Thinking about going to inpatient care/psych ward

[Theon]

Yeah that's true.

 

[SelfHatingAspie]

I can't focus at all on work and the anxiety is just so bad. Has anyone ever been that can offer any insight? Does it help at all? And what kind of meds do they normally give?

I was just discharged from one a couple of weeks back. I can share my experience about being a voluntary patient in a private psych hospital in Australia.

Warning: wall of text ahead. Skip this post if this is irrelevant to your interests, I won't be offended.

For those not in Australia, we have a two-tiered health system: public and private. Public is our universal healthcare, known as Medicare, and is funded by a small levy imposed on taxpayers (around 1% of annual taxable income). They do a fantastic job under sometimes difficult circumstances such as long hours and lack of funding, as they look after people that don't have private health insurance or can't afford to pay for a bed in a private hospital (which is around AUD$800 a day, which works out to about USD$550, GBP£450 or EUR€500).

I have a friend who was voluntarily admitted into the public system last year, and he said it was very helpful. The only things I definitely know about the public system is that there are shared rooms with up to four patients in the one room and that the public system also handles involuntary admissions for both public and private patients (although the public and private patients are often treated in separate wards).

As I have private health insurance, I was fortunate enough to go private as a voluntary patient. The official reason I went in was for a med review, which is best done in a controlled environment where possible.

Admission was pretty straightforward. All I had to do was sign some paperwork and hand my meds to the admissions nurse. My meds were then taken to the ward, and placed in a med room. The med room is adjacent to the nurse's station, and is behind a window similar to the windows used in a bank branch when talking to a teller. It's the patient's responsibility to go to the med room when their meds are due, however if you're more than about 2 hours late, expect a knock on the door from the ward nurse.

The next stage of admission involved an interview with a ward nurse. This involves answering a series of questions about one's current mental state, one's mental illnesses along with what the patient hopes to achieve through their admission. After the interview, there is an induction where the patient is shown around the entire hospital. At the hospital where I was admitted, there is a communal dining room/cafeteria (although patients that have difficulty with crowds can opt for room service), several lounge areas, a reading room, a group therapy room, an art room, a chapel and a games room equipped with a pool table. Free wifi (the best free wifi I've ever used) is also available.

Some patients were being treated with ECT or TMS, but many patients were just being treated with meds. There was also a large cross-section of people in the psych ward in terms of ages and illnesses (ranging from major depression to PTSD, along with drug and alcohol rehab), but over 2/3rds of my fellow patients were female. I'm not sure if this because females are more likely to get help than males, but I found that interesting. Indeed, in some group therapy sessions of up to 10 patients, I was often the only male in the room.

I was admitted for just over three weeks. For the first week or so I had some difficulty getting adjusted to the new routines. I didn't sleep well and I found that because most of my pressures were temporarily removed so quickly, this left space in my brain for the negative thoughts to crank up. I spent most of the first week thinking about ctb, but I didn't let on. It got better in the second week, but I still had some dark times. By the time the third week rolled around, I felt like I was ready to re-enter the outside world.

As it's only been about to weeks since I was discharged, I'm still finding it a little hard to adjust. Sometimes I wish I was back in the psych ward. (!)

For me, I found my admission useful on a number of levels:
- it took away many of the pressures of the outside world without completely cutting myself off from it
- I had access to my neuropsych three times a week
- I had access to other healthcare professionals whilst admitted
- The various sessions (mindfulness, group therapy) helped me rebuild structure to my days and gave me an introduction to tools that may help me manage my condition in the future

Interestingly, the consult fees for the neuropsych and the other doctors (GP, physician) were all covered under the same universal health care system that covers everything in the public system. The private health insurance basically paid for the bed, along with the new meds I was prescribed whilst in hospital, along with a supply to take home upon discharge.

As for meds, the preferred med of choice where I was appeared to be Seroquel. It was seemingly used for everything from anxiety attacks to insomnia. The med room cupboard had several packets of Seroquel for ward use, along with a range of other meds to top up prescribed meds when patients ran out of their own supply.

