Sorry for being gone so long....I've been in psychiatric hospital for a few weeks....I've missed you guys and RYL! I wasn't allowed my laptop in hospital.
Anyhow, two years ago (ish) there was a thread on self harm units (not started by me) which I participated in. Now I need your help please. I need up to date advice. A lot happens in two years.
My care team are looking for a self harm unit to send me to and the only option we have come up with so far is the self harm unit in the Maudsley Hospital (which is also good because there is also an ED unit in the hospital and I need help for that too) Has anyone been there? If so, what is it like etc.
The funders however want more than one option so does anyone know of anywhere else? Having ED support in the unit/hospital is a huge bonus because I need help with that too.
I'm grateful for any thoughts and advice.
Thanks in advance.
Liddy x
GRANT ME THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE
THE COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN
AND THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE
S.A.F.E alternatives........ i took a quick look on the website, cause i vaguley remember stumbling on it once. anyways, i'm pretty sure it has a residencial program. not sure where it is though, but if you google it you'll find the site.
except, i'm not sure if the place is in the UK or the US..... so this may not be an option
this is my magical medicine cabinet. Left to right they contain: courage, hope, calmness, and strength.
The magical part: They NEVER run out, so borrow some any time you want.
Are you talking about the crisis recovery unit at the bethlem royal? Because I went there.
I just wrote another post about it, actually, so I'll copy it here.
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Basically, yes I have sort of been to a TC. It was a national specialist self harm unit called the Crisis Recovery Unit but it operated much like a TC.
It was funded by the NHS, I dont know of anyone who self funded as it cost about £60,000 for the six month treatment. Your psychiatrist would need to refer you, and then you have a half day assessment at the unit.
The unit is unique in that it allows the residents to self harm. Their ethos is that by preventing people self harming, they do not learn to cope with the urges and deal with the feelings of wanting to self harm. They operate with strict boundaries, some of them might seem strict, but it really works. The majority of us there had BPD, and people with BPD tend not to have had boundaries during childhood and so on.
You can self harm at the unit as long as you report it within two hours and accept treatment. If you break your provisos (which can stipulate certain things like mainting a certain BMI if you have problems with eating, or not using certain methods to self harm which would endanger other residents, refusing or interfering with treatment) you get sent home on reflective boundary leave for a week.
We had group therapy all day Monday-Friday, and everyone goes home for the weekend so you can put into place the coping skills you learn during the week (otherwise going into hospital where you dont have the opportunity to learn to deal with urges to self harm and where you are in a protective bubble, on going back into the real world everything just comes flooding back because you havent had the chance to practice the skills safely).
There was a balance of therapy groups like DBT skills and more creative ones like art, creative writing, movement and cooking. Every morning we had a morning meeting where residents and nurses would talk about issues, which mainly were about the dynamics between the residents and if any issues had arisen. This was a hard group for me, because living with five other self harming borderline people was like being forced to look into a mirror and evaluate my own behaviour. Not going to lie, that was very difficult but I learnt a hell of a lot about myself.
It was not really like a hospital as we all had our own bedrooms, free reign of the kitchen and dining room, tv lounge with sofas and dvds, fish tank which were were responsible for. The nurses did not socialise with us like they do on acute wards. Outside of sessions they work in the office and you cannot talk to them apart from in your individual sessions twice a day (which are negotiated at certain times of the day and if you do not request a session by a certain time you miss it), otherwise if you are in crisis then you can speak to someone in order to plan how you are going to deal with your thoughts and minimise harm to yourself.
However two nurses do eat lunch and dinner with the residents and make conversation over dinner. Everyone is expected to attend dinner and stay at the table for the duration. After dinner everyone plays games, including nuses, for an hour. Then there is an evening evaluation group where people discuss their day and that's it until the next morning.
As I said, some of the boundaries sound really harsh but it just works. It really helped me having a routine that I had to stick to. The rules applied for everyone, no exceptions which was easier to cope with than the environments of acute wards.
I think I've rambled but feel free to PM me with any questions.
Also, DBT was the turning point for me. Not the first time I did it, because I wasnt ready to recover or engage, but the second time when I was sectioned in secure, it was just what I needed to help me to recover. DBT is hard, there is a lot to take in and you need to practice every day, but it is worth it.
Basically, TCs are good in the sense that they make you responsible for your treatment and actions, unlike acute wards where the responsibility is taken away.
Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look back, everything is different…
you once called your brain a hard drive, well say hello to the virus.
^I did 6 months at CRU (crisis recover unit) at the Bethlem too (it comes under the South London and Maudsley trust)..I was there fairly recently (like, less than a year) so if you want any specific info, you're welcome to PM xx
I forgot to add that I'm over 18 so would need an adult, not adolescet, unit (not that that information necessarily has anything to do with the advice so far by the sounds of it)
Also my team feel I need a more acute hospital setting - I was at a therapeutic community for 4 years and it was a great place so if TC's were going to work for me they would have done so by now.
Thank you though for all help and advice so far, its much appreciated.
Please keep writing in though with ideas. I'm in contact with my solicitor this week.
x
GRANT ME THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE
THE COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN
AND THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE
I was going to say Cygnet Hospital, there is one at Ealing with an EDU below. There are also other wards such as Hooper but that ward is not very nice according to several people.
I am glad you are home, but sad you now are having to look at a further hospital stay. I just hope you get funding and find the right sort of environment. I did a reasonable amount of research a while back and remember there is a hospital group called St Andrews which offers Self Harm/BPD wards.
