Help Are Psych Wards as Bad as People Say

[OutOfThisBody]

Scared of failing and getting caught - do nurses and staff in psych wards suck as much as people say? Are they mean as hell?

 

[divinemistress36]

Last time in 2021 I dont remember cause electro shock therapy wiped my memory out but I know I made some cool friends there and the food was good. Back in 2006 it was chill though doctors and nurses were cool

 

[Bootleg Astolfo]

I got stuck there one time and was fed so poorly that i fell on the floor, only for them to then yell at me, and not increase portion sizes. The loud fat men who kept yelling about also not being fed properly got double rations though.

 

[lli_lvr]

I'd imagine it largely has to do with your location. I haven't been to a mental ward myself, but I've got a lot of family that have had to stay for a while. Sometimes the staff is wonderful, the funding is appropriate, the people are well taken care of, and everything seems well off for the most part. Other times, and typically most of the time, I hear countless stories of malpractice and abuse within the establishment.

 

[KillingPain267]

Yes. They are useless. If you feel bad you might as well stay in your own bed and watch a movie and wait for the feeling to pass. In the psych ward you will not find rest. Some complain about being drugged to calm down... I WISH. You have to beg for hours for even half a sleeping pill to be able to sleep, because the unfamiliar environment and noises will not give you rest. But first they ask for urine and blood tests and access to all medical journals. If you have anxiety like me, a hospital in general is the last place you wanna be held up for hours or days. I checked myself into a psych ward about a year ago after a bad LSD trip or whatever it was I took, and I still regret going there even though I went home already the next day. I thought going to the hospital while freaking out would be like in the TV medical shows where they instantly give something to the patient to calm down, but no. I sat there for hours crying alone in bright white lights and later hyperventilating. I might as well have just cried at home like I usually do. After that I experimented with other drugs myself because I knew there is no help from the "medical" industry. I knew I was on my own.

 

[sad.girl]

I was in 2 different psych wards when I was 16 and 17, and honestly it wasn't horrible but it wasn't good either. The first place I went (in 2020) forced me to do a strip search, and when I refused they held me down and took my clothes anyway. They put me on antidepressants before I had even talked to the head doctor there (who ran both places I went to) and when I did finally get to talk to her she accused me of pretending to be suicidal for attention. Aside from that the first place wasn't too bad, everyone had roommates so at least we weren't alone and most of the nurses were nice. We did a different activity for an hour every day as long as everyone on the ward took their medicine, which was nice. The second place (in 2021) was a little worse in my opinion. They didn't strip search me and no one had a roommate, but we had to spend most of the day alone in our rooms and the nurses were kinda mean, they all swore we were in there for attention, not because we genuinely needed help. My sister had been there twice before I went so I was constantly being accused of only attempting suicide because my sister did. They put me back on the medicine that the other place had put me on even though they knew it made me more suicidal and if anyone refused to take their medicine they got "booty juice", which I don't really know what that is but they'd strap you down and take you off the ward to give it to you, and none of the kids they did that to came back to the ward. I imagine that it would be worse as an adult to go, I always just did what I had to do to get out of there as soon as possible so luckily for me I had a better experience at those places than most people that I know that have been there.

I was in 2 different psych wards when I was 16 and 17, and honestly it wasn't horrible but it wasn't good either. The first place I went (in 2020) forced me to do a strip search, and when I refused they held me down and took my clothes anyway. They put me on antidepressants before I had even talked to the head doctor there (who ran both places I went to) and when I did finally get to talk to her she accused me of pretending to be suicidal for attention. Aside from that the first place wasn't too bad, everyone had roommates so at least we weren't alone and most of the nurses were nice. We did a different activity for an hour every day as long as everyone on the ward took their medicine, which was nice. The second place (in 2021) was a little worse in my opinion. They didn't strip search me and no one had a roommate, but we had to spend most of the day alone in our rooms and the nurses were kinda mean, they all swore we were in there for attention, not because we genuinely needed help. My sister had been there twice before I went so I was constantly being accused of only attempting suicide because my sister did. They put me back on the medicine that the other place had put me on even though they knew it made me more suicidal and if anyone refused to take their medicine they got "booty juice", which I don't really know what that is but they'd strap you down and take you off the ward to give it to you, and none of the kids they did that to came back to the ward. I imagine that it would be worse as an adult to go, I always just did what I had to do to get out of there as soon as possible so luckily for me I had a better experience at those places than most people that I know that have been there.

Also, I've never known anyone that was actually helped at a psych ward. Everyone I know that's been there has either been further traumatized or (if they were lucky) felt exactly the same as before they went in.