I never felt like I was cooped up. In fact, towards the end of my second week, the nurses were encouraging me to sign myself out and go for a walk for a couple of hours ...! By this stage, I was deemed to be in the lowest risk category, and lowest risk patients are encouraged to visit the outside world as part of their recovery.

tl;dr: The difference between the two Australian psych ward systems is similar to the difference between a Toyota and a Lexus. Both of them do a good job, but one of them is more comfortable and therefore more expensive.

I feel extremely fortunate that my first experience with a psych ward was so positive, but I put that down to a combination of many years of hard work (before my brain shat itself) and a healthy dose of white privilege, which makes me feel somewhat ambivalent overall. Not sure if that helps, but that's my experience.

 

[Ob2knowb]

My therapist is pushing me to do inpatient care. I suffer from severe depression, anxiety, ptsd, and insomnia. I have a few health issues and i can't seem to get out of my own head. I haven't been able to bring myself to go tho. I feel like it would bring me more anxiety than anything.

 

[Egddios]

I can't focus at all on work and the anxiety is just so bad. Has anyone ever been that can offer any insight? Does it help at all? And what kind of meds do they normally give?

I spent a couple of weeks inpatient recently, had ECT treatments while I was there. Did it help? Well, here I am, back here in the forums, planning to hang myself after I get rid of whatever I can in the apartment so my family won't have so much to do once I'm gone.

Going inpatient can be helpful, especially if you truly want to live and want the help. I went in to appease my family mostly. For most people though, I'd say going inpatient is sort of like putting yourself in a holding cell. Once I was in the hospital, I wasn't able to have conversations about CTB, which...it's almost like playing a game where many people end up lying to get out. If I had been brutally honest while inpatient I'd either still be there or, worse, I would've been transferred to the state psych hospital and who knows how difficult it must be to get out of that situation. The state psych hospital scares me.

 

[21Neberg]

Hi. I'm currently voluntarily staying in the ward for two weeks as a sort of last-ditch effort by me and my psychiatrist. Honestly, it's hard but I today I felt some sort of hope that I had not felt in over a year. My stay in the ward isn't over until next week, but I think it's might be worth it.

Update: I have completely lost all progress. After attempting to hang myself last night, I was told not to try it again because otherwise they'll kick me out. I can't wait to be done here and I cant wait to attempt SN at the moment. I don't reccomend going inpatient, but that's just my experience.

 

[hypo666]

The ONE thing I found positive was the kinship ,understanding and care that other patients had for each other. Apart from that ,no it was not helpful in the slightest. I can only speak for one hospital and one ward, where I spent 5 weeks. It is possible other places are different, better run, more thereputic etc etc. I live in the UK and was sent to an assessment unit because of insomnia and suicidal ideation which was caused by the insomnia and anxiety. It was basically a holding area and you were only supposed to spend days there until you were either transferred to another ward or you were discharged. I spent 5 weeks there.... it was basically a locked ward where patients with all the manner of problems were contained,there was no therapy of any sort you barely interacted with the nurses apart from at medication times and there were health care assistants who were very large men who were basically glorified security guards,not even in health care uniforms but polo shirts black trousers and boots who didn't talk to you providing you were well behaved. . The only treatment was meds, and you spent most of your days in one room, the tv room. ! They had a dining area where there was drinks and coffee available but they locked it up for hours on end . The bordem was mixed with panic alarms going off when serious psychotic people either attacked staff or other patients or tried to harm themselves. I rarely saw another patient attacked but it did happen,mostly it was staff attacked. When that happened they were moved off the ward to a secure ward, in one case the police turned up in full riot gear and moved him. It was very difficult to relax at night because the some nights people were screaming and yelling in the corridors . The night staff in particular were terrible ,one time I threw up due to lack of sleep and a health care assistant threw a packet of napkins at me which hit me on the arm and told me to clean it up. The mental health system at least in the UK suffers from lack of money and in my view humane treatment of mentally ill people, people with physical illness do not experience this callousness that seems standard. In the end I had my diagnosis changed from PTSD to personality disorder and I was discharged, this was done because they had lack of beds and were just trying to free up space as it is thought hospital does not help those with PD yet.... I don't see how hospitals like this help anyone... I saw numerous people return hours or days after they were discharged in fact it became a kind of running joke with other patients how many returned.... , I was not the only person this was done to with the diagnosis change and it has caused me to become hostile to mh services and Iam very close to be involuntary detained because I am refusing to go back. My view is try and stay away from hospitals, and mental health services as I don't actually know anyone regardless of diagnosis who has been helped. At best they just contain and monitor people in the community who should probably not be there in the first place. As there are no real resources to monitor them safely and in the end it ends in a mess. This is just my view and I do think if there were changes made mental health services could help people, there are in fact decent kind professionals within it, but they are few and the system is in fact sick itself and not fit for purpose. Just throwing money at it won't cure it all either, it's the way the mentally ill are treated and age old stigmas that have to go.

