Britain's Most Notorious Psychiatric Hospital (Prison Documentary) | Real Stories

[Solemn music plays, noises of nature in

background]

Narrator: Broadmoor, a word that makes
people shiver.

Most think that Broadmoor is a prison,

in fact it's a high secure
psychiatric hospital,

and home to some of the countries most

dangerous and violent offenders.

[Gate unlocking, mechanical noises]

After five years of negotiation,
and for the

very first time, the hospital has allowed

cameras in to meet the men who live behind

these walls.

[unintelligible yelling, sound of
something slamming]

[Running foot steps keys jangling]

[more yelling and sounds of a struggle]

[door slams]

[foot steps echo in the hallway]

Inmate: Broadmoores got this, this history

about people being all these monsters
here basically.

But you can be violent, and it
don't

mean you're
a bad person.

'Cause sometimes

you don't....you're not intendin' it.

Over radio: "Hello Bravo one, two, and go.

Over radio: "One going to the

[ unintelligible] all radio. Alpha four.

Over."

Man in Tan Suit: The easiest reaction
in the world is to

see somebody that has committed something

atrocious, label them as evil, want to

lock the door and throw away the key.

Daniel: "I've probably actually never said

the words of what I've I actually done.

I've never admitted it. Still just a blur

in my head".

[knocking on door]

Inmate: "I've got born into this Italian

family. Very, very violent. In some cases

it would have been better to have killed

me than to have allowed me to have this

abominable life that I've had.

Narrator: With unprecedented access, and

filmed over a year, this series reveals

the secrets of life inside Britain's most

notorious institution.

[Bell rings]

[Solemn music]

Narrator: Broadmoor is perched above the

Berkshire village of Crowthorne. Just 40

miles from the center of London.

When people think of Broadmoore they think of

Ronny Kray, Peter Sutcliffe, Robert

Napper, and Kenneth Erskine. Some of the

most dangerous killers the country has

ever known.

Inmate: "The public perceive this place as 'oh,

that's where the Yorkshire Rippers locked

up, that's Rachel Nickell's killers locked

up'. Broadmoor is an institution of lots of

people. We're not all rapist pedophiles,

or murderers. There is people in here for

self-harming in prison, there's people in

here for buggery and they've gotten in a prison,

and there's people in here for very very

evil things.

and it brushes with all the same brush

which they shouldn't do."

[loud string crescendo]

Narrator: First built as a victorian

lunatic asylum for the criminally insane,

today Broadmoor is an NHS hospital.

Over its 150 year history, it's been a secretive

and mysterious institution.

Staff are under strict instructions not to

discuss patients outside the hospital walls.

[clicking as items are placed on conveyer

and beeping of machinery]

Many won't even admit to working here.

Staff Member: " Close, close family

members know that, obviously, where we

work. But if we're in a normal mainstream

than you would, you would probably say you

work in the hospital or something. Don't

really talk about the place."

Staff Member #2: " Listen, if you said

that you worked here. Ah, boy. You'd just

spend the whole of a day, or the

afternoon, with a barrage of questions about the place.

So, it's just easy to say you work for the

NHS".

Narrator: They're told not to share

personal information with the patients

either, and to leave their private lives

along with their possessions. At the front door.

Broadmoor's most notorious patients,

like Peter Sutcliffe and Kenneth Erskine,

have chosen not to participate.

But many of the men here have been front

page news and are vilified by society.

This is the first time they've been

allowed to tell their stories.

Alex: I've everything from taking

hostages, multiple hostage taking, stabbings,

ya' know. Uhhhh... multiple assaults, violent

assaults, fire setting off. I set a whole

stammers a fire in a hospital. A

psychiatric hospital, the first one I

ever went to. Umm.. yeah. Just mainly

violence and whatnot. My history is mainly

violence".

Narrator: "Broadmoors 200 patients are all

men suffering from mental disorders.

They're classified as vulnerable adults

and only those who have Capacity to

Give Consent have been allowed to talk to

us.

Their faces have been blurred to

protect their identities

[Door closing]

Female Voice: "What are you like when

you're not on medication?"

Alex: "Ummm...I'm quite a nasty

person. I'm quite violent, I'm very

violent in most-most circumstances. Very

antisocial. I don't like spending time

with people. I'm paranoid. I'm, uh, very

paranoid. stammers Every person around,

I'm thinking 'what's their intention?' I

come to that, sometimes I come very close

to attacking people because I'm thinking

that they're going to do something to me

and I don't want to get hurt first. Uh,

um..I remember one time when I'm off

medication, spent 11 months locked in a

cell. Segregated, due to the fact that I

was too dangerous to come out".

