When I think of secure, I think of locked units.
And I feel like I should mention this just for kicks, being in the ICU under suicide watch completely sucks ass.
oh ok, we only have secure units here. WIth big high fences which make it look like a prison...hahaha all that is missing is the big lights.
Do yoy have open units aswell?
Yeah that sucks big time, even in the open ward is bad.... someone following you around all the time, watching and writng down your every move. I refused to shower unless i could do it without being watched only took two days for them to agree to that..but they had to check the shower and see what i took in with me...
Did they just drug you up when you became agigtated, upset etc?
It is actually kinda helping to be able to talk to people who understand what it feels like to be put in hospital... i can talk to my psych and he trys to understand but it isnt the same
I'll try and explain the differences between the open acute ward and the secure unit. On the open ward, the doors were locked but you could still pretty much go out when you liked (as long as you weren't on 1:1) and you could have a cigarette when you wanted. At meal times you'd have the cutlery out and no-one counted it, you could go to your bedroom when you wanted etc.
In the secure hospital, you entered through an air lock. The first door opened, you walked into the room and it locked behind you, then the second door would open and you'd be in the courtyard. Then to get on the ward, you'd go through another locked door, up some stairs, and through the locked door to the ward. You'd be searched every time you left the hospital and everytime you came back in. For the first couple of weeks you weren't allowed outisde the hospital grounds, you could only have a cigarette in the courtyard. For your first trip out, it was usually half an hour escorted by two nurses. After four or five successfull trips, you could go out with one nurse. Then after a couple of those, you could go to different places like shopping centres or the cinema etc. It took most patients a year to the point where they were just going out with one nurse, but it took me a couple of months. Eventually I got to the point where I was going out alone.
Because everyone is sectioned on the ward, the psychiatrist has to write down where you are allowed to go, and everytime you leave the hospital a section 117 (I think) paper had to be signed and they had to write down exactly what you're wearing incase you ran off.
At meal times everyone had to leave their rooms. The bedroom doors were locked and the doors leading to the bedroom corridoors were also locked. The plates and cutlery were counted out, and counted in after people had eaten. You couldn't go back to your room until all the cutlery and plates had been accounted for and medication given out. You were only allowed in your rooms for an hour after lunch and after dinner, any other time you had to be either in the lounge or doing OT.
The walls surrounding the secure hospital were really tall and topped with barbed wire.
On the ward below they had two ICUs where patients would be taken if they had to be restrained.
You were only allowed a cigarette once an hour, and not between the hours of 10.30-12 and 2.30-4.
Oh and on the ward you weren't allowed carrier bags, pieces of string/rope, biros/pens, scissors, razors etc, mirrors, anything glass. If you self harmed with anything, it would be taken away and you wouldn't get it back. If you self harmed or had an "incident", you'd lose leave and wouldn't be allowed out (except for a cig) for a week or so.
At night everyone was on 30 min obs, unless you were on 1:1 obviously.
You weren't allowed to have a mobile phone on the ward, you had to use a payphone where you bought prepaid phone cards from the hospital shop.
The worst thing was the alarms. All of the nurses carried a white thing which clipped onto their belts/pockets, and when they pulled it the alarms would go off and the emergency response teams from other wards would rush in (they were trained in Control & Restraint) to restrain the patient and take them to the ICU. More often than not the patient would be forceably injected. I've seen it happen so many times. And some of the nurses carry ligature cutters, too, which had to be used a number of times during my six month Section 3. (Not on me, I've never been restrained)
It wasn't always that bad. Some days the alarms didn't go off at all. I built up some really good relationships with some staff, especially the ones that were my age (yeah it was kinda weird having healthcare assistants the same age as me!).
In your room (which was ensuite, ahh, the joys of private healthcare) you had a "contraband" drawer in which things like your hairdryer and make up would go, and you'd have to ask a member of staff to open it if you wanted something.
I still remember the screaming though. God, it was awful. Sounded like people were being murdered. The sound of someone in distress, suicidal and kicking off is the worst sound in the world.
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.
sounds alot like the hosp i was in. The doors were always locked, wasnt really allowed leave, checks were every 15mis.
We were given plastic cutlery, which you couldnt harm yourself with..yes i tried
we were allowed in our rooms though, this is where i tried to spend most of my time.
Did you have therapy on your ward? We didnt...all we had was on OT activity a day.. I was allowed to smoke anytime and as much as i liked before 10.30pm, although some patients had there smokes rationed cos they would smoke them all at once.