 

[not_a_robot]

Update: I have completely lost all progress. After attempting to hang myself last night, I was told not to try it again because otherwise they'll kick me out. I can't wait to be done here and I cant wait to attempt SN at the moment. I don't reccomend going inpatient, but that's just my experience.

Omg I was just looking for you because I didn't see you for a few days, I almost put a Missing poster up in the User Discussion Megathread, "please help find our lost kitten, 21Neberg."

 

[SelfHatingAspie]

For most people though, I'd say going inpatient is sort of like putting yourself in a holding cell.

Sounds very similar to my experience. I'm grateful that I was in a comfortable holding cell with wifi.

Once I was in the hospital, I wasn't able to have conversations about CTB, which...it's almost like playing a game where many people end up lying to get out. If I had been brutally honest while inpatient I'd either still be there or, worse, I would've been transferred to the state psych hospital and who knows how difficult it must be to get out of that situation.

I can relate. I didn't elaborate about my feelings towards ctb. I brushed those off by saying I needed time to adjust and that putting 90% of my problems on hold at once made me feel a little worse than when I went in.

The state psych hospital scares me.

Is this because you'd be admitted as an involuntary patient? I know I'm trying to avoid that if possible, as I suspect that I'd be temporarily surrendering many of my human rights. Of course, if I'm in no position to use these rights, it's probably a moot point.

 

[Kjo]

I would like to update from my previous post. Maybe it'd be a good option and worth trying.




I'm in a partial hospitalization program now - locked up with intensive therapy, psych Ed courses, group therapy, daily access to doctors, therapists, nurses, and more. I get to leave at nighttime. They change my medications as needed and check in every day to make sure I'm okay. They even feed us all and provide endless snacks, juice, tea, and coloring books/crayons.

I'm trying to see if I can fix my mental health difficulties. At the very least, I hope it'll show friends and family I really tried everything before giving up... Hopefully that helps them find peace. They're all much happier that I'm getting help or at least less a burden to them...

 

[SelfHatingAspie]

I'm in a partial hospitalization program now - locked up with intensive therapy, psych Ed courses, group therapy, daily access to doctors, therapists, nurses, and more. I get to leave at nighttime. They change my medications as needed and check in every day to make sure I'm okay. They even feed us all and provide endless snacks, juice, tea, and coloring books/crayons.

Sounds very similar to the psych ward I was admitted to. I could go home during the day if I chose, but because I live about 30 minutes away from the hospital and I wasn't allowed to drive whilst admitted, I decided against it.

I'm trying to see if I can fix my mental health difficulties. At the very least, I hope it'll show friends and family I really tried everything before giving up... Hopefully that helps them find peace. They're all much happier that I'm getting help or at least less a burden to them...

I was pressured into going into the psych ward by my wife. Just roll with it. You might get something positive from the experience, but it could take a couple of weeks.

