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Never been there, and I don't want to be in it. Thank God my parents never sent me there when they found out that I was thinking of committing suicide.
I have few questions in mind, which you don't have to answer since it is a sensitive topic:
Never been there, and I don't want to be in it. Thank God my parents never sent me there when they found out that I was thinking of committing suicide.
I have few questions in mind, which you don't have to answer since it is a sensitive topic:
-Well idk if I would call it hell but it's certainly not a great place. Other patients can be very roudy/offensive. Psychiatrists can be evil bastards. Nurses can be no help. Staff in general could treat you like junk. The actual facility can be horrible with nothing to do but go to crap groups that don't actually solve anything. Some places MAKE you go to these instead of staying in your room. Forcefully interacting with these people can really suck.
-It costs money and may or may not be covered by health insurance. I'm in the US with private health insurance through my mom.
-I've been in 4 times. First was 10 days. Next was 3. Next was 10. Most recent one was 10 or 11.
-They don't know for sure you're safe but you need to be cooperative and say you're not having any thoughts of harming yourself.
-In my experience employees have mostly been pretty bad. Some can be cool tho. But most were bad.
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MartyByrde, Wrennie, NodusTollens and 2 others
Never been there, and I don't want to be in it. Thank God my parents never sent me there when they found out that I was thinking of committing suicide.
I have few questions in mind, which you don't have to answer since it is a sensitive topic:
1) It was far from enjoyable (a stint in the psych ward is decidedly not a vacation), but it wasn't entirely terrible, either.
2) Insurance covered the majority of my stay.
3) I spent one night in the ER, and ten days in the psych ward.
4) They didn't. I was released AMA when the geriatric cat I was living for died suddenly during my hospitalization, and I lost my shit.
5) Is there supposed to be an image here? If so, I can't see it.
6) The staff were mostly pretty amicable. I really liked some of them. Psychiatrist could be a bit patronizing, and a few of the nurses were big on toxic positivity and mindfulness exercises that I found counterproductive, but I formed an alliance with one of the patient advocates, and she helped address most of the issues that I was having. The best part was being surrounded by like-minded individuals (for the first time in my life) that totally got "it". (I was a voluntary admit on a short-term ward for depression and anxiety, so most of my cohort was in a fairly similar position.)
7) What I least expected was the boredom. The hardest part, for me, was the uncertainty of when I would be released (employer was breathing down my neck, and I was afraid I'd lose my job) and the obtrusive silence at night. I always sleep with the TV or a podcast on to drown out the rumination. In the bin, I couldn't sleep without drugs on board. I was in a very well-regarded private hospital outside of a major city. This may well have impacted my experience.
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sourpink, Wrennie, NodusTollens and 1 other person
1) It was far from enjoyable (a stint in the psych ward is decidedly not a vacation), but it wasn't entirely terrible, either.
2) Insurance covered the majority of my stay.
3) I spent one night in the ER, and ten days in the psych ward.
4) They didn't. I was released AMA when the geriatric cat I was living for died suddenly during my hospitalization, and I lost my shit.
5) Is there supposed to be an image here? If so, I can't see it.
6) The staff were mostly pretty amicable. I really liked some of them. Psychiatrist could be a bit patronizing, and a few of the nurses were big on toxic positivity and mindfulness exercises that I found counterproductive, but I formed an alliance with one of the patient advocates, and she helped address most of the issues that I was having. The best part was being surrounded by like-minded individuals (for the first time in my life) that totally got "it". (I was a voluntary admit on a short-term ward for depression and anxiety, so most of my cohort was in a fairly similar position.)
7) What I least expected was the boredom. The hardest part, for me, was the uncertainty of when I would be released (employer was breathing down my neck, and I was afraid I'd lose my job) and the obtrusive silence at night. I always sleep with the TV or a podcast on to drown out the rumination. In the bin, I couldn't sleep without drugs on board. I was in a very well-regarded private hospital outside of a major city. This may well have impacted my experience.
Nah, nothing like that. It was basically like a sparsely decorated dorm room with no place to hang yourself. In the rooms, outside of the 15 minute checks, it only really felt like a psych ward when I looked closely and it hit me how many little things (obtrusively smooth edges on things, size/organization of the partitions in the doorless, makeshift "closets", etc.) were subtly tweaked so that you couldn't off or injure yourself with them.
