Commiting myself to a psych ward

[rs929]

I'm so lonely and desperate. Has any of you had good experiences in a psych ward? I'm thinking of voluntarily commiting myself

 

[Isadeth]

My last roommate was really cool. She was sweet and left everyone positive farewell letters. The staff were empathetic, but the doctors were less than desired and did horrible things to my medications. The food was decent.

Only you can decide. If you feel you need it, do what you feel is best. I hope it works out for you ♡

 

[Tired_Tired]

Never before there, but I don't think it's good idea.

 

[rabbithole]

My experience was awful in some ways and nice in others. I was there two months. It all depended on the other patients and the dynamics between them. Sometimes there were several aggressive patients at once and that was a nightmare. I was also targeted by one girl who harassed me and it was awful. It was at one of the top ten best psych wards in the US so at least the food was good and the place was clean.

 

[lizardsoup]

I'm so lonely and desperate. Has any of you had good experiences in a psych ward? I'm thinking of voluntarily commiting myself

it really depends which one you go to, my bf liked the pychward he went to, they actually helped him and he made a couple friends. I didnt have a good experience, it was probably the one i went to but i still have nightmares about it, they never really helped me and just let me cry all the time and never asked if i was ok (but if someone else was then they talked to them). I lied to get out of there fast and am still in a bad place. The staff there made it your goal to get out, not get better. However, please dont let my bad experience sway you, if you dont feel safe with yourself its probably a good idea and they will help you.

 

[Ghost2211]

I've heard good and bad stories, but mostly bad. Just make sure you're going to a good hospital.

 

[kohaku]

The psych ward I was in was pretty peaceful. Boring, but not bad. Boredom will be your worst enemy in the ward. Even though they'd have therapeutic activities, it would be in the morning and at noon, which would mean spending the rest of the day figuring out what to do. Most people there smoked to quell the boredom, and there was a smoking room. I'd smoke and watch anime and play games on my phone.

Doctors would visit us every morning on weekdays to ask how we're doing and try to figure out treatment. Sometimes they'd call us in for a private talk in their office. This depends on the ward though, some wards I heard doctors barely visit you. Some wards don't even have activities!

Nurses were crass sometimes, but mostly left us alone and would just help when we needed something, like paracetamol or ibuprofen.

Definitely research the ward you're going to. Absorb every last bit of information you can find on it. They all vary.

 

[Nymph]

They're some that are good and I thought about going there myself once too but I never did

 

[wishicouldgoback]

In the US..doing this will permanently disqualify you to own a firearm, enlist in the military, or work around children.

 

[stygal]

There are many different experiences and facilities so you can't generalize anything.

I guess it depends on how far along in your ctb-thought-process you already are.
For some people who are "just struggling" and having no one to talk to and needing an neutral environment to get into a better mindset it might be a good solution.

But I also think: Every visit there comes to an end and that you will be released in no time and still face all your old struggles...it's never a permanent solution to many problems.

 

[Livingvsdying25]

I think it depends on what you are looking to get out of a stay and what your area has to offer.

Despite my difficulties with it I still believe the psych ward has its benefits. I dunno if you have this option where you are located but a less medical version that is offered in Canada is "Safe beds"
usually can stay somewhere up to a 2weeks or a month.

That's always a good option but I know with COVID it's made things a bit more difficult.

 

[Isadeth]

In the US..doing this will permanently disqualify you to own a firearm, enlist in the military, or work around children.

If you go voluntarily it doesn't affect your ability to conceal carry or anything else.

 

[Deleted member 24006]

In the US..doing this will permanently disqualify you to own a firearm, enlist in the military, or work around children.

Yeah, and good luck getting life insurance or disability insurance and several other things ....... oh, and enjoy being ostracized in various circles too. It's just like any other business and patients are the paycheck.

 

[Unlucky Self]

It would help with the loneliness, but dangerous is the amount of power you would have to give them over you. For example, if your situation exacerbates further and you decide to leave wanting to CBT, you would have to lie and feign recovery. Such acting may be challenging for one who tends to be honest or exhibits contradicting symptoms.