Narrator: 24 year old Alex arrived at

Broadmoor 7 months ago. He was serving a

life sentence in a dedicated prison unit

for highly dangerous prisoners.

They could no longer manage him.

Alex: "When I was younger, we would

chase a seagull all round the council estate

Narrator: Now in a remissions ward he's

been diagnosed with mental illness and

personality disorder and put on

medication.

One of his symptoms is Auditory Hallucinations.

He hears voices.

Alex: "Oh, I was doing a fruit salad

the other day for an assessment. That's

when they do this assessment from

personal motor, motor skills.

It's like for learning disability.

And....Umm...

I was cutting a mango

and I have never, I've never used a sharp knife.

In the seven years I've been away

I've not used a sharp knife

and I was shaking. Literally.

I nearly cut my fingers off cause'

the voices were telling me to attack the

people in the room, with the knife.

And, like, they were goading me into it,

and I thought ' I can't do that.

I can't do that.

and so I managed to finish fruit, the

fruit salad, and I thought " wow like, what

achievement'. Cause' mostly stammers a

year ago, two years ago, my emotions

would have done it.

Ya know?"

[unintelligible speaking]

Man in Sweater: "No. We'll clean it

afterwards. We want to give you

bedding for now, okay?"

Narrator: This is Cranfield, the

intensive care ward. Home to the hospital's

most acute mentally ill patients.

[door shutting, keys jangling, people

speaking unintelligibly]

Female Voice: "Hi, can we come in and

talk to you, yeah?"

Man in Sweater: "Sit on the bed for us"

Narrator: Any contact with them has to be

carefully planned and executed.

This is a six person unlock.

The door to this patients room can only be

opened with six staff present.

Man in Glasses: "There is always the risk

of violence towards others, you

have to accept that with chronic mental

illness and they will be very distant

throughout the day, but you have to

learn to work with that.

[person sobbing]

My focus in working with this guys is

actually telling them that they are here

not because of the illness, they

are here because of violence.

And they only progress from here

if there's a reduction in that violence.

So that message, you know.

It might take time, but gradually

over a period of time, is that

going through".

[keys jangling, unintelligible talking in background]

Narrator: On this ward, even the most

routine tasks, run a risk of violence and

involve a protocol.

This patient has asked for a drink.

Man in White: "Just give us a minute trails off

[unintelligible]

Shukran. Shukran

Shukran means thank you, right?

You know, you taught me all this.

laughs

[unintelligible speaking]"

Inmate: [unintelligible] "give me some more?'

Man in White: [unintelligible response]

"Thank you!"

Female voice: "Thank you guys."

Narrator: Life in Broadmoor can be a game

of snakes and ladders.

With patients moving between the hospitals

15 wards according to their

mental state.

[door closing]

Patients who have responded to treatment

can progress to one of the hospitals

Assertive Rehab Wards, where

they're given greater freedom.

Daniel is one of 12 patients on this

ward.

Daniel: "I've been here five years.

Luckily I never went to a high dependency

ward, I came straight to rehab.

And, to be honest, its been...

I wouldn't use the word wonderful...

Cause' eh... it's not wonderful.

But, I've been grateful basically

to come here.

In my spare time I try and engage

in artwork mostly.

This was the, uh... my first real attempt

at an actual portrait. All done completely

in graphite, and then I moved on to using

charcoal along with, uh.. graphite.

And the charcoal allows you to, to have

so much more...uhhh...depth in the tone or

quality.

And then, yeah....I did a self-portrait.

The whole, The whole picture was a

statement about when I got locked up,

when I was 14 and I'm now 24.

This is me at 24, but uh, that's me.....

back then...sort of thing...."

Narrator: Mental Disorder is no respecter

of class or education.

Daniel was a 14 year old boy at a

mainstream school, and no one anticipated

the violence of his attack....on his own

family.

[Heavy guitar riff]

All of the men in Broadmoor present a

grave and immediate risk to the public.

And many have committed violent crimes.

From arson, to torture, rape and murder.

Unlike a prison sentence, they have no

release date.

Daniel: "I've been a bit of a conundrum

for the psychologists.

And I've have, I've had about nine different

diagnoses from thirty different doctors.