It wasn't awful. The night in the ER was worse. I was stuck in a tiny "room" full of bored people watching tired football reruns. None of them were there for the same reasons as me. Immediately, it became clear that I was the most exciting specimen in the room. Nurses kept cycling through and asking me the same questions: line of work (relevant to preferred method and procurement), method of choice, where and how I'd obtained it, my understanding of how lethal it would have been, intensity of ideation/intent. Every time one of them materialized, I could literally hear everybody behind me shifting in their seats trying to spectate. I'm an intensely private person, and that sucked. You also had to wear giant green scrubs that immediately identified you as one of "those patients" and have a security guard staring at you continuously (also noted by surrounding patients).
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sourpink, Wrennie, NodusTollens and 1 other person
I'm gonna put my first answer in a spoiler because it's kind of long - Sorry I talked so much lmao.
What made it hell was the general attitude among the other patients - like aggressive outbursts or generally annoying behavior. The staff was also pretty shit they clearly did not care about anyone in there. If anyone got even a little bit angry a whole bunch of people came in and held them down as a nurse put a shot in your asscheek ("booty juice"). One girl had that happen and they just left her unable to move in the hallway so the rest of us carried her to her bed and I had to help her take her pants off since she asked me to as she couldn't do anything physically.
When I first got there I had to undress in case I had weapons and also so they could put me in shitty paper clothes. But of course lack of trust meant I had to do it in front of the head nurse lady. I told her I was uncomfortable and she immediately started shouting for help claiming I was "resisting" when all I had said was I did not want to undress in front of her. She also made a poke at how my body looks. I did get away with keeping my underwear on at least.
The staff there also hardly talked to me and I remember the head doctor called me in for questions but his phone kept going off every minute with loud bagpipes so he didn't really learn anything about me but still diagnosed me...? They also tried to give me medicine even though they weren't allowed. Oh and the medicine cream for my arm injury they were supposed to give me was never mentioned. They literally never bothered telling me I had it until I asked if my wound was going to get infected.
You're also constantly told to attend group activities where they make you come up with bullshit "coping strategies" and you can tell every patient there is only answering and engaging because doing that sort of thing gets you out faster. If you aren't engaged enough the staff there will really pressure you to participate which is annoying when you have anxiety..
- ok enough rambling
2. Yes it cost money and the ambulance that took me from the normal hospital to the ward alone was 1000$. Stupid that they make you pay for involuntary stays. I didn't want to be there why should I get a bill?
3. Stayed for 4 days, I think that's the minimum for involuntary hospitalization.
4. Act calm and be a little bit social and they will release you faster. I attended all group sessions, came out for breakfast, and interacted with other people so that's why I got the minimum.
5. My room was closer to the picture I'm attaching. It was bigger though and with more beds and side tables. There is also a connected bathroom and if you stay in there too long they will check on you.
As I said above the employees were not so great. Though I've always been good with people so I know I was treated better than others - like for example I got to stay up late to finish a movie since the staff had seen I was just calmly watching it all day.
I just think a lot of people in that field either like the power it gives or they have been there so long they're just completely desensitized and don't really care about the patients. They don't trust you, they won't listen to you, and they'll often be very short with you as well. Also they're not transparent about what they are doing at all - I had my blood taken multiple times with no explanation. Still don't know why they needed so much.
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Wanderingthroughdark, D4R1NG, MartyByrde and 3 others
Never been there, and I don't want to be in it. Thank God my parents never sent me there when they found out that I was thinking of committing suicide.
I have few questions in mind, which you don't have to answer since it is a sensitive topic:
1. So I heard someone screaming their lungs out right from the get-go and started being violent with the nurse. I told the receptionist I have PTSD and can't be near anyone loud like that... I was ultimately ignored. That was most of my stay actually. Was supposed to get a crisis counselor who could have helped me, they didn't even meet with me. And they put me next to a woman who spent her stay screaming. As I requested not to have. Hourly blood pressure checks and meds given out. Thankfully they were able to give me an Ativan and a Zoloft then since I had a good history with it. That was nice to be believed that Ativan helped instead of being denied because of how addictive it is, despite years of a good track record in my past. Three meals when I was there, a lunch, dinner. and breakfast. It wasn't too bad. It was comforting to have a cooked meal nonetheless.
2. No I did not.
3. I was supposed to be there for 24 hours but it was probably more like.. it was a few years ago so it was fuzzy but I checked in at the middle of the day and left in the early morning the next day.