 

[3xhilarati0n]

It's.. not good. At least for me it was a pretty bad experience and I've only been in a psychiatric hospital for a month. The nurses weren't even that bad but.. it was quite obvious from the beginning that we were just locked up there to keep us from harming ourselves, and not to help us in any way. But that's probably because with the ratio of staff to patients it's impossible to give everyone the time and care they need. And the burnout can make the nurses act harsh sometimes.

Some of the other patients were nice, some not so much. So you never know what you're going to get.

The day I was admitted, I met a girl who told me a bit about her stay there. She was discharged the same day. The last thing she said to me was that she'd try CTB again as soon as she got out.

Sometimes I woke up to people screaming. And the staff checked the rooms like every hour at night so that also kept me up.

Milk we got for breakfast was diluted with water and I found a snail in my salad once.

And almost went crazy from hearing the same songs every day for a month (the only channel they played on the TV in the common diner area was a music channel).

But the arts and crafts we got to do sometimes were fun.

Overall I rate the experience a solid 3/10

 

[Jack_Nimble]

Psych wards are completely useless for depression and suicidal thoughts. Some nurses are mean yes. But not all. Been in two different wards three times total. Some are sweet af some are rude. Similar to being out anywhere else except probably more rudeness honestly. Unfortunately most hospitals require their employees to work quite unhealthy shifts and therefore require them to have unhealthy lifestyles. I'm convinced this has an impact on their personalities. Don't expect much respect. Don't expect any help that is helpful. Don't be surprised if ya come out looking worse at humanity.

 

[bleedngright.thru]

Scared of failing and getting caught - do nurses and staff in psych wards suck as much as people say? Are they mean as hell?

it definitely depends on where you live. i was in a ward for 10 days in september, and most of the staff were nice except for a select few who were disrespectful as hell. the real issue is that no matter where you go, the treatment itself is not helpful at all and you're constantly being watched.

 

[onlyusefulwhenused]

The first one I went to was not the best but it was ok. They let you choose what meal you want, family could visit everyday but at certain times of day. Access to phones they had, but they were turned off during the even or group sessions. Only there for 2 nights.

Also, psychotic violent individuals were separated from non violent individuals.

Second one was a nightmare. I wasn't even suicidal nor homicidal….just severe anxiety but made to go in and made to believe I was having psychosis…

They make you get fully naked and look in you…(the other one kind of did that but a quick scan).

I had never been to jail…but it felt like it. They wouldn't give me my clothes bc the band logos they didn't like much. "You should wear stuff that has puppies and rainbows on it." Like fuck off dude…I'm not a little girl. So I cycled the clothes I could wear.

Family visits 2x a week. Only 15min call 2x a day. The food was poor at most, not much options…I lost maybe 10lbs there (I was there for a week, for no reason). They would not let anyone go back to their rooms, must stay in tiny day room all day long. Cold water showers. Couldn't drink water or anything.

Nurse tried giving me my snri wrong twice, which could've triggered serotonin syndrome. They did not believe I had ptsd until they looked at my files. They would not separate violent psychotic ppl from non violent…some girl covered in her own feces sat on my bed and took my roommates glasses.

some woman on meth came in, she was constantly sleeping from her come down…she wasn't even meant to be in there. Poor woman got chewed out for sleeping…she couldn't help it!

First night I was there, I had to sleep on the floor where like juveniles were…. Mind you, I'm an adult woman…adults and children should not bunk on the same floor what so ever (but hey, I'm not surprised, as they had a prior employee who raped a little girl…).

Idk how that place stays in business. Abuse. I got so bored, I started thinking of ways to bypass their suicide safety crap.

Deffo check reviews…but sometimes you cannot help wherever you're sent. Second time, I was 3hrs away from my family. Fuck that place. Gave me more trauma…

 

[ScaredOfMachines]

My stays weren't awful, just boring. I didn't face a lot of abuse like other people here. I look extremely young for my age and the majority of the ward population was <35, so I kept having patients try to use me as a placeholder for their kids that had already left home or had become distant from them, which was a bit weird. I kept getting put in the areas for drug addicts and alcoholics despite not being one, so that might have had something to do with it. I spent most of my trips barely able to speak due to extreme anxiety, so the nurses basically treated me like a child. Talked about how cute I was directly in front of my face a few times, which didn't feel great.

But my stays were mostly just boring and pointless. We were only allowed to meet with a psych for five minutes each day, where they just asked about med dosages and nothing else. They gave us literally nothing to do besides watch TV and color, so everyday was just basically wasting time until I could finally go home. They were never in any hurry to release me either, so it went on for a long time.

 

[Kyotospade]

It's not , it's just boring .
You're trapped in a space where you can't commit suicide or hurt yourself with other people in similar situations.
It's not , it's just boring .
You're trapped in a space where you can't commit suicide or hurt yourself with other people in similar situations.

 

[imsotired005]

Scared of failing and getting caught - do nurses and staff in psych wards suck as much as people say? Are they mean as hell?

in my experience, theres a mix of workers in the system.

