The hostel - in retrospect

I am not so negative about the hostel now as I was at the point of leaving. Looking back the first year was quite therapeutic, and if the anarchy in the semi-independent unit turned nasty in the end, that was probably due to a bad mix of people.
Staff do keep professional boundaries, and although confusing for the patient this is perhaps inevitable, since they are doing a job, and may have to exert some authority. Perhaps only in the R.D. Laing Hostels was this staff/client divide not present.
I prefer my present supported flat, but it does have it's disadvantages over the Hostel - the lack of a communal area and less people to share the house with. You can get isolated in a flat on your own, particularly in the evenings, and this may even make you unwell. Basically there is a trade-off between support and independence.
I think I would like to live with friends or my own family in the future, not on my own unless I had a lot of local friends, and with professional support at a day centre. But who knows!

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