4. Since I wasn't given a proper assessment, I'm not sure how they determined this. I did get a very blunt question from the staff, "why are you here? You seem very polite and kind." And then I told her that it was for ideation.
5. I can't see that link but I will do my best to describe it. Once you're in the hospital part, it was a very open floor plan. Rows and rows of beds around a room of people sedated off their ass. To the right was a hallway for what I think may have been for the solitary confinement types. Then the "room" I stayed in at the back of the big room and to the right. There were fewer beds there, but it was still open with no privacy. Again, mostly people sedated off their ass besides myself and the woman who constantly was screaming next to me.
5. I touched on this with the other questions.
6. I was referred out to a clinic who you could tell the psychiatrist I saw did not care. She even said the anxiety med she was prescribing me was "glorified Benadryl" and all it did was make me sleepy and make the panic attacks harder to come down from, which is the exact opposite of what I wanted.
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sourpink, Wrennie, NodusTollens and 1 other person
-The inability to leave. As much as society likes to paint this place as a hospital; it's nothing short of a prison.
-Being under constant surveillance as if you're a child.
-Having to constantly pretend and lie that you're better to the best of your ability so you get released.
-People screaming for various reasons.
-Pompous, arrogant, vain, and morally corrupt staff that clearly think they're helping. Morons.
-They don't but they base it off of whether you're participating which is frankly a complete joke. Attend the worthless groups, fill in your worksheets & coloring books, eat your food, shower, and repeat until you're released.
Other information/description you'd like to share.
It's a waste of time and money for all involved as it doesn't actually prevent suicide. People are often traumatized by their experiences and have even more reason to commit suicide especially if they had to pay out of pocket for the stay which can financially ruin them.
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Madame Psychosis, sourpink, L951788 and 4 others
Never been there, and I don't want to be in it. Thank God my parents never sent me there when they found out that I was thinking of committing suicide.
I have few questions in mind, which you don't have to answer since it is a sensitive topic:
I'm in the UK. I wouldn't say it was hell. I was a voluntary patient after a suicide attempt. It was a private facility.
Yes, I paid for my stay. It was not covered by my insurance. It was around £14,000 for 2 weeks.
My discharge was an absolute joke. There was no preparation for leaving whatsoever. When you stop paying rent, it's time to leave.
The therapy team was excellent. My experience on the ward was absolutely not conducive to healing. Way too many temp/agency staff, other patients bringing illegal substance into the ward, patients leaving site and coming back (not allowed) putting the entire ward at risk of covid on a number of occasions. Issues with medication, being over prescribed. I am in the process of launching a formal complaint over my stay due to the negligence that went on. Truly shocking and worthy of a newspaper scandal.
My room didn't look anything like that photo. It looked more like a Travel Inn/Premier Inn.
The employees on the ward were overstretched and under qualified. They didn't care. One nurse knew I was in my room self harming and could apparently see me. This went in for well over an hour. When I went to ask for a bandage the same nurse said 'I knew what you were up to' - didn't think to come in and stop me or talk to me though.
My advice would be, don't expect miracles. Also, it does not represent good value for money if you pay privately. Please don't expect it to be some sort of luxurious facility because they just aren't. Lower your expectations massively of what the facilities will be like. The food is not 'restaurant quality' as they may claim. The group therapies are good but you may end up with certain patients who just make every session about them. Be sure to report these patients as they hinder your healing. You have paid to be there too so don't let them steamroll every single session.
I personally have found the entire thing a massive waste of money and extremely traumatic. My faith in mental health facilities and employees is pretty much nil at the point. It has destroyed any trust or belief I had in the system.
It kept me alive for a short while. That was the only benefit.
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Fizz, sourpink, Pen>Sword and 1 other person
I was there 3 times. First stay was 10 weeks, second was 3 days, third was 6 weeks. It was in middle europe. And it wasn't hell. A bit uncomfortable but less uncomfortable than my own home at the time. I did pay for the stay but very little. Here you only have to pay around 8€/day for the first 5 weeks, after that all stays of the year are free no matter the insurance so I payed in total ~280€.
The empoyees treated me good to okay. Some just assume you are crazy and wouldn't believe anything you'd say. But most treated you with dignity and respect and a gew were really helpful. I was really annoyed with the psychiatrists tho because thes asked me intimate questions all the time (involuntary stay) which I didn't want to answer.