 

[wishicouldgoback]

If you go voluntarily, they can hold you involuntarily if they so choose. It cost me 15k for two weeks against my will. My best advice is to stay as far away from psychiatry as possible.

 

[Meretlein]

Mine was very violating and traumatizing. It was what pushed me passed the event horizon and made me suicidal.

They treat you as a non person in there, as if you are a dangerous animal. Psych wards are basically designed for the floridly psychotic, the violent, and those who are extremely desperate to die and have no impulse control over it. Even then, I doubt their efficacy of dealing with those people.

It is not a place of healing but a place of control.

If you are lonely and need a break, the psych ward is generally not the place for you. If you really feel like you need help, then I would investigate psych wards and see which one will actually treat you like a human being. Do not end up in the ER and at the mercy of where they decide to cart you off to. The Er's treatment of psych cases is horrific.

 

[UpandDownPrincess]

In the US..doing this will permanently disqualify you to own a firearm, enlist in the military, or work around children.

Nope, not necessarily. I am living proof.

Yeah, and good luck getting life insurance or disability insurance and several other things ....... oh, and enjoy being ostracized in various circles too. It's just like any other business and patients are the paycheck.

Also not true. I had a long and fabulous career working with kids until I retired. The kids did me in, not the hospital.

I now collect a disability pension related to my mental health.

The only people who will know are your health insurance company and anyone you tell.

Mental health information is specifically protected in the US, with a stronger requirement than HIPPA.

I would look for an outpatient program first. It's a way to "put a toe in" without giving up your freedom completely. If you don't feel it's helping, you can always "step up" to an inpatient program. Many facilities have both.

 

[Weary Soul]

My suggestion would be to do a lot of research into the different psych wards that are available to you if you decide to go this route.

Look at how patient's who have been to a specific ward rated it, research reports by legal agencies that check them to make sure that they are in compliance with the law, and look at reviews of doctors who practice there.

I am not sure where you are located, but in the states, if you have money, I am thinking that the best wards would be those that are pretty costly and private (like the ones that high-profile people go to).
.
Also, please make sure you have an advocate (someone to support you) that monitors what is going on while you are there.

Be very, very careful of anything they ask you to sign, and if possible, try to go to a ward that treats your specific needs. A lot of the psych wards in the states group people with all sorts of different troubles together, and it can actually be dangerous. (Eg., My friend was in one voluntarily and a man who also voluntarily committed himself there was assaulted by his roommate).

Wishing you the best. <3

 

[Spitfire]

I'm so lonely and desperate. Has any of you had good experiences in a psych ward? I'm thinking of voluntarily commiting myself

It might not help

 

[LastFlowers]

All I can tell you is that I would fight to the death (and not just my own) to never go back there.

 

[shadowchaser]

If your country has free healthcare like mine does, I'd say go for it. It can be hard if you are in an ill/disordered mindset, but if you are in a crisis it really can be helpful in stabilizing you and providing you with a safe environment for the time being.
If hospitals/psych units near you have reviews, I'd suggest going through those, too. While I personally haven't had traumatic experiences with psychiatric care, I know it's unfortunately more common than it should be, but please don't let this sway your decision too greatly. It is so good that you are considering support and you deserve to give it a try :)

 

[Deleted member 24006]

Nope, not necessarily. I am living proof.


Also not true. I had a long and fabulous career working with kids until I retired. The kids did me in, not the hospital.

I now collect a disability pension related to my mental health.

The only people who will know are your health insurance company and anyone you tell.

Mental health information is specifically protected in the US, with a stronger requirement than HIPPA.

I would look for an outpatient program first. It's a way to "put a toe in" without giving up your freedom completely. If you don't feel it's helping, you can always "step up" to an inpatient program. Many facilities have both.

