Is being hospitalized helpful?

[Depressed_Kettle]

I have been hospitalized and I didn't find it that helpful. I am wondering if any of you have found it helpful? What things did you find helpful and what things were unhelpful?

I can't remember much from my stay (the details) but it was good making new friends with people who I could relate with there. I felt like I had less control there (limited outside access and limited food choices) which made me a bit restless and sad. It was okay but I don't think I would want to go back as my issues I have didn't feel resolved. If they can't help me then there is no reason to be there I guess? I feel like if I go back then maybe they will be able to help me this time but I'm not sure. I don't think anyone can help me because they don't know how but perhaps I'm wrong.

 

[motel rooms]

I feel like if I go back then maybe they will be able to help me this time but I'm not sure. I don't think anyone can help me because they don't know how but perhaps I'm wrong.

There's only one way to find out

 

[Depressed_Kettle]

There's only one way to find out

Another thing I worry about is being stuck there for so long.

 

[Life_and_Death]

whether or not it helps depends. if the doctors are willing to work with you and you the doctors then yeah, it has a possibility of helping

 

[LastFlowers]

It is essentially just a holding cell to run your insurance dry, I've seen people half out of their minds released while other sane individuals are kept indefinitely.
Even if you think the type of "help" normally offered by psych docs and meds would assist your situation, don't expect to get a helpful regimen or access to an actual doctor (for more than five minutes) while you're there.
In my case, the sum of my experiences in such places were either harmful or unnecessary, in the way that they did shit all but give me ptsd surrounding their establishment.
If your issues are permanent, circumstantial, or from physical detriments you will eventually be known as "treatment resistant", and they may try to force you into electroconvulsive "therapy", then you will finally have the actual brain damage and mentally sourced issues they've falsely attributed your previous symptoms/reactions to.
Win-win for them, lose-lose for you.
Really the only decent part of being there is some of the other patients! How ironic.
Amongst the shit, I still somehow have fond memories of some of the people I met in there (beware though, for every friendly individual, there is an asshole, or more.)

 

[Burned out]

You are lucky if you're just unsure of it being good or bad, after already having gone.

It is essentially just a holding cell to run your insurance dry, I've seen people half out of their minds released while other sane individuals are kept indefinitely.

Exactly. There is no gurantee of anything that's helpful or even appropriate that's going to take place. My experience with mental health is that they are either too evil or too dunning-kruger to stop themsevles from hurting you. I already had suicidal ideation on my own, and when they came into my life, now even at the times I am not having suicidal ideation they may at times somehow again get involved with me and be a cause for suicidal ideation on their own, but they can't seem to perceive themselves as being the problem.

 

[HelloHell]

I think like it's basically just a place to keep you "safe" from hurting yourself or others. If the meds and therapy they give you don't show improvements of symptoms, they probably would keep you there until you show improvements. So, yeah what I did was fake "improvements" and got out of there because they already kept me for 3 weeks. But hey, who knows, they might be able to help you

 

[LastFlowers]

I think like it's basically just a place to keep you "safe" from hurting yourself or others. If the meds and therapy they give you don't show improvements of symptoms, they probably would keep you there until you show improvements. So, yeah what I did was fake "improvements" and got out of there because they already kept me for 3 weeks. But hey, who knows, they might be able to help you

I faked the last time too, they also forced me to go to the last group session or else they would pull my release (better than ECT but my issues are not the type where being forced around other people helps anything..it's extremely humiliating for me, as someone who barely leaves their room, never mind their house.)
Other patients saw my intense distress earlier on and even tried to clue me in on the fact that I needed to act "well" in order to escape, they whispered for me to come color with them to appear as if I was making progress (because that's what they were doing)...but in my head I was like -'girls, this ain't my first time, I already know the game'-and I was so far gone and ready to die at that point, I was trying to stay away from any interactions, but I merely mumbled, covered my face with my hair, and sat down with them because I did not want to appear rude to anyone else that was trapped there.
I appreciate them trying to help, like I said in my own comment, half the patients were the only silver lining of places like that. In my experience, they are better people than the majority of what I come across on the outside.