They let you out when you make them believe that you have no thoughts of harming yourself and that you would seek help in case you will get these thoughts again. And only if they believe you are kinda stable. If your mood changes or you dissociate frequently they won't let you go.
If you went there voluntarly (and didn't get sectioned during your stay) you can go whenevery you want tho.
What makes it hell as some of you have expressed? It's medically induced solitary confinement, even worse if you're on SW where the orderlies check you every 15 mins, can't close the door and they leave the light on. Activities are about 15 mins, the rest of the 45 mins is filled with nothingness. Other patients may start fights with you or try to establish order. Staff are on a no-contact rule so you can be beaten up without having staff interfere, but if you touch a staff member, you'll be promptly taken down and put in the "chair".
Did you pay for the stay? Not directly, my insurance takes care of the pay. I just copay $80.
How long did you stay there? I've stayed at most 3 weeks, other times 4-5 days.
How do they know that you are "safe" for release? They determine how active you are in activities, that you're eating good, and that you're on good behavior with staff and patients. Also some people are there for medications, so they monitor medications to make sure they got it right before releasing you back in the wild.
Never been there, and I don't want to be in it. Thank God my parents never sent me there when they found out that I was thinking of committing suicide.
I have few questions in mind, which you don't have to answer since it is a sensitive topic:
The staff/nurses there would speak very slowly to me and act as though I was behaving irrationally whenever I expressed any legitimate concerns to them. When I ended up having a horrendous allergic reaction to a drug that I was prescribed which caused me to experience ungodly physical agony, they had the audacity to assume that I was exaggerating and forced me to attend pre-school level "sensory" groups as I was drowning in excruciating pain. One nurse went so far as to shout at me when I begged her for relief.
Some of the counselors there, though well-intentioned, would default to trying to convert me to Christianity as a treatment approach. I have no idea how that's even allowed... but it happened multiple times.
There were some legitimately insane patients there, one of which being this deranged old man who would keep the entire ward awake at night with his guttural screams of 'OOGA BOOGA'. Worst of all, the staff rarely did anything to shut him up because the sedative they had on hand was "too costly" for repeated use. Him aside, it was impossible to get any shut-eye anyway because there was a retarded protocol in place where the night shift would shine flashlights in our faces every five minutes to confirm that we were still alive.
There was a morbidly obese elderly woman with dementia who would lie on the floor spread-eagled so everyone in the vicinity could see her complete lack of panties. One time I was in line to use the unit phone directly after she did and ended up contracting a bad case of pink-eye because who knows where on earth her hands had been before that...
I was technically only there for 3 and a half months but it felt like over a year. My stay was involuntary.
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Deleted member 25508, BandAddict, JigsawFeelin and 3 others
Depending on whether it was following a failed attempt or my being sectioned for my own "safety," I have felt isolated & dirty. Like there is something inherently wrong with me & that these people don't see me as a person- just a job/task.
How long did you stay there?
Varying each time, the longest was a week. The shortest I was held was 48hrs. (Around 5 stays to date starting 2014)
How do they know that you are "safe" for release?
They really don't. If you're understanding of the system & what to say to these people, you can talk your way out of it. It's worked for me.
All of my stays were in hospitals that had psych wards, not a specific facility for MH treatment.
EDIT: Just saw the image, only some of the rooms looks like that. We weren't locked in our rooms save for the people who arrived the for their first 48hrs. Those people are locked in a room within a room for their safety. Having been in there, I felt like an animal. Had to ask for permission to use the bathroom, with no access to any to help take your mind off things. & if you want out of your room, no one can be in the common space with you until they know you're not a threat to anyone else.
How did the employees treat you?
They were indifferent to my care. Doing their job & not really interacting with me unless they were offering food or meds.
Other information/description you'd like to share.
Talking to other people really does help the time pass on the ward. It's was especially helpful with helping me manage the feelings guilt/shame I had surrounding being on the ward.