I dont really think psych wards work. My first time i was a minor and it was a religious based one and i was essentially told to read the bible at the family meeting. Second time I was essentially bullied by the head of psychiatry right after my OD having a massive breakdown when they kept changing my ability to contact someone outside the normal hospital, as I began crying and saying they told me otherwise the night prior she goes "you're going off the rails" and storms out leaving the observing students in there standing awkwardly. Third time I put myself in and was now an adult, the beginning was optimistic and it seemed like i was getting the resources i needed but as soon as my roommate left after the first few days everything came crashing down, was literally sexually harassed by an older patient. When I explained what I needed I was denied the care. In the end I was released feeling like I made 0 progress.

 

[parasite_eve]

One of the worst exp of my life and documented my abuses so when they tried to bill me later I just shared what staff did to me incl assault and they dropped all attempts to collect $ from me.

 

[sximii]

It depends really. I have been 5 times. Some are better and some are worse. But in my country (Italy) and I think in any civilised country they won't be TERRIBLE. It just gets boring after a while, like every day it's the same thing over and over. And there's a lot of strict rules that can sometimes be stressful to follow. I've met really nice nurses, others that are strict. Never any that are actually mean. Sometimes I don't mind it and it actually gives me peace (though eventually I really do wanna just leave). It's not great, but it's not the worst. I'm neutral on them. Never had a truly BAD experience, but I guess it depends on if you're lucky based on other stories I've read.

 

[Daxter777]

The one i went to has no wifi so there is absolutely nothing to do besides socialize and smoke, it gets boring af. There where classes i could go to twice a day but they were boring and because ive been there before ive already done all the classes relevant to o me e.g anxiety management. 1h was spent at the psychiatrist and 1h at the psychologist.

I honestly got so bored that i actually got more depressed thanks to it. The highlight of my day was everyone sleeping and im busy reading on my phone.

Good luck sleeping whrn the dude across from you snores so bad it sounds like a god damn chainsaw

 

[MeowTheFlemishCat]

Last time in 2021 I dont remember cause electro shock therapy wiped my memory out but I know I made some cool friends there and the food was good. Back in 2006 it was chill though doctors and nurses were cool

What months in 2021? I went August to December but it was an OCD program they also administered ECT. I recall an Astrophysics student that had PTSD from Afghanistan refused but they like court ordered her she said she had IQ 136 her name was Katrijn

 

[divinemistress36]

What months in 2021? I went August to December but it was an OCD program they also administered ECT. I recall an Astrophysics student that had PTSD from Afghanistan refused but they like court ordered her she said she had IQ 136 her name was Katrijn

I think it was in spring. They court ordered her to get thats terrible

 

[brokeandbroken]

In the psych wards in the US. Particularly the latter two as they were A) longer B) had more contact with the psychiatrist as in both prior stays i saw the psychiatrist twice (upon entering and leaving) and once.

A surgeon has a scalpel, a cardiologist a stethoscope, a radiologist imaging, a psychiatrists most powerful tool in their arsenal should be their brain. But it's their prescription pad. I never saw them work hard, care, or use their brains. I literally had a doctor who wanted to treat the autism right out you with anti-psychotics i have the paperwork somewhere if you want to see it. Ever heard of gay conversion therapy well he's got autism conversion therapy! I saw genetic disease (none of the Particularly psychiatric kind + trauma treated as multiple psychiatric diseases and the person's medication list as long as my arm). I saw nurses on absolute power trips just because. I was someone who actually wanted to get better. I wasn't trying to harm myself. It's not worth even trying there. I simply saw doctors throw pills around like magic solutions to complicated problems they were too lazy to solve that aren't going to be solved in a bottle of pills. And nurses pass along whatever trauma they've endured because they felt powerless once or because they have a vagina and I don't so they can try and emasculate the shit out you without repercussions. Doesnt matter if they get in your face and yell at you for no reason, doesn't matter if they are on a power trip and ensuring no one has anything to do because they are to lazy to walk four steps and unlock a door to where things to do besides breathing/sleeping which they also would have an issue with, etc... The truth is you can't do anything about it or you'll be assaulted and given an injection in your ass. They treat you like prisoners not broken people deserving of love and respect. It isn't medicine that's for damn sure. It only occurs because the so called doctors just wanted to write a couple of scripts and let nurse ratchet run the asylum.

My undergrad was in psych and I was literally in medical school not a doctor for reasons I've stated on here before. But I know a thing or two about medicine. If that happens with me there what happens when people who aren't educated are there who have even less means of standing up for themselves.