It was really bad to watch patients picking up cigg butts and trying to smoke them, and i wasnt even allowed to give them any.
I was in public hospital which meant i often had to share a room, on my 10 month admission, i had to share a room with 4 others and all we had was curtains around our cubicles. it meant people were always stealing my stuff.
We were allowed out in the courtyard because there was no way of escaping, although people did try. I used to hate the screaming too.
Were you ever put in seclusion..,.I hated that, they would leave people in there for hours.
I remember when i was attacked by another patient, the staff asked me whether i would like to press charges. But wouldnt that have been pointless cos the police would have let them off since they were metally ill?
Did you ever have to go to court to appeal your section? They made me and i didnt even have the energy to appeal it, it didnt bother me whether i was sectioned or not.
Possibly my worst experience when i was in hospital was being forced to have ECT, i still have terrible memory loss although it did help temporarily.
How old are you?
I'm 19. I first went into hospital when I was 17, sectioned when I was 18. Although I was in a private secure hosp, it was funded by the NHS. I've spent more time in NHS acute wards though. I hated being in a dormitory. One night I couldn't sleep, someone in the bed next to me was singing, someone else was playing a guitar and another was smoking and it was like 2am. I've seen people pick up cigarette butts to smoke too. It is sad, because they smoke all of their cigarettes in a couple of hours and don't have the money to get more. It's something like 90% of psychiatric patients smoke.
No, never put in seclusion. I was threatened with it once, but it didn't happen =]
The ward below ours was supposed to be for the acutely ill, and ours was supposed to be rehab, but it didn't really work out like that because we had a lot of severely ill patients and the ward below went out on day trips a lot more than us. They had plastic cutlery and plates too, and the kitchen on their ward was locked all the time, whereas on our ward we could use the kettle in the kitchen. There was also an oven in there, but the staff watch you a lot so they'd notice if you tried to do something with either the kettle or the oven!
Some of the patients that weren't quite as ill were offered DBT, which I started. One two hour group session a week and one one hour individual session a week. There was also OT every day. Some patients though didn't have any therapy or go to OT. They just slept in the lounge all day.
I had some money stolen in the acute ward. It sucks.
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've brought razors into acute wards so many times. I used to self harm daily on acute wards. They don't have the resources to check properly, and sometimes the nurse doing 1:1 falls asleep or has to deal with something else and there's your opportunity.
I always had my iPod, cigarettes and mobile in my pocket at all times though.
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.
Yes, we mean ICU. Here its usually called a PICU: Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit, otherwise known as a locked ward or a secure unit. All of our wards are locked as well, but when we say "locked", we mean that no patients are allowed to have leave in that ward. No patients ever leave the ward except for when they get discharged to an "open" ward. In an "open" ward, patients are allowed leave.
Last edited by Steel Maiden : 23-08-2008 at 08:17 PM.
Reason: additional
PM me if you want a PDF copy of the ICD-10or the Mental Health Act 1983/2007. I ALSO HAVE THE DSM-V BOOK and am a pharmacology student.
I have a visual impairment / neurological problems so I need people to type in clear text and no funny fonts. Also excuse any typos, my vision blocks things out.
I have autism and have problems communicating, PMs included.
Just becasue I type well doesn't mean I speak well. I am only part time verbal.
I was in a PICU and I was on 2:1 for two weeks, then 1:1 for the rest of the time.
I came to the PICU on a section 136 and had to stay there because I was attacking staff left right and centre and self-harming the minute someone turned their back.
Restraints suck a lot. Had five nurses on top of me and had no choice over what they injected into me. Fifteen minutes and I was out.
I kicked off several times a day myself, so I feel somewhat guilty now for putting the other patients through that.
There was quite a lot of screaming and crying on the ward, especially when a section 136 person came in.
I wasn't even allowed my belt or my shoes on the PICU and anything electric was taken away. I did manage to get my phone a few times when I was in my better stage.
Probably one of the worst things was that I was over-medicated and could barely walk at one point.
Staff were really nice though - some of them were amazing and got me out of sh*t. The staff there were extremely well trained. I delivered a present to them recently because of their help.
Psychiatrist was completely subliminal though.
PM me if you want a PDF copy of the ICD-10or the Mental Health Act 1983/2007. I ALSO HAVE THE DSM-V BOOK and am a pharmacology student.
I have a visual impairment / neurological problems so I need people to type in clear text and no funny fonts. Also excuse any typos, my vision blocks things out.
I have autism and have problems communicating, PMs included.