- patients are aggressive (one cornered me while attacking a nurse, multiple fights, one girl tried to slit her wrists with a toothbrush in front of me) nurses are rude and unhelpful. they just yelled at me even when i did nothing wrong and when i was crying and having panic attacks they just ignored me and said they had bigger problems to deal with. no therapy except for group therapy and again the other patients were insane. they just stuff meds down your throat. no visitors for me. didn't get clothes for a couple days and was stuck in a hospital gown with no bra or underwear. when i did get my clothes they confiscated most of them and they didn't let me have any comfort items. no bed for me so i had to sleep on the floor with two other roommates. wake up to take vitals at 5 am. you're on a strict schedule from start of the day to finish with no downtime. food is disgusting, i didn't eat anything for three days straight. whole place was filthy and everyone was mean. traumatized me and made my mental health 1000x worse. i was even more motivated to die.
- idk about cost
- baker acted so 72 hour involuntary hold.
- they don't rlly give a fuck if ur safe for release bc they just want to make room for new people so they can get more money. but they don't want to get sued so they made my parents sign a form saying they would force me to take wellbutrin and watch me every second of the day to make sure i didn't do it. i was fairly compliant tho and i faked getting better. i told them i felt better and i needed to get out of here because i learned my lesson.
- like shit. they were clearly working a minimum wage job and didn't give a shit about us. they mostly just talked amongst each other with the exception of yelling at us if we did one little thing wrong. they didn't care at all about our mental health and didn't feel bad for us or offer any comfort or help at all. i cried the whole time and they ignored me or got mad at me.
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lobster salad, L951788, Wrennie and 2 others
I won't speak for anyone else, but for me personally, I just find that being in a new environment makes my paranoia and anxiety worse. Plus some people (patients particularly) there can make me uncomfortable or cause distress. And maybe the cleanliness of some of the places I've been, they were pretty gross sometimes. Then there was the idea of what I'm putting my family through, and the fear that being there just isn't worth it or a waste.
Did you pay for the stay?
No, I did not. Thank fuck.
How long did you stay there?
Generally between 5-8 days.
How do they know that you are "safe" for release?
I just attended all the groups and usually behaved pretty well. I had some instances where I'd found ways to s/h or whatnot, but it didn't really affect the length of my stay. I'll be honest, I don't think safety was something that always mattered. I legit told a doctor during one ofor my stays that there was nothing anyone could do for me, and that when I left I would probably attempt again. He said "okay" nonchalantly and I was discharged the next day or so.
Does it look something like Link?
Link doesn't work for me. From my experience, bedrooms usually had 1-3 beds, a shelf for your things, and often times the bathroom doors didn't latch or cover completely at the top or bottom.
How did the employees treat you?
I remember them being nice for the most part. My favourite was a guy named Max that was a former patient there and a recovered heroin addict. He said he loved his job because "I get to watch all you fuckin' crazy people!" I think my worst experiences were just of staff being apathetic or unhelpful.
Other information/description you'd like to share.
My brain is tired, so I can't really come up with anything. Oh yeah, I'm in the US, and have have been to 5 psych wards overall. I'd be down to answer any more questions if you have any.
It wasn't hell but it was definitely a boring waste of time. I was first placed in an emergency observation unit with limited human contact and nothing to do but sleep and read the limited amount of books available to you. I never thought I'd read Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress in two days but desperation will do that to a person.
After the staff there determined I was stubbornly not feeling better I was transferred to a larger psych ward and generally left to my own devices. Other residents had more serious problems than I did but were nonviolent. I spent most of my time assuring a schizophrenic patient that his disability claim would probably go through (I still think it would) and reading books sent by my spouse. Scheduling of therapy activities was sporadic and generally introductory techniques in the form of group therapy, so nothing that required sustain, one-to-one contact and therefore be useful could have occurred.
Did you pay for the stay?
I was charged for the stay but will not pay it, as I was placed there against my will.
How long did you stay there?
A full week, from Friday to Friday.
How did they know you were "safe" for release?
They didn't; all they knew was that I was behaving well enough that they wouldn't be legally liable if they released me and I caught the bus as soon as I walked out the door. That is the key concern. In order to get that determination, I played the game of making sure to be out in public where people could see me, kept myself groomed, and regularly attended the group therapy sessions.
This will be true of all submissions, voluntary or otherwise: If you want out, don't fight back except through a patient advocate, play the game and look presentable and behave sociably no matter how much you hate it, and take the damn drugs as long as you're in. You can throw them out once you're outside. If the staff is mistreating you, document everything - who did it, who you reported it to, what wasn't done, at what day and time and where, etc. You will need this later.
Does it look like what was in pic related?