 

[maniac116]

I was a psych nurse for over 20 years. Psych wards are a tough place to be in, even for the staff. I cared a great deal for my patients & my job was to empower them to function at the highest level possible so they can go back home.
Most of the patients were "frequent flyers", that is they are well known to staff. Most are very ill including being psychotic. Some are restrained or secluded. Its an intimidating place for all. I was attacked numerous times.
So someone not familiar to the facility could easily be overwhelmed because of the more acutely I'll patients acting out etc. It is a "crisis unit" after all. There are firm rules & boundaries.
I was frequently the "bad guy" even though I had nothing to do with the patient being admitted to the facility & was in fact trying to help them get it together so they could be discharged.
Add to that, that many nurses were burned out & should retire. That job has an expiration date on it. Finally my Dr told me to retire, as it was ruining my physical & mental health so I retired at 50 years old.
So in short, its a difficult place for everyone. Its not the staffs fault a person is there, its a persons behavior that gets them admitted. Its easier to villainize hospital staff rather than take responsibility for behavior.

 

[brokeandbroken]

I was a psych nurse for over 20 years. Psych wards are a tough place to be in, even for the staff. I cared a great deal for my patients & my job was to empower them to function at the highest level possible so they can go back home.
Most of the patients were "frequent flyers", that is they are well known to staff. Most are very ill including being psychotic. Some are restrained or secluded. Its an intimidating place for all. I was attacked numerous times.
So someone not familiar to the facility could easily be overwhelmed because of the more acutely I'll patients acting out etc. It is a "crisis unit" after all. There are firm rules & boundaries.
I was frequently the "bad guy" even though I had nothing to do with the patient being admitted to the facility & was in fact trying to help them get it together so they could be discharged.
Add to that, that many nurses were burned out & should retire. That job has an expiration date on it. Finally my Dr told me to retire, as it was ruining my physical & mental health so I retired at 50 years old.
So in short, its a difficult place for everyone. Its not the staffs fault a person is there, its a persons behavior that gets them admitted. Its easier to villainize hospital staff rather than take responsibility for behavior.

Sure let's discuss this.

In the first psych ward i mentioned the "entertainment" area was behind a door. This meant books, games, TV, exercise bike, etc.. was behind there. During the specified hours I think 7-10 despite having 3-4 nurses not in the ward but just sitting behind the window they would refuse to open the door to the area. They had a work station for them and cameras. None of the people there were violent. They could do their work just fine and allow us to say check out a book to read at *minimum*. They get to go home i don't. This is absolutely disgraceful. This is 100% a power trip. Of the psych wards in my state I've already doxxed myself on here so no sense in hiding it minnesota it's the hospital most likely to serve impoverished ghetto areas -> North Memorial. Meaning it isnt rich or white people affected but minorities (I'm white for the record). I can go on there but let's move on.

In the second psych ward. I was dealing with being committed I'm happy to send you all of my paperwork and proof for the things within it proving my story causing my underlying reasons. The doctor absolutely refused to treat me like a human being. Because I can't leave, I can't process it in anyway, and I would say and have diagnoses of autism i simply went to sleep before dinner. It's the best solution when the alternative is actually blowing up and having a problem. The menus for food were passed out at every meal. But you could change them at anytime and could more or less order food at least after the meal if still hungry. I maybe did this once or twice at most in the prior 2 months or so. I asked for my menu when I woke up in the middle of the night. Because I went to bed in the afternoon. I said hey can I fill out a menu for breakfast (which was in a few hours) they had absolutely no problem with this. For context I am lactose intolerant not allergic. I will vomit at the taste of milk though. Literally. I was told as a kid by parents of instance they'd buy me a Playstation if I could finish a glass of milk I couldn't even drink it. I told them I couldn't have it on no less then 10 occasions i asked them to make a note in my chart they refused as it wasnt an allergy not sure how hard it is to say no milk or milk cartons but apparently really damn hard which is ridiculous because why give me something I literally wont/cant drink ill literally just drink water instead (and did). Not only was my order entirely different but I received milk which I can't drink and coffee (caffeine gives me migraines). I told the nurse hey look my order is wrong and I can't drink either of these can I have what I ordered (i dont have medical conditions limiting what i eat, eating disorders arent on the ddx, i was asking for what was on the menu). I forget if she was there the night prior maybe. She absolutely refused to let me get what I ordered or let me get anything different. When she refused yeah I probably wasn't particularly nice about it as everyone was ordering extra food all the time hell if they were out I'd even understand. I finally gave up and *walked away*. She wasn't nice either. If it ended there it would be fine. Nope. She proceeded to follow me to the entertainment area where I was sulking not bothering anyone (yes it was allowed at this time). She proceeded to absolutely go ballistic on me. Getting in my face, yelling, at me. I hadnt caused a scene, I hadn't done anything, I think I even returned my food. Just said I'll wait until lunch. I'll admit she did hand me a water (bottled) which honestly I didn't want at this point more out of principle then anything else. I again got up to walk away and go to my room. She again followed me harassing me. Other nurses were blocking the path with the tray cart etc... Not intentionally just busy doing their jobs I suppose. But I was literally cornered. So I threw the bottled water out of frustration. If this happened a million times it wouldn't happen again but somehow I threw it so the cap popped off and water went all over some cabinets. No one hurt no one even close to being affected. Despite me trying to leave as best as I could given I have very little room to and she has the entire planet. She decided hey I'm going to go on a massive power trip. Sorry it's what it is. Shouldn't psych nurses have some conflict resolution skills in their arsenal. If you corner a wounded animal they will respond, you sit there trying to get a reaction you will eventually get one. All else being equal if this happen in some sort of non psych ward situation she would still get the lionshare of the blame though some would be on me. I'm clearly there for a reason. I'm clearly going through something. Beyond being just monumentally unempathic it's just inexcusable. This doesn't happen if a doctor gives the slightest shit about their ward. For the record she was still working there when I left.