Applied for both disability insurance (not government disability) and life insurance with several companies. All applications asked about being admitted to psych ward (voluntary or not voluntary was immaterial) and agencies stated I could either commit insurance fraud by not answering truthfully or just take the denials. Then in the future other companies ask on their forms whether you have been denied coverage and why .... so it sticks. Only one company would cover, but for a really high price almost no one could afford. I am willing to retract the "paycheck" statement though as I'm sure there are those mental health professionals who feel good about what they can accomplish with people like us in a psych ward ..... although whether improvements can last is always another mixed bag of sorts. So yeah, you MUST provide ALL pertinent health information requested and sign release for MD records when applying for life/disability coverage and to do otherwise is insurance fraud. Ask yourself ...... why would an insurance company contract to pay out death benefits or disability for someone who's basically already disabled or may well decide to CTB ...... yes, there is usually a two-year suicide clause, but it's not practical or sustainable business for them to cover such people. Also, all companies went back at least 5 years on medical and several 10 years.

 

[painoflife]

It depends what you hope to get from the admission. Make sure you go in with a clear plan of what they can do to help you and if that can't be provided then ask them what they can do to help, if that doesn't seem good enough then reconsider.

 

[kovkay]

I had a few experiences. I went two times because of psychotic episodes (it was more like one continous one) and one time for a particularly bad depression after my psychiatrist refused to do anything about my suicidal thoughts. My experience was pretty positive for the most part tbh.

Spoiler: My psych ward experiences

At first, I was held in the hospital in this weird area where there were three individual rooms and a nurse's station. This was the worst experience ever. Being isolated like that felt really bad. I was manic/psychotic and had anosognosia so I didn't think I belonged in there. It definitely felt like my freedoms were being restricted which they were. After 3 days of that, I was still not out of my psychosis, so I got transferred to another similar area, except with more rooms. The place looked really bad, and had an overall bad "aura". This place had a bunch of rooms arranged in a square with a square hallway and a nurse's station in the middle. People often paced in circles around this hallway. I paced too. There was another girl in there that complained about me stalking her because I was pacing in the hallway which upset me a lot.

I was allowed to do some puzzles and draw. My friends brought me some nice coloured pencils and books to read which I was thankful for. It was at this point I got a rights advisor to try and get out of the place. The rights advisor met with me a couple of days later and said I presented normal. She got a hearing with the board to argue my case, which happened two weeks later.

After a couple of days on this unit, I was transferred in handcuffs in a cop car to the actual psych facility. This time, I had a roommate and a bathroom in the room. This place was really nice. The food was amazing, there was a movie theater, a bowling alley, a gym. We were allowed on walks around the property which was huge and beautiful and had a bunch of trails. The people who founded this place really knew how to make people facing mental issues feel better. In my psychotic state, I thought I had died, went to a purgatory which was the previous two units, and then heaven which was this place. If I knew how awesome this place was, I'd probably not get a rights advisor. It was hard to believe this wasn't a private psych treatment center.

I was let go after my hearing with the board. The advisor didn't have to argue the case. The doctor just told them I was actually just discharged and that's it. Nobody tried to make me stay, so I left.

After about a week of being outside the hospital, my condition worsened and I was arrested and brought into another hospital. I was brought into the ICU and handcuffed to the bed. Two cops stood outside my room. I was then brought into the psych ward of the hospital in a wheelchair.

This psych ward was definitely a lot shittier than the last place but I had a personal room. Here, I met a lot of cool people. The patients were really nice. I only remember one violent patient. Anytime somebody had shown instability - they were put in an area on the unit with three rooms and a general area which they were allowed to roam in one at a time. I went to that place a couple of times. It was pretty miserable. You had to press the buzzer to talk to the nurses to let you out into the general area, or to go to the washroom, or for them to bring you water. One time, I had a room with a broken buzzer so that was fun. Also one of the patients kept screaming all night so that was fun as well.

