The Quiet Room: A Journey Out of the Torment of Madness

Lori finds herself in New York Hospital again. However, whereas she was housed in the intermediate-stay unit her first time, she is now staying in the acute-care unit. She does not have a roommate because her “status [is] always close to the lowest possible one on the unit” (141).

The status levels determine each patient’s privileges within the facility. The highest status ranking, “O.U,” for “Open Unit,” means that the patient can move freely after checking in. At the other end of the spectrum is “C.O.”, for “Constant Observation,” meaning that “some jailer always had to be within arm’s reach” (142).

It hurts Lori’s pride for her to be hospitalized a second time after convincing everyone around her that she would never go back to the hospital. She therefore vows not to give hospital staff the satisfaction of listening to them, and she decides to listen to the Voices, instead.

Lori is considered too much of a danger to roam the unit freely, and her days are dreary and long. She watches as other patients enjoy therapy, classes, and outings. She fills her time with pacing the hallways, smoking cigarettes in the dayroom, reading notices on the bulletin board, taking her pills, and seeing her newly-assigned psychiatrist three times a week.