I've had seminars about me done,

I've had people wanting to write books about me,

just because of the unusuallity of

my offense, and my age, and what happened...

I mean, my family are my saving grace

to be honest here. They, they,

they're hugely...hugely supportive.

And what's even more amazing is that my offense

was actually oriented against my family.

So I think...so the fact....and, and, what a

lot of people see is that, when a family

member has committed an offense against

a family member they're often...dis-disowned.

So it think it's...it's too much for the family.

But, they-they, have told me that they swore

they'd stay by me when they, when I was

christened, and they have. So I think,

ya know...

They've always-they've always agreed I've had Aspergers.

One of the problems I have is I'm

not very good at understanding emotions.

Or...if I have a...if I'm feeling something

I don't always understand what it is that

I'm feeling.

But if I can draw it, I can get out these

angry feelings, or these frustrations of

being locked up, or guilt, or remorse.

All these, all these negative feelings I

can channel through this imaginative artworks".

[background talking, lunch bags rustle]

Daniel: I've probably never actually said

the words of what I actually done.

I've never admitted it.

Because I still, I still get flashbacks.

It's mainly guilt.

I still-I still struggle to bring it to mind

It's still just a blur in my head.

I've done such a terrible thing. Thats one

of the things that I've got to come to

terms with eventually is that I've

done this, it's happened, and it WILL be

with me forever".

Narrator: We're not allowed to reveal the

details of Daniel's offense.

Man in Suit: "okay"

Daniel: "Umm, the other thing I was

wondering about was, I sort of get

problems of fine motor control and spatial awareness,

and like bumping into things, and dropping

things a lot".

Man in Suit: "As you're saying it's not one of

the most common side effect. In fact, the

opposite....[trails off]"

Narrator: Daniel is taking medication and

undergoing psychological therapy.

These, together with everyday interaction

with staff are the cornerstone of

the treatment here.

Man in Suit: "Have you noticed any benefit?"

Daniel: " I don't really know what it is

I'm looking for."

Man in Suit: " I have noticed a difference

in you, not within the last week, but

certainly over the last three months. I

think that you are much more able to

spend longer time with people in one to

one situations."

[ducks quack, dramatic music]

Narrator: Broadmoor can feel like a ghost

town. Patients can only move at certain

times and in certain configurations.

Their cameras record where each patient is

at any given moment.

[Radio Chatter]

The control room ensures that incompatible

patients, do not collide.

[Radio Chatter]

Patients who are well enough, leave their

wards to go to work, study, and even once

a week go shopping. It's strangely like a

village.

[loud indistinct talking]

Shopkeeper "Whats going on? You sure it's okay?"

[indistinct response]

Shopkeeper: "Good."

Narrator: The freedom to shop is a

mixed blessing. One of the side effects

of medication is increased appetite

and many patients are severely overweight.

[indistinct talking]

However normal it feels, the reminder of

the threat of violence is ever-present.

Searches looking for potential weapons

are carried out before any patient movement.

Hospital Staff: This is stuff that we've

retrieved from patients. I think this is

just, what used to be a C.D. and its been

broken up into shards. It can be used as a

blade, even for self harming.

In fact, we don't use the C.D.s here anymore.

We've got spoons and forks that have been

sharpened off on the edge. So a normal

teaspoon-plastic spoon-which is quite innocent

to you and I, has been fashioned off and

can be used as a potential weapon to stab.

It's an example of how vigilant we have to

be with everyday items".

Alex: "I've done a lot of self harming, as

you can see. I've cut my own throat a couple

of times. I've cut my throat like four

times I think. Umm funny enough, I think

It was like five weeks before I come here,

I hung myself and they had to do CPR

on me in the cell.

Like, you know?

I was sexually abused when I was a child

and that had an affect on my behavior,

on my mental state.

I couldn't sleep at night, and the rest

of it...I was, you know...

Basically everything that you go through

when you've had a traumatic situation

like I did.

I think as well as being here,

I said to my mum 'this feels like the

best I've ever been in ten years."

Man in Tan Suit: Patients that come here,

they will have perpetrated, often,

horrendous crimes. But, they are also

victims. It is very easy to see somebody

as either the perpetrator or the victim.

It is much more difficult to understand

that somebody might be both.

[squirrel chatters]

[loud drumming and incoherent yelling]

Narrator: Patients from different wards

meet in certain events.

Dave Neita: "hi, first of all, thank

you for giving up your time. I know you

could be doing other things, I know

you have different [trails off]"

Narrator: Todays a diversity workshop and

Poet and Lawyer Dave Neita is encouraging

them to celebrate their different cultures.