One thing that I hated was my psychiatrist not being forward with when I get to leave. At no point did he try to explain to me what a psychosis means. Instead of saying that he doesn't know when I'll be stable enough to leave, he said that I'll be let out tomorrow. Tomorrow, he'd say the same thing. It felt like did that on purpose, like it was some weird power trip??

In any case, I finally got stable enough to leave and left, only to be back a few months later.

I went one time to the emergency department and said I basically wanna kill myself and the doctor was like "we're overcrowded so I'm gonna let you go home" Then some time later, I went again. Honestly, I went to skip work because I hated it so much, but this time, I was placed on a 72-hour hold. I was in the holding area, before the psych ward. Idk why they made the place so creepy. Dark blue walls, barely any light, a mere bed with a mattress. It was really eerie and I regretted my decision immediately. I can imagine how scary it would have been if I was in a psychosis then. The previous area had a lot more light and it didn't feel so doomed.

This place was overcrowded, so I was later placed on a bed in the hallway. Then, transported into the psych ward in a wheelchair.

This time, I kept mostly to myself. My state was a lot different than the previous two times. I still made some friends. The previous two times, I mainly talked to the other people in their psychotic episodes. This time, it was mainly other suicidal people.

One of the medications I was on made my vision blurry which was really scary. We had these activities scheduled throughout the day which we had the choice to attend. One of the sessions was with a medication expert. I told her my sight was being affected by the meds and she was like "you could start wearing glasses" lol

Anyways, yeah. That was long. I think the last time I went to the hospital was because I perceived the psych ward as some kind of comfort place. It's like a space in which you can be crazy safely for some time, before returning to the "real world"

Edited to add a spoiler to not shit up the thread.

 

[loopylou]

I'm in the U.K.

Getting admitted to a ward is highly unlikely. Even less so if you request it.

 

[painoflife]

It's like a space in which you can be crazy safely for some time, before returning to the "real world"

I never realised but I think I felt the same as this when I was in there, like I didnt have to try and fit in like I do in the real world, I could just be me and not self conscious about it.

 

[CatabolicSeed]

Don't do it. I had the same mindset as you. I was so desperate, I thought "well the psych ward is a specialized place for this sort of thing, maybe they can fix me!" It's not true. Psych wards generally do not offer treatment, they offer "containment and stability" aka just locking someone up so they can't hurt themself or others. They are horrible, the staff treat you like shit. WOULD NOT RECOMMEND. I came out worse than I went in and multiple therapists have told me the experience traumatized me.

At the very least, make sure to look at the google/yelp reviews for the one you're planning to go to.

 

[desolate-destruction]

In the US..doing this will permanently disqualify you to own a firearm, enlist in the military, or work around children.

That's not true. I've been to many psych wards, even had a suicide attempt that caused me to be under a 72 hour hold and then have a 90 day supervision by my therapist where I could not own a fire arm and if I was to purchase one, I would be sent back to the psych ward. That's it. There's no permanent ban.

 

[sm20]

In the US..doing this will permanently disqualify you to own a firearm, enlist in the military, or work around children.

I emailed the BATF about this and they said voluntary commitments don't count against you for owning firearms, so as long as no court forced you to go there you're good basically. It's hard to know if a court is involved sometimes because you won't always go to the hearings and if you're a minor depending on the state you may or may not be a part of the process of interacting with an attorney. Also, you can hire an attorney to get your right to own a gun back if there's evidence showing that you've been rehabilitated.

 

[Yiyo123]

I don't like them specially the last one I went. They monitored every bath I took and every time I went to the bathroom. It was creepy having someone there watching you. I had to dress in front of the nurse. At bedtime they entered my room
every ten minutes to check if I was sleep. Took blood samples at 2:00 AM every 3 days. The food wasn't bad. The patient's were all mixed (not separated by diagnosis). The doctors evaluated me 2 times a week. The social worker 1 time a week. The therapies were good (interesting and motivational) and lasted like 6 to 7 hours per day. Med time was … take these meds and show me your tongue.