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Not going to psych ward

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aedgerle

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So I emailed my therapist about whether or not I could go to the psych ward at my local hospital because of my continuous suicidal thoughts. Also, the last time I went to the hospital for my mental health stuff they said " the next time you come in for mental health stuff, you will be admitted." My therapist replied that she called my dad. My dad and my therapist talked and they agreed that they dont think im "sick enough" to go into the psych ward. I think that that is total BS because I continually have suicidal thoughts. I went home and cut myself. What do I do?
 
Are you underage or is your dad your power of attorney or something? Im just wondering why your therapist consult him...

You know yourself better than anyone. Admit yourself if you feel its neccessary. You know yourself the best.
 
You know the most about your mental health. If you need help, it's important to go after it. For example, reaching out here was really good.

If you are old enough, you may be able to go back yourself. If not, you could try discussing with your therapist again, or if that doesn't work, with another "real adult" as I like to call them (someone in a school system, for example).

I don't know enough about your situation to give any more specific advice but hopefully I won't need to -- the problem seems to be how to get you the help you already know you need.
 
Sounds like you need to convince your dad on why you feel you need admittance. I'm so sorry. I know how hard it is and how lonely it feels when you're underage and asking for help and the adults in your life say you're not "sick enough". I begged for anti depressants and didn't get them until I had an embarassing breakdown episode and it was apparent I needed help. Like my cutting, my words and desperately trying to convey my suffering weren't enough.

Can you write out all of your reasonings and some follow up explanation as to how admittance will help you? If you think it's what is best and your dad is in the way of that, then you have to try to help him understand why you feel its in your best interest. Can you do this?
 
Being told you are not "sick enough" is super invalidating; I'm so sorry you have suicidal thoughts, which can be so scary and upsetting, on top of maybe feeling like people aren't taking you seriously? (don't want to project feelings onto you! it's just how I would feel: like people weren't hearing me, weren't helping me, like I had to prove how awful things are for me). Have you ever been hospitalized before? I have had several hospitalizations and some of them actually made me worse--I was more committed and more obsessive about killing myself during/after them and felt so powerless, got put on a whole slew of additional meds, and just had to relinquish autonomy which was NOT good for my PTSD. I'm not saying that experience is common, but I do think psych wards can be a very mixed bag (I've had positive and helpful ones, for sure). Are you worried you are going to act on your suicidal thoughts? Are there any other treatment options available to you, like partial hospitalization? Can you have more frequent sessions with your therapist? I'm sorry things are so shitty and hard. Keep reaching out! Like others have said, you're the expert on your mental health. Wishing you good skills and good luck.
 
At 16 years old, and with a parent (your dad) willing to help look after you? You’ll potentially find most hospitals will bend over backwards to keep you out of a psych ward. The common view is that they are not a therapeutic place for young adults, and may very easily do more harm than good.

So, even where there are some suicidal thoughts, as distressing as it is, it may be the case that they don’t consider hospitalisation to be the best option for you. Especially if dad is prepared to help keep you safe at home while you work with your T to heal, and overcome your suicidal thoughts.

Hospitalisation for suicidality is likely to simply be a holding-place, where you lose your privacy and freedom to come and go, and are supervised, until it is considered you are no longer an acute risk. So if dad has told your therapist theat he’s prepared to supervise you, many hospitals are going to be reluctant to admit you at 16.

If you can, perhaps have another conversation with your T, and ask them to be a bit more specific about why you haven’t been admitted, and perhaps review your concerns with them. If you think you are currently not able to keep yourself safe, it is really important that you’re communicating this with someone like your dad or your T, so that they can provide the appropriate level of care.
 
I would move heaven and earth to keep my kid out of the psych ward.

Why? Because it severely limits his choices later in life, in a way that counseling does not.

And that’s talking the incrediably badass pediatric psych ward at a nationally award winning peds hospital, with a massive waiting list, because they’re actually a halfway decent place to go.

If we were talking any other hospital? Forget moving heaven & earth, I’d be willing to break several laws, including fleeing the country to avoid his being placed there. Why? To be blunt: Because the kids who DO end up there are usually there for incredibly violent and deranged behavior. Like cutting off a dogs head and f*cking it’s skull as one of the LEAST horrifying reasons. A lot of the crimes that get kids admitted are against other children, the elderly, & other vulnerable populations. Parents fight to keep their kids out of such places in the same way they fight to keep them out of the foster care system, and out of jail. Their kids WILL be hurt, and come out far more damaged than they went in. Non pediatric wards? Are better-ish, in that your kid is usually “just” locked in a room (for their own protection) or strapped to a bed, and either pumped full of meds or observed 24/7, until they promise not to hurt themselves or anyone else. None of these places are Xavier’s School.

Especially for kids/teens there are about 1,000 better options for psych & trauma care than inpatient hospital stays.
 
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