It's the beginning of 2016, and I spent the holidays in Stanford University Hospital's G2P. We have groups with the patients from H2, the locked ward.
From the day I arrived, back in early December, he was there, always shoeless, always referring to himself as a "gentle giant" even though he was delusional and paranoid. Often, during group therapy, he would get into the same rant about how the doctors are holding him against his will, and that they are conspiring to keep him here as long as they possibly can.
During one particular session, he says, "This is like prison...right? Because we are held against our will."
One of the other patients turns to him, and says, "I've been to prison. This ain't nothin' like prison."
He shut up.
It was a beautiful moment in an otherwise dreary day.
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