The pic looks like what my bedroom looked like except it was a shared bedroom. There was also a larger common room where people would mill around and watch TV or otherwise busy themselves. It's very spartan by design to minimize you finding new and exciting methods of self harm.
How did the employees treat you?
I kept to myself so I was largely ignored. Sometimes this was too my detriment, as when they forgot to provide me with my medication for a day or two because they forgot I was there.
The group therapists were of mixed quality. The one I had in my Emergency Observation was not sure what to do with me because I was still being stubborn about playing the game. I was argumentative with the evaluating psychiatrist in that period for reasons I still feel are justified, which did not help my circumstances. Bluntly, they were expecting somebody in an emotional crisis and not somebody coldly rejecting a lot of the trite sayings with which I'm sure most people here are familiar.
In the main ward, the group therapist was mostly offering basic introductions to therapeutic techniques as I said. I found myself in the position of helping them out during therapy sessions to clarify things to more troubled patients, which helped with getting me out when I did.
Any other information you'd like to share?
There is no such thing as a 72-hour required period, and on average you or anybody else in the ward will be there for around 5-9 days. Plan for this accordingly.
It was easy to become accustomed to the routine, such as it was. If I had wanted to make a point I could have kept myself in the ward and remained until my insurance refused to pay. It wouldn't have been happy, but it would have been a kind of comfortable.
1) Definitely wouldn't call it hell, I spent most of my teen years in the psych ward for my anorexia, I got very used to it to the point I was scared to leave, being looked after and cared for to such an extent, feeling secure/protected etc.
The worst part about it for me is that it's kinda boring, but it makes you really enjoy small things like going for walks, board games etc. haha
2) No, I'm in Europe(Ireland) so there's public(free) healthcare
3) I've probably been there over 10 times at this stage, shortest admission was one week, longest was 10 months
4) When I had reached a stable/'healthy' weight(Anorexia admissions), or when I was no longer saying I was gonna kms and behaving normally (attempted ctb admissions)
5) No, they look nicer than that
6) It varies, you get on better with some staff than others, but for the most part o was treated fine, the worst things really that happened was nurses being forgetful/neglectful but it didn't happen too often (for example forgetting to give medication or check on a patient)
I'm in the UK, been to a couple of different places through the NHS.
This is the communal area: (nurses station so they can overlook what is going on, but all the signs on the windows block most of it so you are ignored)
This is my room: (red bed linen quickly got changed to white when they noticed I self harm so they could keep an eye one it)
I do have other photos but they have identifiable stuff in, if you really wanted to see them I can block parts and send them. These 2 give a good idea what it is like in the UK though.
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lobster salad, Pen>Sword, Emily_Numb and 1 other person
1. The NHS basically chucks everyone into one small, rocky boat. There were about twenty patients on my ward and they varied from my fellow suicide (we'll call him Joe) to a man who literally hated women so much he'd shove them and spit on them- weirdly he spoke no english and wandered around the ward like a zombie all day, constantly followed by nurses until he'd strike. I honestly don't know why they didn't lock him in his room, the women were terrified 23/7. One night I came out of my room to find the 'women's' ward was locked up and the zombie guy (I don't mind calling him that - he was vile and only didn't attack me because I had a buzzcut so i think he thought I was a boy) leaning on the door staring in. Food is atrocious and there aren't therapy sessions. You can fuck around with crayons with people who'll tell you you were Anne Frank in a past life if you want at 'leisure time' but you don't want to do that. Joe and I developed what I think was a crush on one another (though it turned out when we went for drinks on the outside we didn't have much in common- i really hope he's not on this forum and is happy) and we found a bit of humour in rolling our eyes at some of the louder patients and staying up late in the common area playing crossword puzzles. One night, Joe forgot to lock his door and one of the more easily upset girls burst in and jumped into bed with him. I was stabbed with a pen because one woman there wasn't allowed one as she'd just write on everything and she saw me making notes and lashed out. Night is awful. Constant screaming. The less volatile patients and the 'so drugged up you've no idea what they're like' patients just wandered around gormlessly for 12 hours a day, whilst the 3 'hard' patients on our ward occupied the time of the seriously small staff force. No wifi, so your entertainment was zilch unless you had books- but books are hard to read when someone's screaming/you're on a lot of medication. Literally shit and piss and thrown food everywhere. Staff are too busy to deal with it.
