mental health patients outside unit seem undesirable and intimidating.

[cough cough]

I have schizoaffective disorder and a learning disability, I have just been discharged from a learning disability hospital within a larger genetic mental health setting, the LD hospital is separate building then the main hospital. A nurse said mental health and LD are separate then mental health because LD are more vulnerable then mental health patients and will be more at risk.

From observations the mental health people standing outside the main entrance seem more dishevelled and uncared for then learning disability patients, do the nurses and HCA's not encourage MH patients to bath or wash or leave them to choose to say unclean without any encouragement. In learning disability they really encourage and even physically help patients with hygiene.

Also some mental health patients outside seemed more occupied with voices and seemed really unwell talking to themselves, In LD they would not let a person out in such a condition. Same as some MH people drinking alcohol outside of MH unit, it doesn't seem such a issue in LD. Do they not give a **** about a mentally ill people in mainstream hospital, just let them get on with it?

[Sketchy]

It's not that they don't give a **** , it's more that with certain things they can't force a person to do something. Obviously this isn't always the case. When I was inpatient a lot of us struggled with taking care of ourselves for a variety of reasons. As for staying clean, in my experience staff didn't force people to do so (although I remember with one person they did). I don't think they were allowed to unless in extreme circumstances, but I could be wrong. I think dealing with our mental health was seen as a bigger priority and looking disheveled can sometimes go hand in hand with mental ill health. I know I certainly didn't look my best in hospital. As for alcohol, that isn't allowed, but it must be hard to reinforce if someone is determined to do so.

[sherlock holmes]

The staff on MH units try very hard to encourage patients to wash and keep up their personal hygiene, but if someone is too unwell to do that then they don't usually intervene unless they have to. But they certainly dont let people get on with it, every day they will encourage patients to wash and so on.

There's also the factor of clothes, many people in hospital like to wear jogging bottoms, loose clothes etc as it's comfortable. When I was in hospital I looked kind of scruffy just because there wasn't any point dressing up when I wasn't going outside.

People who hear voices do not always reach a point where the voices go completely, instead they are encouraged to learn to manage their voices and not get distressed by them. If they were kept in hospital until they were 100% symptom free then many people would never leave hospital which is a bad thing.