 

[Aap]

Never been hospitalized but have some experience on the other side - hospitalization can be incredibly helpful for individuals in crisis, especially if they have an organic condition that responds well to medication (e.g. mania/hypomania during BP or acute psychosis due to schizophrenia).

Anyone suicidal should consider trying mental health intervention. It doesn't help everyone, but it certainly has helped some.

 

[Musketeer]

No it's not after my friend was hospitalized 6 times, she ending up killing family members who caught her prepping and killed herself.

 

[innocent21]

In my case I was discriminated against by mental health service so I was treated worse than all their other patients. To explain why and how I was discriminated against, it's a long story. Before anyone says "just refuse treatment", I was given a Community Treatment Order, which is a court order which legally requires someone to take medication. I refused treatment anyway and was discharged a year later.

 

[western_heart]

Anyone suicidal should consider trying mental health intervention. It doesn't help everyone, but it certainly has helped some.

mental health intervention can also harm you. I have never been hospitalized myself, but I've heard so many stories of people being traumatized by hospitalization that I feel like I should call this out.

I've read that being hospitalized makes a person more likely to CTB once they're out of the hospital. I'm sure this is especially true in the USA, where even those with health insurance may owe thousands or tens of thousands of dollars after getting out, and the hospitals here seem excessively restrictive compared to other places. I would be terrified to take new medications without having access to my phone so I could research the drugs and ask about them. And the coercive aspect fills me with dread. I have been on dozens of medications before and don't trust a psych ward to do anything for me besides prescribe atypical antipsychotics.

There are limited circumstances in which I'd be willing to be hospitalized. Only if I knew the psychiatrist and had a treatment plan figured out ahead of time and was able to research and consent to every aspect of it. There was a point just a few weeks ago when I would have liked the change of environment and the opportunity to try different medication. But I feel there's a good chance I would leave traumatized with increased desire and urgency to CTB.

 

[noxin]

It helped me at the time because it allowed me to just get the hell away from life for a bit. But it was incredibly restrictive. I wanted out after 3 days. As a voluntary patient it's ok. I wouldn't want to be there as an involuntary patient though.

 

[JustLosingMyself]

It depends.
Some are better than others.
The one I ended up in is a place where you may get better in spite of being there, not because of being there. It's a place to cool your heels and calm down, that's it

 

[Burned out]

There is no such thing as voluntary commitment. I once went "voluntarily" for anxiety and when the psychiatrists was being very harmful and made the wrong diagnosis (schizophrenia) and making me worse, I asked to be discharged after making it known I was not happy with what they were doing, and he made it an involuntary hold, and extended my stay. I left in worse shape than I came in, and the incredibly serious and 100% wrong diagnosis followed me. I was traumatized. They apparently let me out because I only pretended to be better, but couldn't actually tell that I wasn't. I feel this is only one of a number of times I have been maimed by these idiots.
Other times, they say "go voluntarily, or it will be involuntary"...so by definition, not voluntary. This is common for many people.
I have been assured numerous times, even after this happened, I am not the least bit schizophrenic. My body and my life have been ruined by the psych meds in ways I couldn't cause by myself, and probably not even what hard drugs could do. If you are at all poor at communication or susceptible to coercion, they will walk all over you, and basically experiment on you. Do not overlook the possiblity that it could be the worst decision of your life to get involved in this circle. The validity of what they do is even more doubted when they do not agree internally with one another, and no correct diagnosis happens in a decade or more, despite low quality of life.

 

[SuicidalAgain]

Other times, they say "go voluntarily, or it will be involuntary"...so by definition, not voluntary. This is common for many people.