Dave Neita: "Today I invite you to speak

about your own culture, but before

that we're going to have lunch."

But most of them are celebrating lunch.

[drums continue]

With no alcohol or tobacco allowed, food

is the only thing they have free reign over.

[drums in background]

Alex: "My mum's Italian and my dad's from

a little island in Africa

and I would say that being multicultural

It helps. It's good. It's nice to be different.

Because different is what we need. We

don't want everyone the same. And that's it."

Declan: "How'd I end up in here? Umm

they said they had a spare bed so I

thought 'I've been in children's homes,

I've been in secure units, I've been in prison.

The only place I haven't been is Broadmoor.

So I thought I'd come along.

laughs"

[drumming]

Narrator: Now 26, Declan was put

into care at the age of nine.

Declan: "I remember the day that my

mum took me to this office. I sat there

in a chair, and the next minute she just

left. She went 'your not coming with me'.

A social worker come out and she went

'alright, you got to come with me'.

I went to children's homes, foster homes.

I kept running away, cause' I got abused

When I was in the children home. By the

staff. Sexually and physical. And umm I

think it was like, no one would actually

listen to me.

I ran away to London, and I was living on

the streets. I mean I was living out of

bins, yeah....not nice but, when you're

on the streets you have to do that sometimes.

you know what I mean?"

Inmate in Red: "Yeah guys, this is called

Think, yeah?

It goes like this: When you see a tramp

out on the street. Don't look down your

nose so far that you see your own feet.

When you see people homeless don't reach

for a broom. Consider if you have the

means to give them a room.

Declan: "Am I a victim? I mean my current

defendant...umm...basically stabbed 'em

up. The judge classed it under as torture".

Inmate in Blue: "I'm black, I'm

British, and I'm proud of it [fades into

clapping and drums]."

Female Voice: "You say you've got a child?"

Declan: "Mm-hm. Got a little boy,

he's seven.

And he lives with his mum.

Don't really see him, but I would-

I wouldn't expect children to come in a

place like this."

Female Voice: "And are you still on good

terms with his mum?"

Declan: "Ummm...laughs

not really. No.

I started having a bit of a relationship

with [name beeped out]. Sooo, yeah..that

was the first time I found out that I was

sort of that way.

I've always-for some reason-I've always

wanted to be a woman.

I think that's the way I am, you know

but in this place you can't do that,

they won't allow it."

Declan in front of room: "I just wanted

to say I'm gay, and I'm proud of it.

Thank you."

Declan: "I want to be a Drag Queen that's

what I've done for a while."

Female Voice: "What's she called?"

Declan: "Crystal."

Female Voice: "And what's she look like?"

Declan: "Blonde, and just fabulous

laughs"

[Intense music]

Narrator: We've come to Chepstow, a

medium-dependancy ward, where Lenny

wants to show us his artwork.

Female Voice: "You do it in your room?"

Lenny: "Yeah. I do work with spare pens,

and it's mostly based on pens and

basically your using cups and shapes

and bottle tops to draw around.

Female Voice: "How long have you been here?"

Lenny: "7 years this time."

Female voice: "Is it not your first time?"

Lenny: "No it's the second time.

What do you think of that one?

That's the corridors in a ward that's shut

down now."

Female Voice: "So why are you considered

a risk?"

Lenny: "Because...I think its because of

my particular offense was against a

consulting psychiatrist. They

called in a section 12 approved psychiatrist.

And they're very powerful, not like- not

like when you go to an ordinary doctor.

They-they work from home office."

Narrator: He's not happy with life in

Broadmoor, and tells us he's bringing a

High Court case against the hospital.

Lenny: "It costs how much? What was the

last figure they said it cost to keep us

here every year? 320,000 pounds a year or

something? Surely its-its wrong to charge

a fortune for people like us. When we're

nowhere near about the centers of the

community."

Narrator: I costs 300,000 pounds a year

to keep a patient in Broadmoor. Almost

five times the cost of keep someone in prison.

Before Lenny came to Broadmoor, he was

in outpatient at a psychiatric hospital

where he threatened his psychiatrist with

a machete.

Female Voice: "Do you think you shouldn't

be here, or?"

Lenny: "Do you think I sound like a

mad blathering idiot?