2. all of the above on the grace of the NHS!
3. About a month
4. It took me about a month to get the right information. They'd filled out my information incorrectly and listed me as 'dangerous to others'. I had to rectify this- I'm a kitten. Literally no idea where they got this from a shaking 110lb girl complying with everything they said. They also overmedicated me because of this. I could never work out why Joe (in for the same) felt just a bit dozy whereas I was full on nearly passed out at night. But their incompetency meant they didn't question the fact my behaviour in ward didn't match up to what was written about me. They didn't even go 'huh, looks like R can make positive relationships and mostly just keeps to herself, wonder why she's listed as dangerous I'll investigate in case she's calm *before* she's violent', they just let me go on rotting. If one of the 3 loud patients had so much as turned their head in a way they didn't recognise, they'd all gather forces around them. It's fucking bonkers they didn't think to ask me- or the doctors who had referred me- why I was dangerous. To think they could've had a latent but extremely violent patient in me and they didn't once think to check this out.
5. see above
6. sorry, can't see the image.
7. Like I was a ghost. Honestly rarely looked me in the eyes and I wasn't assigned anyone in particular to talk to. A few nurses were nice, and I liked asking them about their lives but they were overworked. As I wasn't throwing plates or punching other patients, I may as well have been an NPC to them. They ignored me to such an extent that my release took A WHOLE FUCKING MONTH because 'Oh, R has mentioned she wants to appeal...OH SHIT FRED HAS SHUT LUCY IN THE TV ROOM WITH HIM CODE RED'. They'd just forget.
I think a lot of one's experience in the bin boils down to three things.
1) Age. If you're not over the age of 18 (at least in the States), you have far fewer rights and far less control than a legal adult with similar concerns.
2) Involuntary vs. voluntary commitment. If you have to go, it's best to go willingly.
3) Location. Some wards are clearly better than others. I was on the short term unit in a large psychiatric hospital. It was geared primarily towards addressing depression and anxiety. We had a few patients with concomitant PDs, dissociative disorders, and ASD, but we were all basically depressed, anxious would-be suicides who had a lot in common. There was very little drama. (One exceptionally rude, off-putting roommate who was quickly relocated, and one early morning belligerent screamer who checked out AMA and was not there long.) And any problems were dealt with quickly. Some too quickly... they noticed on the first night that one of my roommates snored loudly and had some dissociative concerns, and they quickly booted her to a private room. The snoring was suboptimal, but I *really* liked her and would have preferred that she stay. I had zero qualms about the dissociation. I'd imagine that a mixed ward could be far more harrowing depending on the nature of your cohort. We were also mostly adults. There were a few older teenagers, and the older patients were largely supportive. I had food delivered and bought them stuff from the canteen to try and make it a less shitty experience.
1. No freedom, nothing to do, everything you do is watched. When I say nothing to do I mean I paced up and down the halls and took naps for fun.
2. Insurance covered it. These places are basically insurance scams.
3. 10 days.
4. They don't, they just keep you as long as the insurance will let them because they want the money. i saw my doctor (the one making the decision to let me out or not) for a total of maybe 15 minutes over my 10 day stay.
5. Bedrooms are smaller than that and don't have windows on the doors at the place I was at. Otherwise yeah.
6. Varied wildly depending on the person.
The staff/nurses there would speak very slowly to me and act as though I was behaving irrationally whenever I expressed any legitimate concerns to them. When I ended up having a horrendous allergic reaction to a drug that I was prescribed which caused me to experience ungodly physical agony, they had the audacity to assume that I was exaggerating and forced me to attend pre-school level "sensory" groups as I was drowning in excruciating pain. One nurse went so far as to shout at me when I begged her for relief.
Some of the counselors there, though well-intentioned, would default to trying to convert me to Christianity as a treatment approach. I have no idea how that's even allowed... but it happened multiple times.
There were some legitimately insane patients there, one of which being this deranged old man who would keep the entire ward awake at night with his guttural screams of 'OOGA BOOGA'. Worst of all, the staff rarely did anything to shut him up because the sedative they had on hand was "too costly" for repeated use. Him aside, it was impossible to get any shut-eye anyway because there was a retarded protocol in place where the night shift would shine flashlights in our faces every five minutes to confirm that we were still alive.