 

[Soulless_Angel]

The ONE thing I found positive was the kinship ,understanding and care that other patients had for each other. Apart from that ,no it was not helpful in the slightest. I can only speak for one hospital and one ward, where I spent 5 weeks. It is possible other places are different, better run, more thereputic etc etc. I live in the UK and was sent to an assessment unit because of insomnia and suicidal ideation which was caused by the insomnia and anxiety. It was basically a holding area and you were only supposed to spend days there until you were either transferred to another ward or you were discharged. I spent 5 weeks there.... it was basically a locked ward where patients with all the manner of problems were contained,there was no therapy of any sort you barely interacted with the nurses apart from at medication times and there were health care assistants who were very large men who were basically glorified security guards,not even in health care uniforms but polo shirts black trousers and boots who didn't talk to you providing you were well behaved. . The only treatment was meds, and you spent most of your days in one room, the tv room. ! They had a dining area where there was drinks and coffee available but they locked it up for hours on end . The bordem was mixed with panic alarms going off when serious psychotic people either attacked staff or other patients or tried to harm themselves. I rarely saw another patient attacked but it did happen,mostly it was staff attacked. When that happened they were moved off the ward to a secure ward, in one case the police turned up in full riot gear and moved him. It was very difficult to relax at night because the some nights people were screaming and yelling in the corridors . The night staff in particular were terrible ,one time I threw up due to lack of sleep and a health care assistant threw a packet of napkins at me which hit me on the arm and told me to clean it up. The mental health system at least in the UK suffers from lack of money and in my view humane treatment of mentally ill people, people with physical illness do not experience this callousness that seems standard. In the end I had my diagnosis changed from PTSD to personality disorder and I was discharged, this was done because they had lack of beds and were just trying to free up space as it is thought hospital does not help those with PD yet.... I don't see how hospitals like this help anyone... I saw numerous people return hours or days after they were discharged in fact it became a kind of running joke with other patients how many returned.... , I was not the only person this was done to with the diagnosis change and it has caused me to become hostile to mh services and Iam very close to be involuntary detained because I am refusing to go back. My view is try and stay away from hospitals, and mental health services as I don't actually know anyone regardless of diagnosis who has been helped. At best they just contain and monitor people in the community who should probably not be there in the first place. As there are no real resources to monitor them safely and in the end it ends in a mess. This is just my view and I do think if there were changes made mental health services could help people, there are in fact decent kind professionals within it, but they are few and the system is in fact sick itself and not fit for purpose. Just throwing money at it won't cure it all either, it's the way the mentally ill are treated and age old stigmas that have to go.

Interesting read, I am in the UK too, being let down by the MH services every bastard day. They are failing me, so I have said to my family I'm not interested in help any more and would rather learn self help. It was mentioned last week about poss taking me to a hospital, but it was decided last min as it was mixed sex wards and the hospital itself wasn't great that it would be of no benefit to me, so I was let home and have been ignored since. I have heard nothing but bad about these places, but this is the first personal review I have read. Would like to know were in the UK this was?

 

[Shamana]

I hated it both times I was in hospital. For me it mostly felt like a prison. However you're desperate you might try it for a few weeks.

 

[21Neberg]

Omg I was just looking for you because I didn't see you for a few days, I almost put a Missing poster up in the User Discussion Megathread, "please help find our lost kitten, 21Neberg."

Aw you guys almost got freed of me

 

[Egddios]

Sounds very similar to my experience. I'm grateful that I was in a comfortable holding cell with wifi.



I can relate. I didn't elaborate about my feelings towards ctb. I brushed those off by saying I needed time to adjust and that putting 90% of my problems on hold at once made me feel a little worse than when I went in.



Is this because you'd be admitted as an involuntary patient? I know I'm trying to avoid that if possible, as I suspect that I'd be temporarily surrendering many of my human rights. Of course, if I'm in no position to use these rights, it's probably a moot point.

The state psych hospital scares me because even if I went voluntarily, it's easily a place where one could be locked up and forgotten. I don't want to be in that position, "living" in a rarely seen or visited psych hospital.