I have other stories for instance like people being accosted for praying during I'll say rec time. Sure there's a few medical conditions that probably warrant some intervention like schizophrenia or rare types of epilepsy like Geschwinds. But shouldn't that warrant empathy not aggressiveness. Fwiw the nurse was white he was black.
I can go on but I'll leave it here. There's being an authoritarian and having rules.

 

[nebble]

Last time in 2021 I dont remember cause electro shock therapy wiped my memory out but I know I made some cool friends there and the food was good. Back in 2006 it was chill though doctors and nurses were cool

were you forced to get ect, or did you consent to it? my litteral worse fear was being forced to take meds but now I think I have a new one...

 

[divinemistress36]

were you forced to get ect, or did you consent to it? my litteral worse fear was being forced to take meds but now I think I have a new one...

No I wasnt forced but I was told the memory loss would be temporary and I believed it

 

[ThatStateOfMind]

This is largely dependent on the psych ward itself. Some are good, some are terrible.

 

[MatrixPrisoner]

They are there to do the minimum required to get you discharged. Nothing more, nothing less. It's not the staff you need to worry about. It's your cellmates. Mental illness does not discriminate and there will be mostly vagrant type people in there with you.

 

[needthebus]

for me it was an awful degrading humiliating experience

i dont even see a regular doctor because i am so scared of doctors and nurses now

1) anything you do, other than eat, defecate, bath, take medication, brush teeth or sleep is a priviledge, even though they have kidnapped you and are holding you against your will

"reading a book past 9 PM is a privieldge and you were too loud today. turn off the light or we are injecting you with haldol."

2) medications are regularly used as threats for non-clinical issues and then justified through clinical means

patient:"that nurse is always being rude to me. i don't want to be around her" clinician: "not listening to that nurse is narcissism and if it continues, we'll increase your risperidal." patient: "but im already twitching so much" clinician: "we just want to help you"

3) clinicians will write down bad things that are not accurate if they don't like you and there will be zero way to dispute it because there are no friends, family, or colleagues to dispute what they write down

4) they will get infuriated if you ask to read your chart or exercise rights

5) it is incredibly boring, and if you are sad or bored, they will say it's a symptom

6) if you do not socialize with the other patients they deem it a symptom, even if the other patients are floridly psychotic or have bad hygeine or are racist, sexist, or somehow terrible

7) any sort of party or celebration is effectively mandatory. If you don't want to celebrate a holiday with shitty stale cake, the cheapest worst pizza ever, and generic soda, they will say you are isolating and increase the medications that make you twitch.

8) If you complain about side effects, they tend to just give you more equally awful medications to try to reduce them which are ineffective and say you lack "insight" which is a meaningless word meaning you are bad and crazy and don't share their opinion

9) if you lie to them, they say it's a symptom. they also claim they can tell when you are lying, but they can't. if you agree with them on everything, they say it's a symptom. if you disagree with anything major, it's a symptom. in order to be non-symptomatic with insight you have to agree with them 99.8 percent of the time and disagree on trivial things. You also have to pretend to be grateful and happy for the ongoing misery, effectively forcing people to lie if they don't want to be drugged even more. example, patient: "i love these nauseatingly bright flickering flourescent lights, they make me feel so grateful to be here." doctor: "well, i don't agree because i strangely find flickering lights to be annoying. I'm surprised because we literally agree on everything else. You're making great progress and have excellent insight."

10) because patients soon learn that kissing ass is a way to get priviledges (ie, the beneficent kindness of suffering slightly less) and also be more likely to get out, it ends up being a race to the bottom to complement rude, lazy staff members, with all the patients trying to outdo each other. Is the mean night shift psych tech wearing a tacky new neckless that's exceptionally ugly? She knows it's beautiful, because three patients told her the second she started her shift. And because clinicians are greedy and financially exploitative, and want to think of themselves as good people rather than parasites, they will gladly believe the compliments to be real and accept that they are doing a good job and are not exploiting people.

