I learned today that Sally's eye condition is called EPS. It's a movement disorder that's a side effect of the psychotropic medication she's on. It also causes stiffness in the back and arms. Today she began crying in rehab group and repeatedly screamed "I want my momma. I want my momma." We had to redirect her to the tv and put on a Harry Potter movie to get her to stop crying.

During another rehab session (they get numerous throughout the day) we had music therapy, which just so happened to be karoke. One girl wanted to sing, but she was afraid to in front of everyone else. We finally coerced her to sing and after she was finished she walked away from the rest of the group and cried for 15 minutes.

There's one girl that's really attached to me. I'll call her Tonya. She's a repeat patient and this is her third time coming to the facility. She 14 and claims to be here for suicide attempts and prostitution. Many of the staff complain to her that she has a distinct body odor. Tonya takes showers just to earn points toward recovering, but doesn't use soap. The likelihood is that she was never taught how.

At dinner time we escort everyone to the dining room and everyone sits. Names are called and patients are to come to the counter and pick up their individualized trays. Tonya's name was called and she approached the counter to see milk on her tray. She screamed "I CAN'T DRINK MILK!! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!?!?" The entire room was silent as the MHW behind the counter explained to her (with great attitude) that she had made a mistake. Tonya sat down with her tray.

The Karoke girl was sitting alone, so I sat with her to ask about how she was feeling and what not. I was there for about 5 minutes when Tonya yelled for me across the room asking if I'd come sit with her. I sat with Tonya and asked her what was up. She said that she wanted to talk to a Nurse immediately. I asked the other staff if she would be able to and they said not until after dinner. When I returned to the table and told her what they'd said, she began to shake violently and turn red in the face. She breathed very heavily and said she wanted to talk to a nurse. I repeated myself and snot began to run out of her nose.

She asked to be escorted back to her room. Myself and a coworker took her back to her unit. She sat with me and said that the staff were against her and trying to kill her with milk. I informed her that it wouldn't kill her, but only make her sick. We finally calmed her down and explained that we were all here to help her. She later told us that she was having distorted thoughts. The nurse finally came and gave her some meds. She didn't put up a fuss for the rest of the day until I told her that I was leaving for lunch. She nearly flipped out and I had to assure her that I was coming back.

Tonya also has a red mark on her chin. It looks like a burn, but it covers almost the whole chin. I asked her how she'd gotten it and she said that it was from the cake from yesterday and that some icing had gotten on her chin. The burned look was the effects of the milk in the icing. There is NO MILK in icing. She also told her mother when she came to visit today that she'd thrown up her dinner after eating it. She didn't eat ANY of her dinner, because she had flipped out and we had to escort her back to the unit. Her mother also brought her brownies and a milkshake. She ate both of them.

Another girl, who's also quite attached to me, approached me and asked to talk because "I feel like cutting myself." She talked with me about her foster mother and how she would hit her and the other children she had taken into her home. I took her into the "fashion" room and helped her pick out some shoes and clothes that would fit her. The girl had come to the facility with no clothes and no shoes and her foster mother refused to send her anything. Before she came to the facility, she was in a gang, pushing pot and coke, owned a gun, and had a 24 year old boyfriend. She's 17.