Discussion Has anyone here experienced discrimination at hospitals for being suicidal/drug user?

[nigelhernandez]

It seems that drug use and being suicidal have the common theme of being stigmatized. I went to the A&E after drinking methanol in a suicide attempt. I was taken involunatrily by my principal in school.

When I arrived, I got saw in a few minutes because of the worry that my kidneys would fail/I'd go blind. While in the hospital, I was treated fairly okay by doctors but some nurses were very rude with watching me. I tried talking to one and she just seemed very annoyed and said things along the lines of "don't drink this", "it's stupid" "are you an alcoholic"? I know it wasn't her being stressed as I saw her being polite to another man in the hospital ward.

I imagine that suicidal people face the same experience at A&E.

 

[Sinai Silence]

Same happened with me when I downed Mirtazapine and alcohol. I was so out of it so I don't remember much but I was there for hours. The nurses never said a single thing to me except when they wanted to move me and ask what I'd taken. I could tell they didn't have the time of day for me, especially since it was on Christmas Eve. I've always hated Christmas.

 

[Notwinnernotawin]

There was this particular nurse who was really rude in the first approach. She thought she was giving me a lesson, while my blood pressure was dropping more and more and I was trying to stay awake, she was talking about how selfish it was for me to do it to my mom and if I had a problem I had to deal with it and ask for help instead of harming my body. Then when I left she sounded a little bit calmer when she told me that someone from the mental health department would pay a visit on the next day, but she still sounded a little mad.

 

[Deleted member 17949]

Never been to a hospital over it, but there is a real stigma around these things which I can imagine would translate to poor treatment at times.

 

[Fullof pain]

Totally !! One doctor came to visit me [ this was years ago ] and i was reading Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks. He saw it on the chair by my bed, picked it up and called the nurse. Could she remove her book from the patient's chair. The inference being, that because i'd tried to kill myself I was brain dead and incapable of reading !

 

[ARW3N]

Those in the medical profession are in the business of saving lives and I can imagine some won't be happy at all dealing with patients who have tried to kill themselves. The other problem is that families often sue or blame the medical team for failing to save a suicide's life.