Cause' I think-No I don't think I should

be here. I think I should be sharing this-

my life- with people. I want to be

sharing my life with people. I want to

be able to decide

what I do, when I do it

and be reasonably responsible for my

own behavior, like anyone else out there.

And I don't think I'll be any more of a

danger then whatever's already out there.

And I will be honest with you, I am rude

here, I could be really furious and angry

and people come with 'You're the patient,

yeah? That is a term we use to separate

you from the rest of society, we're the

last thing on earth -this is the truth

here- to be given what you call equal

rights. What do you think? You agree

or not? I'm not anti-people I'm all for

people."

Narrator: Downstairs on the admissions

ward, Alex is keen to progress.

Alex: I was seven months up in here

yesterday, seven months yesterday. It's

taking forever. Are you aware of any

beds coming up soon?"

Narrator: His medication has stabilized

him. He wants to move from Admissions to

and Assertive Rehab ward, where he'll

have greater freedom.

Man in suit: That I don't know.

Alex: Well you should know, [laughing]

you're a consultant in there!

Man in suit: Yes- I can't- I don't know

the timescales, cause it's not quite

within my control...

Narrator: Back upstairs on Chepstow,

Benson, the PAT dog, has arrived for

his weekly visit.

Lenny's behavior over the past few days

is becoming a cause for concern.

He's been increasingly manic and

hyperactive, and his doctor feels he

needs medication.

[door clatter] Dog Handler: Bye!

Narrator: Lenny refuses to take it,

so it'll have to be forcibly administered,

by injection.

Lenny: Hang on hang on, you filming?

[crosstalk]

Lenny: This is wrong, I'm not fighting you

[crosstalk]

[chatter]

Doctor: Guys, we really need to get this

started, if you just mind, just, just-

please.. OK? All right

Narrator: At this point, staff tell us

to leave the ward.

[moody music]

We're told we can see Lenny the following

day. [door shuts]

[birds, brooding music]

Lenny: Neil? Neil, could we have a key

please? There should [unintelligible]

Narrator: The day before, we were told to

leave the ward when staff were about

to forcibly inject Lenny with

antipsychotic medication.

He's keen to explain what happened after

we left.

Lenny: Come this way-

So I moved into here-

Narrator: He leads us into the seclusion

area.

Lenny: Come in, come in.

All right, well [unintelligible] First

of all, I was at that point, I was

laying like this, alright, and I was

talking saying 'Please don't turn me

over, cos I'm not trying to fight you'

And they said, and the next thing happened

they all came in and [unintelligible]

I can make a deal with them, I'm on the

bed, so I'm like this, one point, all the

staff were holding me, I was like that

and said 'Would you please let me go,

and I'll get up' so I went like that

and stood like that and took down my

pants and trousers and he stopped

me there, let's see, I came out again,

that's what happened, but I didn't-

What do you think? What's your opinion

about that?

Interviewer: But did you, so did you hit

one of them then?

Lenny: Yeah but that's cos I was being

chased [unintelligible].

One of the biggest areas of conflict, um

between certainly doctor and patient

is the issue of medication.

Lenny: This one's sealed, alright?

It's stifling sometimes.

Doctor, offscreen: One of the difficulties

with psychotic disorders is your

interpretation of reality is different

from other people's.

And if you genuinely believe there's

nothing wrong with you and you don't

need any medication, why on earth would

you want to take some of the medications

that would be up for discussion?

Lenny: Could we open this door please?

Doctor: He's particularly angry for two
reasons, so

one is he doesn't believe he'll benefit

from the medication at all, second reason

is that he believes he's involved in a

major, high court case against the

hospital to expose a range of malpractice

particularly in relation to him, but in

general about how these services are just

really keeping people in jobs and don't

provide any useful service.

Lenny: The hospital's defense is just-

'Here's some of the most notorious

people in the country,' I'll show you
what-

Doctor: He believes we've given him the

medication purely to dull his mind

and weaken his chances of being successful

in that case.

In fact he's not currently involved
in any,

uh, legal action or court case.

Lenny: No you're not going in there

it's private, sorry come on you guys

it's private. It's my mess, my own mess.

Hey look, can you show 'em all now?

Look at that, that's my mum and me.

See she pretty in the black and white from

the 60s, see her?

Doctor: He's a man who's spent a long

time in institutional care, um in previous

settings was frequently assaulted, he was

violent himself on several occasions

but he often assaulted.