This is what happened to me. I still refused. Ended up staying a week and half instead of two or three days. It doesn't help at all.
What helped me at the time was the people who went there to visit me and made me feel like they cared.

I received support of some of the people close to me for a time. Other people just vanished.

Perhaps try to find a retreat somewhere instead, at least you have the choice to go where you want to and see what could be helpful for you or not. I have never gone to one but I wouldn't mind spending a few days in a quiet place with little stimuli to appreciate nature / meditate / etc.

 

[Squiddy]

mental health intervention can also harm you. I have never been hospitalized myself, but I've heard so many stories of people being traumatized by hospitalization that I feel like I should call this out.

I've read that being hospitalized makes a person more likely to CTB once they're out of the hospital. I'm sure this is especially true in the USA, where even those with health insurance may owe thousands or tens of thousands of dollars after getting out, and the hospitals here seem excessively restrictive compared to other places. I would be terrified to take new medications without having access to my phone so I could research the drugs and ask about them. And the coercive aspect fills me with dread. I have been on dozens of medications before and don't trust a psych ward to do anything for me besides prescribe atypical antipsychotics.

There are limited circumstances in which I'd be willing to be hospitalized. Only if I knew the psychiatrist and had a treatment plan figured out ahead of time and was able to research and consent to every aspect of it. There was a point just a few weeks ago when I would have liked the change of environment and the opportunity to try different medication. But I feel there's a good chance I would leave traumatized with increased desire and urgency to CTB.

In a psych hospital I stayed at one time, a mental health staff member printed out the name of a med a patient was going to be taking and it had the side effects on it and what it does

 

[Burned out]

In a psych hospital I stayed at one time, a mental health staff member printed out the name of a med a patient was going to be taking and it had the side effects on it and what it does

Not all of the side effects of a drug may be documented by the time it is approved and getting handed out like candy. This happened to me with abilify, which caused hypersexuality, before it was recognized to do that.

 

[Squiddy]

Not all of the side effects of a drug may be documented by the time it is approved and getting handed out like candy. This happened to me with abilify, which caused hypersexuality, before it was recognized to do that.

True

 

[western_heart]

In a psych hospital I stayed at one time, a mental health staff member printed out the name of a med a patient was going to be taking and it had the side effects on it and what it does

Wouldn't be enough for me. I do my own research... The "official" information rarely explains things like long-term effects and withdrawals, nor will it state how effective the drug is relative to placebo or provide enough information to determine if the potential benefit is worth the side effects

 

[Seiba]

I've read that being hospitalized makes a person more likely to CTB once they're out of the hospital. I'm sure this is especially true in the USA, where even those with health insurance may owe thousands or tens of thousands of dollars after getting out, and the hospitals here seem excessively restrictive compared to other places. I would be terrified to take new medications without having access to my phone so I could research the drugs and ask about them. And the coercive aspect fills me with dread. I have been on dozens of medications before and don't trust a psych ward to do anything for me besides prescribe atypical antipsychotics.

There are limited circumstances in which I'd be willing to be hospitalized. Only if I knew the psychiatrist and had a treatment plan figured out ahead of time and was able to research and consent to every aspect of it. There was a point just a few weeks ago when I would have liked the change of environment and the opportunity

On a similar topic here is a study for anyone interested in stuff about this.

Findings​

In this meta-analysis of 100 studies of 183 patient samples, the postdischarge suicide rate was approximately 100 times the global suicide rate during the first 3 months after discharge and patients admitted with suicidal thoughts or behaviors had rates near 200 times the global rate. Even many years after discharge, previous psychiatric inpatients have suicide rates that are approximately 30 times higher than typical global rates.

Meaning​

Although recently discharged patients and those who were admitted because of suicidal ideas and behaviors are at particular risk of suicide, all discharged patients have an enduring high suicide rate and should have ongoing access to health care resources.