 

[Grief]

If you live in a comfortable place now, you'll find a psych ward is not all that comfortable, i.e., plastic pillow and thin, cheap mattress. A few TV's shared in a community area. Also, you will most likely share a room. The worst part is you will be confined for at least 2 nights, most likely and wishing you had the freedom to go outside or leave at will. Nurses monitor you all day long and write down what you say and your behavior. If you want out, you will have to tell them what they want to hear, not really how you feel which can be stressful and exhausting. If you say you have suicidal ideation, it is likely you will stay longer. A psychiatrist, who you may not like and may not be all that good of a doctor, will see you for 10-15 minutes a day and offer you meds. You will also be offered meds to help you sleep and a benzo for anxiety. There will be one or two group therapy sessions a day held by a counselor/therapist - - like going to a lecture on "anxiety", where you might be asked to share why you are there. The therapy sessions are very generalized and you are not required to attend, but not attending or participating may keep you from being released. You probably won't have any access to internet, so you won't be able to see if the meds prescribed are ones you would want to take. There can be a lot of emotional outbursts in the ward from patients who are frustrated, going through withdrawal, etc. If you choose to take the meds offered by the psychiatrist, you will probably not be able to leave for 5-7 days until the psych determines if you are stable on the meds. If you become involuntarily committed, you have the right to have a judge consider your plea for release within 48 hours, not counting weekends. However, in just about all cases the judge sides with the doctors. It can feel dehumanizing to be in a psych ward.

If you feel like you can't be left alone for any amount of time, then a psych ward might be right for you. However, if at all possible, try to seek out patient help at a mental health clinic or go to a doctor or a therapist that can prescribe medication (APRN.) A clinic or therapist will be less likely to have you committed if you want to talk about how you are really feeling.

 

[SelfHatingAspie]

Interesting read, I am in the UK too, being let down by the MH services every bastard day.

At this risk of going off-topic, this sounds a tiny bit like it could be connected with the austerity measures that the Tories love so much, and subsequent custs to the NHS. Austerity is no way to run a functioning society.

(mods: delete this if this is an unhelpful post)

 

[k75]

For some reason, people don't seem to go this route as often, but partial hospitalization might be a better option to explore. It's a step down from inpatient, so you get to go home at the end of the day, but you still get intensive group therapy and monitored med changes.

The quality does depend on where you go, so definitely research just like if you were going inpatient. I've done it five times at two different facilities. Four were at a really great place and it 100% helped. The fifth was a traumatizing and scary experience, and I will avoid that place at all costs in the future.

Anyway, the programs are typically 9am - 2pm, and lunch is provided. The bad place gave us frozen crap, but the other ordered Subway and pizza. There is usually a different therapy group each hour, where they focus on teaching different coping skills or having discussions about various topics.

Once a week the psychiatrist sees you and adjusts meds as needed. You can request to see them more often if there's a problem. The place I went to even did blood work if you needed labs to monitor med levels. Very convenient.

They check in with everyone to see how you are doing every day. If you need to, you can have a 1 on 1 chat and get evaluated for additional help. For instance, if you absolutely feel unsafe, you can have a discussion about whether you should go to the hospital or change meds, stuff like that. Generally, their goal is to keep people out of hospitals.

Anyway, I'm deathly afraid of being committed and having to go inpatient, but I would definitely do partial again if I thought it would help.

 

[MAIO]

In Illinois you can't buy a gun if you have been to a psych-ward.

I looked it up. In the state of Illinois you can not buy a gun if you have been committed in the last five year. In the state of California you can still buy a gun if you have been committed but there is a time frame you have to wait cities etc have different rules it's confusing. Beyond that in all honesty hospital are only required to keep medical records for a few years and may not even show up on a background check.

 

[Soulless_Angel]

At what age?

the law sucks, buy underground, surely that's possible?

 

[MAIO]

the law sucks, buy underground, surely that's possible?

I edited my previous answer looked it up. looked it up. In the state of Illinois you can not buy a gun if you have been committed in the last five year. In the state of California you can still buy a gun if you have been committed but there is a time frame you have to wait cities etc have different rules it's confusing. Beyond that in all honesty hospital are only required to keep medical records for a few years and may not even show up on a background check. If you have been involuntarily commuted federal law prohibits it, but once again I don't think there is a database on that for background checks.

 

[Soulless_Angel]

I edited my previous answer looked it up. looked it up. In the state of Illinois you can not buy a gun if you have been committed in the last five year. In the state of California you can still buy a gun if you have been committed but there is a time frame you have to wait cities etc have different rules it's confusing. Beyond that in all honesty hospital are only required to keep medical records for a few years and may not even show up on a background check. If you have been involuntarily commuted federal law prohibits it, but once again I don't think there is a database on that for background checks.

