewhere to take her - but there were no openings at the moment. And more importantly - I was informed by the "on call" social worker to "figure it out ourselves" to find a place for her. We ended up having to simply take her to jail to hold her until more people showed up to work to deal with it. (I did get a nasty email from her social worker though).

It was just me trying to talk that naked "preacher" into the back of my rig for a "little trip to a place he could preach." And me hoping I wasn't about to be assaulted for the 3rd time that month. I managed to talk the man into the 40 mile ride with me - unrestrained in the back of the ambulance. But I was on pins and needles the whole time.

Just like Jesus, no social worker was ever there to help me with ANY of those types of calls on scene. And just like little green apples and sunshine, I also knew that I would be seeing those two again in a couple of months.

[–] BeAware@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 9 months ago (2 children)

ADHD meds ≠ Anti-Psychotic meds.

Just so you know. Because it doesn't seem like you know.😬

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

Yeah this person is on the warpath, it's really weird.

[–] bluewing@lemm.ee -5 points 9 months ago (2 children)

The meds these people were supposed to be taking weren't for ADHD, (as a medic I MIGHT know a bit more about these medications than you). You don't chase people with ADHD naked down the street.

Just so YOU know...........

[–] BeAware@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

That's what I'm saying. You're making the comparison between people not taking their Anti-Psychotic meds and people not taking their ADHD meds.....not me.

[–] bluewing@lemm.ee -1 points 9 months ago

Those are the people who need a social worker the most. They are supposed to be checking in on these poor people far more often than they do to prevent them from needing me to chase them down or me getting assaulted by them in the first place.

But again, you ain't never going to see a social worker working outside of a 9 to 5 office.

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

Any credibility you had was washed away with that comment. Sorry, but a medic is bupkiss as far as medical knowledge is concerned but I do concede that you will have had extraordinary medical training compared to the average person.

You mentioned that you are retired. Things are most definitely different now than they were even 5 years ago. The severity of the problem, the number of people affected, the costs, it's all worse. That said, we are also finally TRYING to fix it now that enough Boomers have aged enough that Reagan's hatred for social care is no longer relevant.

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Yes. My husband is a social worker and works in a housing-first organization. He has 25 formerly homeless clients, all of whom are dealing with some form of substance abuse and mental health issues. Yes, he deals with exactly what you just said every day of his life.

Whatever your anger is has nothing to do with social workers and honestly sounds like someone who listens to too much Fox News.

[–] bluewing@lemm.ee -1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I don't do fox news or any other conservative outlet.

Again in nearly 20 years in the back of the bus, just like Jesus I have never had help from a social worker at a scene. But I have had such group homes like your husband works at call 911 so me or someone like me could deal with people who they couldn't control though. I guess it was better to have me get assaulted than themselves - been there, done that, got the tee shirts.........

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

You're the only person outside of those who obsessively watch Fox who hate social workers. Nobody except extreme right wingers hate social workers.

[–] bluewing@lemm.ee 2 points 9 months ago

I do not hate social workers per se. I hate how the public thinks social workers are the answer to every social ill. And I hate how many times I had to get assaulted at 2am because one of them didn't do their job. But yeah, social workers are perfect and are just not being paid enough to do their job.

You get out there and do a few psych calls. You go out there and get hit and bitten while trying to restrain a violent patient and not hurting them. Or better yet, take a call for a suicide at an address of one of those frequent fliers that got all the help from their social worker. I got that tee shirt too. Maybe you need to "earn" that one too.