Lenny: You want a drink or anything, cup

of tea or something?
[offscreen] I'm fine

You sure? Any sweets, soft drink?
[offscreen] Nothing

Lenny: Alright thanks very, thank you
very much [unintelligible]

[contemplative music]

[keys clattering, chatter]

[offscreen] Just check to make sure, all

the shadows are covered..

So they're checked, first thing in the

morning, again before the patients go back

[door handle rattles]

Narrator: Patients who are well enough

to go to work can make goods, which go

on sale to the public. They are paid

80 pence an hour.

Alex has been doing well and is now

allowed off the Admissions ward to

come to work.

Alex: Everyone's saying 'Oh you gonna move

you're gonna move' they said I would have

moved by Thursday last week, nothing

so far now, I've been onto my psychiatrist

saying, 'Look, why am I still on at
Admission ward,

after 8 months, when there's a bed for me

on Rehab? Know?'

Interviewer: You a bit frustrated?
Alex: Yeah

it is frustrating, but

I'm just at the moment, focusing, cos next

week I've got a visit, mum and dad are

coming up for 2 days, so, y'know, I'll

spend some time with my family.

[tapping]

[outdoor ambiance, guitar music]

Narrator: They have a saying here:

There's time, and then there's Broadmoor
Time.

Tan shirt: Which episode did you see last,

of Eastenders? Bout a week ago?

Black shirt: Last night?
Tan shirt: Last night?

Black shirt: Last night yeah

Tan shirt: Did they show the man who was

pretending to be Nick Cotton's own son?

Black shirt: No I didn't see it

[moody music]

Narrator: While medication can often

control behavior, extensive therapy is

needed to change it, and that takes time.

Estelle: I'm in the diary, ok?
[offscreen] OK

Narrator: Estelle Moore is the hospital's

lead psychologist, she's been here for 20
years.

Estelle: [keys jangling] You alright?

Declan: They say just carry on with the

violent offenders group, what finishes in
December

Narrator: Patients undergo specific

therapies depending on their offense,

whether it's violence, sex offending, or

fire setting.

Declan: -understand our relationships and

uhh, borderlines. No not borderlines,
boundaries.

Estelle: What sort of actions are safe

and contained in relationships? The sorts

of things that you would do that feel

like normal and safe relationships?

Declan: Laughter

Estelle: Laughter? OK so laughing,

Declan: Talking sensible. Feeling
comfortable with each other.

[keys, footsteps]

Narrator: Declan was found guilty of a
life-threatening assault on a man.

Declan: Do I feel sorry for him? No.
Will I do it again? No.

No. I'm missing the sun, I'm missing
the surfing. Know what I mean?

[keys, door squeaks]

[door shuts]

[moody music]

[ping pong ball clatters]

Narrator: Lenny has been on antipsychotic

medication for a few weeks.

It has had time to build up in his system.

[ponytail] Now he's had the depot
injection, the chemicals from that

are slowing down his reactions to the
point where he has those few

more seconds to think-

'How am I gonna reply to this?'

and he will reply in a much more- manner
to what you or I would reply to something.

I can definitely empathize with him, he

hasn't come from a different
background to me

but he has come from different parents
to me.

[Interviewer, offscreen] It seems to be
the case with so many.

Yeah, I know, I agree with that, you can

probably see if you go back into, um,

the lives of most of our patients, you
could probably identify them at

5, 6 years old, and say 'I'll be seeing
you later on' and things like that.

Lenny: He's alright here, he's my buddy,

one day he's gonna tell the
truth as well. [laughs]

[walkie talkie chatter]

[Doctor, offscreen] Everyone is born with

certain temperaments, with certain
predispositions to certain

behavior, and if you've been given a
triple-whammy of, of genes, environment,

upbringing, childhood adversity, substance
misuse, all of those different

aspects build up to make the person.

And it's a long term project of gradually
putting somebody back together and

making sure that they stay in that
recovered state.

[ominous music]

Narrator: Things have finally changed for
Alex-

after 8 months, he's been moved to
Assertive Rehab.

Alex: It's better over here, it's a little
better.

Got a lot more freedom, key to a door,

come out when you want to make hot drinks,
yeah, it's alright.

Narrator: But it's not all good news. As
so often in the past,

he's in danger of self-harming.

He's had to be put on Eyesight Observation
which means nurses have to

take turns to watch him, 24 hours a day.

Alex: Cos my mental state haven't been
the best, it's not nice, you know,

hearing voices and what-have-you, but
you know, just got to control it,

that's all you can do, not let it get
to you.