11) if this stay is not covered by insurance or the government, expect a bill at least 20,000 and if it's a long stay over 100,000. The facility will know it can be financially ruinous, but will say things like "it's most important to prioritize wellness" knowing damn well that extreme poverty, homelessness, and financial stress often cause extreme unwellness for people, and even suicide, but ignoring that because they are in fact hypocritical vile fake trash exploiting people who have gotten weak enough to fall into a trap. They almost always cause much more harm than good and it's so blatant that their self-deception on this can only be due to avarice. They are vile swine that are allowed to exploit the weak so that society can pretend they have control over people being sad much like like a televangelist collecting money so there will be more praying to god. It's pseudoscientific charlitanism that helps no one except those perpetrating the swindle.


yes they are that bad

No I wasnt forced but I was told the memory loss would be temporary and I believed it

which is a lie they tell patients and it's also documented online that many others are told the same lie

Its easier to villainize hospital staff rather than take responsibility for behavior.

Staff were so lazy and entitled and never realized that they got to go home at night at the place I was at. they would be constantly rude, get off on their power, and if a patient did anything bad they would be drugged. i have a hard time believing you were not like the lazy entitled mean staff i encountered, blaming the constantly drugged patients for being crabby because they did not politely accept their conditions with placid cheerful complancy. Don't like being drugged? Then you have a behavior issue. I hope they paid you well. Your post disgusts me.

 

[maniac116]

Sure let's discuss this.

In the first psych ward i mentioned the "entertainment" area was behind a door. This meant books, games, TV, exercise bike, etc.. was behind there. During the specified hours I think 7-10 despite having 3-4 nurses not in the ward but just sitting behind the window they would refuse to open the door to the area. They had a work station for them and cameras. None of the people there were violent. They could do their work just fine and allow us to say check out a book to read at *minimum*. They get to go home i don't. This is absolutely disgraceful. This is 100% a power trip. Of the psych wards in my state I've already doxxed myself on here so no sense in hiding it minnesota it's the hospital most likely to serve impoverished ghetto areas -> North Memorial. Meaning it isnt rich or white people affected but minorities (I'm white for the record). I can go on there but let's move on.

In the second psych ward. I was dealing with being committed I'm happy to send you all of my paperwork and proof for the things within it proving my story causing my underlying reasons. The doctor absolutely refused to treat me like a human being. Because I can't leave, I can't process it in anyway, and I would say and have diagnoses of autism i simply went to sleep before dinner. It's the best solution when the alternative is actually blowing up and having a problem. The menus for food were passed out at every meal. But you could change them at anytime and could more or less order food at least after the meal if still hungry. I maybe did this once or twice at most in the prior 2 months or so. I asked for my menu when I woke up in the middle of the night. Because I went to bed in the afternoon. I said hey can I fill out a menu for breakfast (which was in a few hours) they had absolutely no problem with this. For context I am lactose intolerant not allergic. I will vomit at the taste of milk though. Literally. I was told as a kid by parents of instance they'd buy me a Playstation if I could finish a glass of milk I couldn't even drink it. I told them I couldn't have it on no less then 10 occasions i asked them to make a note in my chart they refused as it wasnt an allergy not sure how hard it is to say no milk or milk cartons but apparently really damn hard which is ridiculous because why give me something I literally wont/cant drink ill literally just drink water instead (and did). Not only was my order entirely different but I received milk which I can't drink and coffee (caffeine gives me migraines). I told the nurse hey look my order is wrong and I can't drink either of these can I have what I ordered (i dont have medical conditions limiting what i eat, eating disorders arent on the ddx, i was asking for what was on the menu). I forget if she was there the night prior maybe. She absolutely refused to let me get what I ordered or let me get anything different. When she refused yeah I probably wasn't particularly nice about it as everyone was ordering extra food all the time hell if they were out I'd even understand. I finally gave up and *walked away*. She wasn't nice either. If it ended there it would be fine. Nope. She proceeded to follow me to the entertainment area where I was sulking not bothering anyone (yes it was allowed at this time). She proceeded to absolutely go ballistic on me. Getting in my face, yelling, at me. I hadnt caused a scene, I hadn't done anything, I think I even returned my food. Just said I'll wait until lunch. I'll admit she did hand me a water (bottled) which honestly I didn't want at this point more out of principle then anything else. I again got up to walk away and go to my room. She again followed me harassing me. Other nurses were blocking the path with the tray cart etc... Not intentionally just busy doing their jobs I suppose. But I was literally cornered. So I threw the bottled water out of frustration. If this happened a million times it wouldn't happen again but somehow I threw it so the cap popped off and water went all over some cabinets. No one hurt no one even close to being affected. Despite me trying to leave as best as I could given I have very little room to and she has the entire planet. She decided hey I'm going to go on a massive power trip. Sorry it's what it is. Shouldn't psych nurses have some conflict resolution skills in their arsenal. If you corner a wounded animal they will respond, you sit there trying to get a reaction you will eventually get one. All else being equal if this happen in some sort of non psych ward situation she would still get the lionshare of the blame though some would be on me. I'm clearly there for a reason. I'm clearly going through something. Beyond being just monumentally unempathic it's just inexcusable. This doesn't happen if a doctor gives the slightest shit about their ward. For the record she was still working there when I left.