WOW the UK sucks, we don't have guns, but least we don't have stupid laws that make no sense!

 

[mathieu]

I have been in a few times. The time I was in for four months I was feeling better by the time I left. It didn't last long though. I soon went off my meds and had a terrible breakdown. I had TMS, ECT, saw my doctor a lot. The meds they prescribed were antidepressants, anti-psychotics, mood stabilisers, tranquillisers, and sleeping pills. I think some places are not so bad.

 

[Kjo]

For some reason, people don't seem to go this route as often, but partial hospitalization might be a better option to explore. It's a step down from inpatient, so you get to go home at the end of the day, but you still get intensive group therapy and monitored med changes.

The quality does depend on where you go, so definitely research just like if you were going inpatient. I've done it five times at two different facilities. Four were at a really great place and it 100% helped. The fifth was a traumatizing and scary experience, and I will avoid that place at all costs in the future.

Anyway, the programs are typically 9am - 2pm, and lunch is provided. The bad place gave us frozen crap, but the other ordered Subway and pizza. There is usually a different therapy group each hour, where they focus on teaching different coping skills or having discussions about various topics.

Once a week the psychiatrist sees you and adjusts meds as needed. You can request to see them more often if there's a problem. The place I went to even did blood work if you needed labs to monitor med levels. Very convenient.

They check in with everyone to see how you are doing every day. If you need to, you can have a 1 on 1 chat and get evaluated for additional help. For instance, if you absolutely feel unsafe, you can have a discussion about whether you should go to the hospital or change meds, stuff like that. Generally, their goal is to keep people out of hospitals.

Anyway, I'm deathly afraid of being committed and having to go inpatient, but I would definitely do partial again if I thought it would help.

This is me to a T and the program I'm doing right now.

 

[MAIO]

WOW the UK sucks, we don't have guns, but least we don't have stupid laws that make no sense!

Of course, the UK has arbitrary laws that makes no sense, every country on earth. In history has arbitrary rules that make no sense. Laws are passed by arbitrary decisions of flawed humans, generally having a lot to do with feelings. For instance, one thing why is the age of consent 18 and not 20 or 16. Arbitrary laws based on feelings.

 

[Invisible 73]

We can keep our phones lol

I just got released from a 201 yesterday. And we were not allowed under any circumstances to have our phones. Bcos of hipaa. God forbid someone checked in from the ward and accidentally posted a pic w.another patient in it

 

[JoeFailure]

The phone rule is why i never went. I can't just shut out the rest of my life that I may have to otherwise end to go to inpatient. Catch-22 like everything else.

 

[Invisible 73]

I was just discharged from one a couple of weeks back. I can share my experience about being a voluntary patient in a private psych hospital in Australia.

Warning: wall of text ahead. Skip this post if this is irrelevant to your interests, I won't be offended.

For those not in Australia, we have a two-tiered health system: public and private. Public is our universal healthcare, known as Medicare, and is funded by a small levy imposed on taxpayers (around 1% of annual taxable income). They do a fantastic job under sometimes difficult circumstances such as long hours and lack of funding, as they look after people that don't have private health insurance or can't afford to pay for a bed in a private hospital (which is around AUD$800 a day, which works out to about USD$550, GBP£450 or EUR€500).

I have a friend who was voluntarily admitted into the public system last year, and he said it was very helpful. The only things I definitely know about the public system is that there are shared rooms with up to four patients in the one room and that the public system also handles involuntary admissions for both public and private patients (although the public and private patients are often treated in separate wards).

As I have private health insurance, I was fortunate enough to go private as a voluntary patient. The official reason I went in was for a med review, which is best done in a controlled environment where possible.

Admission was pretty straightforward. All I had to do was sign some paperwork and hand my meds to the admissions nurse. My meds were then taken to the ward, and placed in a med room. The med room is adjacent to the nurse's station, and is behind a window similar to the windows used in a bank branch when talking to a teller. It's the patient's responsibility to go to the med room when their meds are due, however if you're more than about 2 hours late, expect a knock on the door from the ward nurse.