Source https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5710249/

 

[Largeletters]

I've been hospitalized eight times at at six different hospitals (went back to the other two hospitals a second time around) and most of them just made me feel worse. There was a time or two where I felt better after getting released, but only for a short amount of time.

 

[LookieLou]

I've checked myself in 4 times, when I wanted help. What I've found:
They're not there to help. They're there to keep you safe for a few days so you can be "trusted" to leave safely.
The meds they give you can make things much worse —Wellbutrin caused permanent Parkinson's and lithium threw off physical stability. The lithium tremor and unsteadiness made me spill boiling soup down my front which gave 2nd and 3rd degree burns. ECT caused memory loss.
Bring a book or crossword puzzles to pass the time. It's boring.
Seeing no daylight every day was hard. Sunshine helps me to get by.
Group therapy is a waste of time for me.

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

Maybe for extremely impulsive CTBs but I guess it all depends.

If you live in the US and don't have great insurance though, a hospital visit is guaranteed to help you want to CTB more with how high the bills are.

 

[jimmy7754]

They took away my clothes and phone stuck me in a room and span my blood.. and it took them 5 hours to do this.. it was horrible I had to get out.. it made me worse off

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

They took away my clothes and phone stuck me in a room and span my blood.. and it took them 5 hours to do this.. it was horrible I had to get out.. it made me worse off

I always wonder why hospitals and psych wards try to take phones/devices away. What if some of us are millennials/zoomers! How else are we gonna cope or even not immediately want to kill ourselves out of boredom? How is cold, hard reality supposed to make us want to live any more than we did before? I'm being somewhat facetious here but I seriously mean it as well. What do they expect us to do with our phones? Call a SWAT team to finish the job?

 

[t-rex]

I've been in just one time. It was a mixed experience, with friendly fellow patients and an arrogant psychiatrist who misdiagnosed me with Bi-polar II, but overall I left relatively unscathed. I even felt better for a few weeks after, possibly due to one of the new meds, but it didn't last. (As expected they put me on too many meds, most of which I immediately dropped when I got out.)

I actually enjoyed the group psychotherapy, and was impressed by the quality of the therapists. In fact all the staff was compassionate, except for the man in charge of course, who scoffed at my idea to go on a spiritual search and live in monasteries for a while. But it helped me to feel listened to by everyone else.

A few times I became scared the place was going to start feeling like a prison and that that feeling wouldn't leave me, but it never happened. I also became paranoid one morning that the staff were conspiring against me in some way—I'm not normally a paranoid person, it was from a night of no sleep—but that didn't last either.

Overall not a bad experience.

 

[LoveTakesManyForms]

I always wonder why hospitals and psych wards try to take phones/devices away. What if some of us are millennials/zoomers! How else are we gonna cope or even not immediately want to kill ourselves out of boredom? How is cold, hard reality supposed to make us want to live any more than we did before? I'm being somewhat facetious here but I seriously mean it as well. What do they expect us to do with our phones? Call a SWAT team to finish the job?

It also cuts off contact with the outside world: facebook, whatsapp etc. Such policy removes access to vital lifelines like friends and family.

I think the idea is that they are incentivised to make it a dull place to be, as they're trying to discourage people from staying there too long, in order to free up facilities for others, with the unfortunate downside being that the experience is less beneficial for attendees.
Healthcare systems are designed to provide the bare minimum to keep people from complaining- I've experienced it myself with regular hospital.
For example sick people aren't even provided with a quiet space to rest- instead they're positioned side by side with nothing but a thin curtain between them and other coughing, crying, moaning patients. No attempt is made to help exhausted people get adequate rest, but the hospital is technically providing the care they're supposed to, so nobody can argue or complain, right?

 

[SomeoneDutch]

Having spent about half of my life in psych hospitals I can only say it has made everything worse and severely traumatized me. Therefore I believe hospitalization can only possibly be good for a very short period of time in crisis situations.

 

[Feeding Pigeons]

No, not at all, it was traumatizing and dangerous.