I have other stories for instance like people being accosted for praying during I'll say rec time. Sure there's a few medical conditions that probably warrant some intervention like schizophrenia or rare types of epilepsy like Geschwinds. But shouldn't that warrant empathy not aggressiveness. Fwiw the nurse was white he was black.
I can go on but I'll leave it here. There's being an authoritarian and having rules.

It sounds like you were put in a shithole of a facility. Nurses should be a stable source of calming energy. Sounds like they were s

Sure let's discuss this.

In the first psych ward i mentioned the "entertainment" area was behind a door. This meant books, games, TV, exercise bike, etc.. was behind there. During the specified hours I think 7-10 despite having 3-4 nurses not in the ward but just sitting behind the window they would refuse to open the door to the area. They had a work station for them and cameras. None of the people there were violent. They could do their work just fine and allow us to say check out a book to read at *minimum*. They get to go home i don't. This is absolutely disgraceful. This is 100% a power trip. Of the psych wards in my state I've already doxxed myself on here so no sense in hiding it minnesota it's the hospital most likely to serve impoverished ghetto areas -> North Memorial. Meaning it isnt rich or white people affected but minorities (I'm white for the record). I can go on there but let's move on.

In the second psych ward. I was dealing with being committed I'm happy to send you all of my paperwork and proof for the things within it proving my story causing my underlying reasons. The doctor absolutely refused to treat me like a human being. Because I can't leave, I can't process it in anyway, and I would say and have diagnoses of autism i simply went to sleep before dinner. It's the best solution when the alternative is actually blowing up and having a problem. The menus for food were passed out at every meal. But you could change them at anytime and could more or less order food at least after the meal if still hungry. I maybe did this once or twice at most in the prior 2 months or so. I asked for my menu when I woke up in the middle of the night. Because I went to bed in the afternoon. I said hey can I fill out a menu for breakfast (which was in a few hours) they had absolutely no problem with this. For context I am lactose intolerant not allergic. I will vomit at the taste of milk though. Literally. I was told as a kid by parents of instance they'd buy me a Playstation if I could finish a glass of milk I couldn't even drink it. I told them I couldn't have it on no less then 10 occasions i asked them to make a note in my chart they refused as it wasnt an allergy not sure how hard it is to say no milk or milk cartons but apparently really damn hard which is ridiculous because why give me something I literally wont/cant drink ill literally just drink water instead (and did). Not only was my order entirely different but I received milk which I can't drink and coffee (caffeine gives me migraines). I told the nurse hey look my order is wrong and I can't drink either of these can I have what I ordered (i dont have medical conditions limiting what i eat, eating disorders arent on the ddx, i was asking for what was on the menu). I forget if she was there the night prior maybe. She absolutely refused to let me get what I ordered or let me get anything different. When she refused yeah I probably wasn't particularly nice about it as everyone was ordering extra food all the time hell if they were out I'd even understand. I finally gave up and *walked away*. She wasn't nice either. If it ended there it would be fine. Nope. She proceeded to follow me to the entertainment area where I was sulking not bothering anyone (yes it was allowed at this time). She proceeded to absolutely go ballistic on me. Getting in my face, yelling, at me. I hadnt caused a scene, I hadn't done anything, I think I even returned my food. Just said I'll wait until lunch. I'll admit she did hand me a water (bottled) which honestly I didn't want at this point more out of principle then anything else. I again got up to walk away and go to my room. She again followed me harassing me. Other nurses were blocking the path with the tray cart etc... Not intentionally just busy doing their jobs I suppose. But I was literally cornered. So I threw the bottled water out of frustration. If this happened a million times it wouldn't happen again but somehow I threw it so the cap popped off and water went all over some cabinets. No one hurt no one even close to being affected. Despite me trying to leave as best as I could given I have very little room to and she has the entire planet. She decided hey I'm going to go on a massive power trip. Sorry it's what it is. Shouldn't psych nurses have some conflict resolution skills in their arsenal. If you corner a wounded animal they will respond, you sit there trying to get a reaction you will eventually get one. All else being equal if this happen in some sort of non psych ward situation she would still get the lionshare of the blame though some would be on me. I'm clearly there for a reason. I'm clearly going through something. Beyond being just monumentally unempathic it's just inexcusable. This doesn't happen if a doctor gives the slightest shit about their ward. For the record she was still working there when I left.