The next stage of admission involved an interview with a ward nurse. This involves answering a series of questions about one's current mental state, one's mental illnesses along with what the patient hopes to achieve through their admission. After the interview, there is an induction where the patient is shown around the entire hospital. At the hospital where I was admitted, there is a communal dining room/cafeteria (although patients that have difficulty with crowds can opt for room service), several lounge areas, a reading room, a group therapy room, an art room, a chapel and a games room equipped with a pool table. Free wifi (the best free wifi I've ever used) is also available.

Some patients were being treated with ECT or TMS, but many patients were just being treated with meds. There was also a large cross-section of people in the psych ward in terms of ages and illnesses (ranging from major depression to PTSD, along with drug and alcohol rehab), but over 2/3rds of my fellow patients were female. I'm not sure if this because females are more likely to get help than males, but I found that interesting. Indeed, in some group therapy sessions of up to 10 patients, I was often the only male in the room.

I was admitted for just over three weeks. For the first week or so I had some difficulty getting adjusted to the new routines. I didn't sleep well and I found that because most of my pressures were temporarily removed so quickly, this left space in my brain for the negative thoughts to crank up. I spent most of the first week thinking about ctb, but I didn't let on. It got better in the second week, but I still had some dark times. By the time the third week rolled around, I felt like I was ready to re-enter the outside world.

As it's only been about to weeks since I was discharged, I'm still finding it a little hard to adjust. Sometimes I wish I was back in the psych ward. (!)

For me, I found my admission useful on a number of levels:
- it took away many of the pressures of the outside world without completely cutting myself off from it
- I had access to my neuropsych three times a week
- I had access to other healthcare professionals whilst admitted
- The various sessions (mindfulness, group therapy) helped me rebuild structure to my days and gave me an introduction to tools that may help me manage my condition in the future

Interestingly, the consult fees for the neuropsych and the other doctors (GP, physician) were all covered under the same universal health care system that covers everything in the public system. The private health insurance basically paid for the bed, along with the new meds I was prescribed whilst in hospital, along with a supply to take home upon discharge.

As for meds, the preferred med of choice where I was appeared to be Seroquel. It was seemingly used for everything from anxiety attacks to insomnia. The med room cupboard had several packets of Seroquel for ward use, along with a range of other meds to top up prescribed meds when patients ran out of their own supply.

I never felt like I was cooped up. In fact, towards the end of my second week, the nurses were encouraging me to sign myself out and go for a walk for a couple of hours ...! By this stage, I was deemed to be in the lowest risk category, and lowest risk patients are encouraged to visit the outside world as part of their recovery.

tl;dr: The difference between the two Australian psych ward systems is similar to the difference between a Toyota and a Lexus. Both of them do a good job, but one of them is more comfortable and therefore more expensive.

I feel extremely fortunate that my first experience with a psych ward was so positive, but I put that down to a combination of many years of hard work (before my brain shat itself) and a healthy dose of white privilege, which makes me feel somewhat ambivalent overall. Not sure if that helps, but that's my experience.

WOW!

The phone rule is why i never went. I can't just shut out the rest of my life that I may have to otherwise end to go to inpatient. Catch-22 like everything else.

my Dr didnt give me a choice. It was either sign a voluntary form or go involuntary. And thats even more restrictive!

 

[dockers0000]

It is a terrible idea.

 

[Dawn0071111]

The bill is going to be huge.... and you risk having a horrible time.... Most psych watds are packed with people who are psychotic and there is screaming, door slamming.... my exp. Added to my trauma. Unless you can afford a private place, I would encourage you to reasearch carefully. Cause once your in you can't leave of your own will. How can anyone get relief from ANXIETY in a chaotic loud place like a psych ward? It would seem to me it would increase it due to being locked up in such an environment.

 

[21Neberg]

I just got released from a 201 yesterday. And we were not allowed under any circumstances to have our phones. Bcos of hipaa. God forbid someone checked in from the ward and accidentally posted a pic w.another patient in it

I got out recently too! Psych wards don't help at all - after I tried to hang myself all they did the next day was give me a 'warning' to not try that again or else I'd get kicked out.