Just becasue I type well doesn't mean I speak well. I am only part time verbal.
I've spent almost four months in an adolescent unit and I've missed out on a lot...half my exams, the last day at my (now previous) school, the prom, most of my summer. It honestly has saved my life but I fear I'm becoming institutionalised and like one of the doctors has said to me, hospital isn't reality. It feels weird knowing I'm going to be discharged this thursday and having to return to some kind of 'normality' because as a result of it I'm now even more crap in social situations and anxious doing everyday things most people wouldn't think twice about.
1:1 obs are the WORST. I was on them for around three weeks and hated every minute of them, then a few weeks later got placed on them for a week again. Luckily I got away with not being on full bathroom obs but even someone sitting outside the door is intrusive considering you have to keep in constant verbal contact. I want to wee and shower in peace :(
I've spent almost four months in an adolescent unit and I've missed out on a lot...half my exams, the last day at my (now previous) school, the prom, most of my summer. It honestly has saved my life but I fear I'm becoming institutionalised and like one of the doctors has said to me, hospital isn't reality. It feels weird knowing I'm going to be discharged this thursday and having to return to some kind of 'normality' because as a result of it I'm now even more crap in social situations and anxious doing everyday things most people wouldn't think twice about.
1:1 obs are the WORST. I was on them for around three weeks and hated every minute of them, then a few weeks later got placed on them for a week again. Luckily I got away with not being on full bathroom obs but even someone sitting outside the door is intrusive considering you have to keep in constant verbal contact. I want to wee and shower in peace :(
I've just been discharged from an adolecent unit; New Beginning, and i miss it like hell! I don't know why tho, and i feel kinda guilty that i do. I made sum gr8 friends, but i miss the staff the most! 1:1 is the worst i agree, luckily i was only put on them twice; when i was first admitted, and once again when i got drunk and went haywire lol! But the freedom i got there if i followed the rules was amazing, i mean considering the circumstances.
Did you smuggle alcohol onto the ward or did you drink outside the ward?
PM me if you want a PDF copy of the ICD-10or the Mental Health Act 1983/2007. I ALSO HAVE THE DSM-V BOOK and am a pharmacology student.
I have a visual impairment / neurological problems so I need people to type in clear text and no funny fonts. Also excuse any typos, my vision blocks things out.
I have autism and have problems communicating, PMs included.
Just becasue I type well doesn't mean I speak well. I am only part time verbal.
I was on finger food with paper plates lol!!!!!!!
cheap NHS......
Well till they let me back in the dining room where they had metal but it was very blunt.
My ward was open when i was admitted and low secure when i left lol!
I think even tho hospitals are bad experience theyre there to help
xxxxxxxxxxx
Last edited by espoir : 27-08-2008 at 05:45 PM.
Reason: changed a bit
After all this has passed, i still will remain
After i've cried my last, there'll be beauty from pain
To be honest the worst part was being forcibly injected sedatives into my bum. In front of male nurses.
PM me if you want a PDF copy of the ICD-10or the Mental Health Act 1983/2007. I ALSO HAVE THE DSM-V BOOK and am a pharmacology student.
I have a visual impairment / neurological problems so I need people to type in clear text and no funny fonts. Also excuse any typos, my vision blocks things out.
I have autism and have problems communicating, PMs included.
Just becasue I type well doesn't mean I speak well. I am only part time verbal.
Were you on a private ward or an NHS ward? I think they tend to be more relaxed about rules in private wards. Well, that's what I've heard.
PM me if you want a PDF copy of the ICD-10or the Mental Health Act 1983/2007. I ALSO HAVE THE DSM-V BOOK and am a pharmacology student.
I have a visual impairment / neurological problems so I need people to type in clear text and no funny fonts. Also excuse any typos, my vision blocks things out.
I have autism and have problems communicating, PMs included.
Just becasue I type well doesn't mean I speak well. I am only part time verbal.
You'd think they'd consider the humiliation and get the male nurses away (I'm female). Its in my notes that I've been sexually abused as a kid, which makes the whole thing worse.
PM me if you want a PDF copy of the ICD-10or the Mental Health Act 1983/2007. I ALSO HAVE THE DSM-V BOOK and am a pharmacology student.
I have a visual impairment / neurological problems so I need people to type in clear text and no funny fonts. Also excuse any typos, my vision blocks things out.
I have autism and have problems communicating, PMs included.
Just becasue I type well doesn't mean I speak well. I am only part time verbal.