I have other stories for instance like people being accosted for praying during I'll say rec time. Sure there's a few medical conditions that probably warrant some intervention like schizophrenia or rare types of epilepsy like Geschwinds. But shouldn't that warrant empathy not aggressiveness. Fwiw the nurse was white he was black.
I can go on but I'll leave it here. There's being an authoritarian and having rules.

It sounds like you were in an absolute shithole with burned out staff.
If it happens again then demand to speak with the patients rights advocate! You do have a right to being treated with dignity.
A patients rights advocate can help. I worked closely with our advocate to see that rights weren't violated & went up against the psychiatrists if necessary

 

[brokeandbroken]

It sounds like you were put in a shithole of a facility. Nurses should be a stable source of calming energy. Sounds like they were s

It sounds like you were in an absolute shithole with burned out staff.
If it happens again then demand to speak with the patients rights advocate! You do have a right to being treated with dignity.
A patients rights advocate can help. I worked closely with our advocate to see that rights weren't violated & went up against the psychiatrists if necessary

I'm broke and homeless. Because I was the victim of the aforementioned crimes. Perception is reality. People dont care. An advocate isn't care or do much either. It could make things substantially worse in terms of retribution though. If someone is willing to look to get a reaction for selfish pleasure not sure they are going to particularly care if an advocate is involved it will just make things worse. Ideally your lawyer would be your advocate which is why in multiple languages lawyer is literally some variation of advocate. But if you lawyer can't be bothered to speak to your defense in court literally. What the hell can you do. Simply put if you are poor you are treated worse. Being burned out is the furthest thing from an excuse. Especially when you are doing some version of a job literally not figuratively stolen from me. You dont like it do something else. Others would (have) kill (ed) (not literally) in my case to be a doctor.

edit: I want to add because I don't think I covered it enough. I want to be very very clear the nurses are responsible for their actions but the doctor is even more so. If anything happens on the ward it is the doctor's responsibility. Heavy lays the crown and in the ward the doctor is king. Nurses want think they are and in many wards they frankly were because the doctor was absentee. I don't mean the doctor didn't exist or there wasn't one. I mean they existed they were just MIA. Again same thing you are doing a job literally stolen from me. Have some fucking pride and do your fucking job. They were absolutely outclassed by a mile by a doctor in Poland who didn't really speak my language, barely spoke to me, and in a ward that gave a couple slices of bread, butter, and a boiled egg for meals. I saw him do something I never saw a single doctor in the roughly 3-4 months combined I was in the psych ward do, care. If a patient acts up it's the doctors problem, if there's a janitor issue it's on the doctor, if the nurses are raising hell it's on the doctor, if the food sucks the doctor better go to le cordon bleu, if the door is squeaky and the janitor can't be found they better bust out the WD-40. That doesn't mean they get to be a dick or go on power hungry trips themselves. Simply put it is their responsibility. Maybe the nurses wouldn't be burned out if the doctor did his job rather then drown in his prescription pad or was even there. If something goes wrong during surgery does the nurse get blamed or is ultimately on the doctor. If a neurologist screws up was it the receptionist? Nope it's on them. It may literally be the only field of medicine where the doctor can shirk responsibility. I don't know how much those doctor's were making but too damn much. Doctors are fairly paid in the US maybe even underpaid. Those doctors were grotesquely overpaid.

 

[LaVieEnRose]

So in short, its a difficult place for everyone. Its not the staffs fault a person is there, its a persons behavior that gets them admitted. Its easier to villainize hospital staff rather than take responsibility for behavior.

I understand if you are defensive of what was your livelihood for so many years but do you really think everyone who works in a hospital setting is a saint with a heart of gold?

A lot of them are indeed coal-hearted villains plucked from the pages of a fairy tale but in the most mundane and workaday form.

 

[needthebus]

because patients in involuntary commitment don't choose to be there, and are unlikely to drive demand, there is very little value received compared to the cost of operations. if patients are unhappy, it doesn't matter, because their complaints wont lead to less business, so they consequently operate without competition and have no incentive to be good or improve or compete with other places.

as far as im aware, there is zero data showing inpatient care improves patient outcomes and i would expect a well designed objective study would show such stays increase long-term despair, suicide, and financial ruin

but the psychiatric industry is far too greedy to spend money on a longitudinal study to see if inpatient care actually helps or hurts people.

much like 4 out of 5 doctors recommending smoking, the greedy mental health industry will likely only be exposed many many decades from now when somehow there is finally objective data to show what patients already know