For People Who Are Thinking Of Going To A Psychiatric Hospital

[wife of]

Oh gee I wish our local wards had this type of regeime. I wouldn't put up a timetable of hubbys stay for fear of putting people off.:speechless:

 

[Barberian]

Wow, I wish I had gone to your hospital when I needed help. I went to a VA hospital in Fresno Ca. three times so far. My stays were between 4 and 6 days. They don't really have a routine except meals and showers. There are group meetings, but not required and half the time not really announced so you don't even know about them. The people in the day area would hear the announcements, but because I can't stand loud noises, I stayed in my room most of the time. You are not allowed to bring ANYTHING into the ward first few days. After a few days you can wear some of your street cloths as long as they don't have strings, belts etc., no shoes. No books, food, anything. They have some magazines and a bad paperback book selection and a large screen TV, arts and crafts center open most the day. That's about it.

Even though I was bored out of my broken drugged mind (prescriptions given there), I still believe it was the best place for me at the time. I still keep it on the table as an option. I 'm sure I will use it again next time I lose it.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

It's important to realize the difference between local psych wards and specialty hospitals. Some local hospitals can be good, but if you want a PTSD program, it's advisable to do a little research to find a good one.

I'm lucky that a top program is only an hour away from me. I'm on the east coast, USA, and there were people there from all over the country. I've been in that program twice, a month each time. Don't get me wrong, I HATED being hospitalized. But it was one of the best things I ever did for my healing. I learned more there in those few months than I previously learned in decades of outpatient therapy.

 

[jewel]

What Hosp on the east coast?

 

[Zef]

I am in my final week of a partial hospitalization program for people in crisis. The program is structured so that you are there for 6-7 hours per day, primarily based on group therapy and education classes and really crappy hospital food. :) You then create a plan for each evening of working on the goals you want to work towards that evening.

You get access to a one-on-one therapist a couple times a week (or as needed) and also you get time with a psychiatrist who examines your meds and makes recommendations. They also will help take constructive steps in non-mental health issues that may be impacting you.

While not focused only on PTSD, this has proven to be a very good program teaching me skills to cope and get through my current crisis and would recommend looking into whether there are similar programs available in your area.

Plus, my insurance seemed to be quite happy and cooperative in paying for this, whereas I would have had huge issues if I had went to a private or specialized hospital.

 

[DontGiveUpOnMe]

I saw a documentary once about a psychiatric hospital, and if I was depressed, that probably depressed me even more. I guess my fear of psych wards is the medication part, that I feel like its just all about meds all the time.

I worry about them just shoving meds down your throat and labelling you and just secluding you or T's seeing patients as just *broken damaged ppl*. Like do they really care?

Then again, this may be my own misconstrued version of what a psych hospital would be like. I've never been in one.

Seeing some of the positive experiences written down here, makes me feel like even though I wouldn't want to go there, if I had to, maybe I wouldn't be as deathly afraid as I was.

 

[intothelight]

Hi DontGiveUpOnMe,

No, hospitals vary and some are really great places. But if you ever would feel the need to know, it doesn't hurt to know a little about the one's in your area, so you know what resources are available.

I did a backup plan with my family and even have the one I would want to go to picked out. For a "just in case".

Deb

 

[DontGiveUpOnMe]

Deb, I appreciate the response. I never thought of researching the ones in my area. That's not a bad idea. That way I would know, just to ease my curiosity/fears.

A plan is a cool idea, just so it becomes less of a phobia.

Thanks :) I appreciate this post

<Edited - removed unnecessary quote from post above, and corrected basic grammar.>

 

[712xx]

As a few have been talking about suicide and hospitalization, I thought I'd bring this thread back to the top. There are probably many others who can give their experiences with being forced or voluntary hospitalization. My experiences were not so very wonderful for me, but I'm still alive, so I guess the main point of it was a success.

I learned that routine, detailed scheduling, and familiar environment are all very important in staying functional on my own. They had a hand in teaching me those things that I still use. I put a lot of energy into staying independent, so that I will never be locked away again. I did feel as if I were in a low-security prison each time I was taken away.

I've been in several hospitals in different states in the U.S., so have a good sampling of different ways to lock a person away. The average length of time I was there was about a month each time; 7-8 times total ... most of them I was a kid, and the last time I was 20. I was hospitalized once more when I was 23, but it was only 2 weeks I think, so I don't really even count that one. I actually had forgotten about it till just now, as I was typing.

Each time I went in, I wasn’t allowed anything personal as it might get stolen. I had to wear hospital pj's the entire time, on the locked ward; the same ward they have solitary confinement if a person is suicidal. I was only strapped down to a bed twice that I can remember ... they were separate hospital stays though.

Confinement room is usually for only 1-2 days, and restraints are only on as long as you are unable to verbalize a contract for safety. Even then, if you are not combative, they will take them off after a few hours max. I've never been mistreated physically in a mental ward, but some of the nurses can have a passive-aggressive attitude.

They have a way of needling you sometimes. There were always those stories that went around that said many of the nurses grew up as mental patients, and they graduated when they turned 18 and started working for ‘the other side’ lol.

For entertainment on those long weekends I usually only had paper, crayons, and magazines to read (to this day I will not touch another Reader's Digest or Highlights). There is little to no schedule on weekends; I couldn't leave the locked ward to take a walk outside, so I sat in my room staring at shadows on the wall and ceiling. There was a tv in the meal room, but I'd have to risk people sitting next to me wanting to chat.

There was also a media room with a stereo (headphones only), books, and arts and crafts stuff if you were old enough and had the proper ‘level’ clearance to be in there. This was outside the locked ward … on the regular ward. If I was ‘good’ I was allowed to go to the regular ward for 30 minute intervals and could go to the media room, but a nurse or intern had to check on me every 10 minutes. I didn’t usually get to go because they were always under staffed on weekends.

The weekdays were a lot more scheduled, and we had chores we had to do on our off time. I kinda liked the weekdays a lot more than weekends. At least I was busy, and didn’t have a lot of time to focus on being locked up. Plus, weekends are usually when family or any other caring person could visit or call, but I didn’t get visitors or calls till the week before I was due to be released.

Those times I had a roommate was both good and bad … mostly annoying. But, it did help the weekends go by faster. We’d make up games; once we had a contest to see who could get an intern to run so fast to our room s/he would slide by the door as they approached. I’m not sure why this was so funny, but it was the best entertainment our stupid minds could come up with at the time. Once they caught on, wehad tofind other ways to entertainn ourselves.

I once got into a fight with another girl who was standing on my towel. I ended up knocking her to the ground and pulling her on the towel out of the room, then barring the door shut. I distinctly remember this because I was 14 and had discovered the side effects (and true fact) of pms sync-up. One of the nurses explained it to me later, and that girl was even madder at me because the nurse told me she was on her period. Mad at me? I am a female, but I’ll never understand ‘them’.

I guess none of that is of any use to anyone here, except maybe some entertaining juvi-scandal. Sorry, but it was pretty much the same for those 2 times I was an adult being locked away – right down to the crayons. There still were classes, group therapy, medications, schedules, boredom, individual check-ins, no personal items allowed, …etc. It felt very much the same, and we seemed to be treated the same. If anyone wants me to post a schedule I can, but it looks pretty much like the OP gave you. It is very structured (on weekdays) from being waked to baked.