There was a morbidly obese elderly woman with dementia who would lie on the floor spread-eagled so everyone in the vicinity could see her complete lack of panties. One time I was in line to use the unit phone directly after she did and ended up contracting a bad case of pink-eye because who knows where on earth her hands had been before that...
I was technically only there for 3 and a half months but it felt like over a year. My stay was involuntary.
my experience was like this, except it was during covid and no one would wear a mask. these people liked to get up close and personal, which was annoying. even if i'm suicidal, i'd prefer to have control over it rather than go through even more agony and die to some stupid little virus particle.
also, when i asked the staff what my rights were, or any other "problematic" question, their expression would instantly go blank and they would turn their backs to me mid-conversation and walk away, as if i didn't even exist. i think that was the worst part. if you did anything they didn't like, you would suddenly become invisible. i don't think that's any way to treat someone. it seems mildly illegal too that they didn't have any system in place for people who wanted to know what their rights were, other than just walking away and pretending you don't exist. but the pattern of "what's right" being the opposite of what actually happens is already so cemented in my mind at this point that it would not surprise me one bit if it was legal and encouraged for them to treat their patients like scum.
I'm gonna put my first answer in a spoiler because it's kind of long - Sorry I talked so much lmao.
What made it hell was the general attitude among the other patients - like aggressive outbursts or generally annoying behavior. The staff was also pretty shit they clearly did not care about anyone in there. If anyone got even a little bit angry a whole bunch of people came in and held them down as a nurse put a shot in your asscheek ("booty juice"). One girl had that happen and they just left her unable to move in the hallway so the rest of us carried her to her bed and I had to help her take her pants off since she asked me to as she couldn't do anything physically.
When I first got there I had to undress in case I had weapons and also so they could put me in shitty paper clothes. But of course lack of trust meant I had to do it in front of the head nurse lady. I told her I was uncomfortable and she immediately started shouting for help claiming I was "resisting" when all I had said was I did not want to undress in front of her. She also made a poke at how my body looks. I did get away with keeping my underwear on at least.
The staff there also hardly talked to me and I remember the head doctor called me in for questions but his phone kept going off every minute with loud bagpipes so he didn't really learn anything about me but still diagnosed me...? They also tried to give me medicine even though they weren't allowed. Oh and the medicine cream for my arm injury they were supposed to give me was never mentioned. They literally never bothered telling me I had it until I asked if my wound was going to get infected.
You're also constantly told to attend group activities where they make you come up with bullshit "coping strategies" and you can tell every patient there is only answering and engaging because doing that sort of thing gets you out faster. If you aren't engaged enough the staff there will really pressure you to participate which is annoying when you have anxiety..
- ok enough rambling
2. Yes it cost money and the ambulance that took me from the normal hospital to the ward alone was 1000$. Stupid that they make you pay for involuntary stays. I didn't want to be there why should I get a bill?
3. Stayed for 4 days, I think that's the minimum for involuntary hospitalization.
4. Act calm and be a little bit social and they will release you faster. I attended all group sessions, came out for breakfast, and interacted with other people so that's why I got the minimum.
5. My room was closer to the picture I'm attaching. It was bigger though and with more beds and side tables. There is also a connected bathroom and if you stay in there too long they will check on you.
As I said above the employees were not so great. Though I've always been good with people so I know I was treated better than others - like for example I got to stay up late to finish a movie since the staff had seen I was just calmly watching it all day.
I just think a lot of people in that field either like the power it gives or they have been there so long they're just completely desensitized and don't really care about the patients. They don't trust you, they won't listen to you, and they'll often be very short with you as well. Also they're not transparent about what they are doing at all - I had my blood taken multiple times with no explanation. Still don't know why they needed so much.
what made it hell
imagine hearing people screaming seeing people being taken in restraint down hallways. imagine its you. on 1:1 in a stripped room with a camera no privacy and they are incharge of you. can dope you up without permission. shots in restraint. tubes forced down throat. seeing people having incidents and violence against staff. horrible and ughhh i was 16 then... ohh and a boy who stripped naked and uhhhh
2. free as uk on section/ otherwise on nhs
3. 8 months??? 6 months???? 3 weeks???
they know ur safe when no incidents and manage leave..... ans take meds i believe
some staff were caring but others were rude. depends id agency or ward.
just horrible and holding bays. felt safe but not from my mind and i only got out cos i stopped behaviours so i could do shit in comminity and i wouldnt go back. ctb b4 then
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