Going to the cru.. eek!
 

I heard yesterday that they are going to offer me a place at the bethlem royal hospital in the crisis recovery unit for self harmers. :confused: I'm so nervous!! I can go as soon as funding is sorted as there is currently a vacancy. Got so many thoughts in my head about going inpatient again, tho its a different kind of inpatient, more like a residential community, but not quite. Not like when ive been involuntry on the acute local ward. Has anyone been there? Got any advice? what questions should i ask them? I'm not good at asking things, i can never get my head round what i need to say.
I'm also scared cos at my interveiw i was really wanting to get better, and now im not feeling so good, and wating to OD and stuff again :ermm:

Yeah, I was there last year. For me it didnt feel like a hospital at all, just like living in a house. Advice, give it your all. I wasted my admission going in and out of acute wards and fighting against getting better. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, so give it your best. Do everything they suggest and negotiate (their word for 1:1 talk) every singe day! It's your opportunity to really let the staff get to know you and work through problems.

Don't break any of your provisos. Seriously, when they say report self harm within two hours they mean two hours right down to the minute. Getting sent home for a week because you've not reported self harm or removed steri strips and not told them isn't worth it. I even had a headache and took some nurofen and had to report it as "self harm" on a blue form.

Some of the rules sound strict but they're there because they work.

Here is the timetable:


It looks like a lot but there's actually quite a lot of time left in the day for watching tv, sleeping (I did that a lot) and smoking (that too!)

This was my room http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../media1234.jpg

And the blue forms which you have to fill out every time you self harm:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...blueform-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...p/blueform.jpg

If you want to know anything else, just ask.

Sorry to barge in here, but I'm curious. What if you have meds that you have to take morning or evening before bed - how does that work when meds are midday?!

I've just realised they don't have the morning/night medication time on the timetable! Yes, they do meds at 8.15am and 10pm also :)

Oh, and on Friday's you can leave at 12.10 if you want to get the train or whatever home. I did that every week, never stayed to lunch, I hated getting stuck in the rush hour on the trains.

Oks. Thanks.
Not that I'll ever likely go there, but it's important!

oh thanks for all the info, very useful! Wow the forms are in so much detail. I find it kinda weird like at the assessment that they were asking me about my self harm in that much detail, it makes me quite uncomfortable but i guess ive gotta get used to it cos well .. they are! Did you find it actually helped? Or that you learned things that might help? It sounds pretty intensive... my uptake and involvment in therapy often is very dependant on my mood! If i'm feeling particularly bad ill storm out or normally bad i just wont say or do anything. Trying to fight against that, but its somehow not as easy as it sounds! They said it probably wont be this side of Christmas, but soon after :/

Wow, that sounds like a really good opportunity :)

Good luck!

I learnt a lot about myself, I really did. My self harm didn't reduce, because I didn't want it to. I wasn't ready to get better which is why I wish I had waited to go there.

A lot of the residents I was there with completely stopped self harming, or reduced their self harm significantly which was great to see!

I spent a lot of time sleeping when I should have been at sessions. It gets noticed if you regularly miss sessions and they try to find out why.

I think the best thing about it for me was how much talking I got to do. I find that helps more than the actual DBT they do there (coping skills). And also hearing about everyone else when they talked, it helps not to feel so alone in your experiences.

Good luck with everything :)

when you're feeling well and encouraged about getting better, talk to the community about what you fear your risks will be when you're feeling bad. that way you will be able to plan in case you feel those risks increasing. most of us have times when we do not want to get better and that is when we attack ourselves and sabotage our recovery. take it slowly, you're going to have times when you struggle and so if you struggle to ask for help when you're feeling unsafe, practice when you're feeling well.

good luck, ems. put that energy you (and most of us) have for hurting yourself, into fighting for yourself. there's energy there, it just needs support to go the right way. xxx

hey
is that bethlem that is on kinda the border of shirley and west wickham and very close to beckenham??????

i have been referred there too, but for outpatient stuff....like sh support groups/counselling etc but not sure if i will be seen there or the mordsley (?sp)

good luck, i hope it really helps you xxx

Good luck lovvie
Let us know how you get on
xx

Yep, that one lil esky.

ah spooky :) thats my home area (not bethlem you understand....but west wickham :D )

hope you hear from them soon ems....xx

maudsley is horrid ...