Story Experience on a psych ward

[idkrat]

anyone here have been on one before? if so i'd love to read your experience :)
Just curious bc i want to know how is it in different countries/places.

As for me, I end up in one after an attempted CTB. My psych were a kind of rooms where the inmates slept or did their things, impossible to close the doors for obvious reasons. Weekly, we had a routine involving occupational therapy, sessions with the psychologist, and leisure. Among the inmates, we came up with ways to cut ourselves with whatever was available (spoons, pencils, nuts, cup lids, anything plastic, etc.), which was the most entertaining part of the day, we were really imaginative.
They also served us our pills by condensing them into water to administer orally, thus preventing the possibility of skipping them.

We had a few issues with other inmates, mainly with those less adapted. One guy messed up the only computer we were allowed to use for a week because he decided to watch porn on it. Another time, a fellow inmate had a panic attack due to hallucinations, and since the damn nurses weren't around, I had to handle it until they came.

Apart from that, I got along well with everyone. It's good to coexist with people just as messed up as you. More than once, I cried or had some breakdowns thanks to the nurses, but that was to be expected—the system in those places is messed up, and they dont care about who ends up taking care of us, and some of them were truly assholes, making you feel worse.

 

[AveMori]

I've been in wards a few times for my BPD related tendencies to harm myself and it's not that bad in my opinion. I usually read a lot and there are at least some people in there I can talk to. It tends to be a bit boring, but overall not that bad. They take care of therapy too, which I always tend to mess up later on by ignoring my appointments. Had a terrible roommate once but all the other stays were pretty alright. It's definitely not one of the worst outcomes and I am open to the idea that my life could get better, since I definitely have mental problems to work on.

I still think my future will have me CBT again, especially now that I have my SN, but who knows, maybe they'll fix me one day.

 

[DoubleUp8]

I'm curious as to what part of the world you're in. I'm in the United States of America and have been incarcerated in psych facility a handful of times. Never did feel like anyone really wanted to help me in any way. Just like they keep you locked in and bill the shit outa your insurance. Seems like them profiting from my misfortune was the only thing ever accomplished.

 

[IchijouRirika]

do you mind if I ask the country you're from? I'm just curious since I do imagine experience varies with each country

 

[MatrixPrisoner]

I'm guessing you're from Canada. Because this seems almost like a U.S. facility. Essentially a prison. Only in the U.S. I doubt you'd ever find a computer available for use.

 

[DoubleUp8]

They don't allow you anything in u.s. facilities. Not even things that are absolutely harmless and it tends to be ridiculous.
But everything about mental health in the United States tends to be ridiculous

 

[DeadManLiving]

They don't allow you anything in u.s. facilities. Not even things that are absolutely harmless and it tends to be ridiculous.
But everything about mental health in the United States tends to be ridiculous

That's right, not even a fucking pillow. And you get strip searched.

 

[LaVieEnRose]

Awful.

 

[DoubleUp8]

In the United States it's like you are punished for even thinking about suicide which I believe causes more suicides because if you go through it once you are less likely to admit to thinking about it again because the 1st time you didn't get any help. You just got exploited for profit and held against your will in sometimes worse than prison conditions. Making it more likely someone would just ctb because in their previous experience going to mental health professionals and asking for help resulted in the polar opposite.

 

[johann_liebert]

I was in an open one, so voluntarily in there. I felt more like at school, work or a family gathering then in a hospital. Like the only sick and weird person around a bunch of socially fit, "normal" people. Idk what their problems were and what there were even here for. All the therapies were completely ridiculous, drawing, dancing, some social games, I felt like going to kindergarten again. I would never go to such thing again, and one of my biggest fears after a failed attempted is being sent to one. Really not a great place for someone with social anxiety/asperger.

 

[idkrat]

do you mind if I ask the country you're from? I'm just curious since I do imagine experience varies with each country

Chile! and yeah that's mainly why I posted this, for what i read some places are truly awful so I was curious.

I was in an open one, so voluntarily in there. I felt more like at school, work or a family gathering then in a hospital. Like the only sick and weird person around a bunch of socially fit, "normal" people. Idk what their problems were and what there were even here for. All the therapies were completely ridiculous, drawing, dancing, some social games, I felt like going to kindergarten again. I would never go to such thing again, and one of my biggest fears after a failed attempted is being sent to one. Really not a great place for someone with social anxiety/asperger.

yep mine was similar, I have autism as well but luckily I never had trouble in it, unlike other patients unfortunately. I remember they took away a special interest book from another autistic patient as soon as they were admitted. When they had a breakdown about their thing, they had to restrain and sedate them to calm them down. I understand it's part of their job, but it's a very outdated system that doesn't consider neurodivergent individuals who may come out traumatized from there.

I'm guessing you're from Canada. Because this seems almost like a U.S. facility. Essentially a prison. Only in the U.S. I doubt you'd ever find a computer available for use.

it was a very restringed computer with parental control and blocked pages tho, they gave it to us since the TV on the place was broken. Even so, from what I read, I was truly lucky in comparison with other psych wards.
and nope! i'm from a third world country.

 

[SparkleWater]

i dont wanna go to much into detail because ive talked about in other places online and i dont want the risk if it betinf tied back here, but in sort it was hell.
We wern't allowed our phones or any internet acess for that matter. Most of us either passed the time by napping, coloring, playing board games or doing puzzles with missing peices. We had therapy yea but for me being in therapy my whole life it was nothing new. We had a tv in the common room so thats something but i barely watch tv nowadays and most of the shows i used to watch when i did stopped airing a while ago.
Eventually i ended up getting hit on by one of the people there. It was very creepy and while im an adult be knew i had a bf on the outside and i still see him every now and then still to this day which sucks balls.
The place i was in before they moved me was even worse. The facility was very small and you kept hearing people screaming and arguing at the staff and the staff arguing back. They told me they would move me to a diffrent facility when they could. Didnt give me a time probably because they didnt wanna risk me escaping.