If I could give you any advice right now, I would say if it comes down to them wanting you to go into hospital and you not wanting to go in,
whatever you do, don't end up getting forced to go in, because if you get sectioned you lose all of your rights and you'll be in for longer
I've been in an adult mental health ward 4 times
Shortest admission was for 5 days, the longest 3 months
I'm not sure which country your from but in the UK adult mental health wards are not very good places to go, they are pretty run down and they are full of very ill people, because treating sombody in an adult mental health ward on the NHS is usually a last resort so as a result the wards are full of severly mentally ill people.
There isn't much privacy at all and you might have to share a dorm with up to 6 other people, although occasionally you get your own room.
Basically there isn't much to do there except eat and smoke, your just waiting around for the worst of your illness to go away really
You don't get to see a doctor very often and there isn't much to do there of a day time, it can get very boring (so if I was you I'd bring a book or an MP3 player or something)
Hospital helped me short term, as in it kept me safe when I was a danger to myself and while I was there I sorted out my meds and stuff
but long term there isn't really anything there to help you
But thats just from my experience on an adult ward, like I said I hear adolecent wards are better and offer you more help
Now I don't know how old you are but usually if your over the age of 17 you'll be on an adult mental health unit, I'm sorry I can't help you out in telling you what an adolecent unit is like because I've never been in one
but I hear they are a lot more structured and better places than adult wards.
I've rambled a lot here, if you want any more info you can PM me
xxxxxxxxx
"In the driest whitest stretch of pains infinate desert, I lost my sanity, and found this rose"
i've only ever been on acute psychiatric wards for really short crisis admissions (3 days - 2 weeks-ish) and although the staff attitude to me was pretty crap, and there were some pretty unwell people there, it actually did get me out of my crises pretty sharpish! quicker than home treatment/crisis resolution, i found. i never found the psych ward as bad as the nurses used to say. they used to say "ooh, adult ward, it'll be too traumatic for you". it wasn't as bad as the stuff going on in my head. maybe it was because my ward was generally quite quiet, and i only stayed a short time.
in summary: i liked that it kept me fairly safe. anyone could hurt themselves, even on a psych ward to be honest, but you sort of need to make a decision to use the resources available (staff, meds etc) rather than act out. i liked that it was quiet, predictable, and a bit boring.
i didn't like that it was boring, too! and i didn't like a minority of the staff who weren't very nice to me (i think they didn't really think i was unwell. they were, basically, wrong). i didn't like when there was once a patient who shouted at me, pushed me and stole my things (this was only once). i hated and could not abide ward round.
I was in an adolescent unit for 81/2 to 9 months.
There were good and bad points to beeing in there. I guess it realy did help me - once i let it.
The staff were amazing, i am still in touch with a few of them now! I had an amazing key worker who literally saved my life. But as with most places it was very understaffed, so the illest patients get priority. Looking back i get more staff time as an outpatient.
We all got our own rooms, which we could stick posters up and they had locks on both sides of the doors. There was also comunal areas like a big lounge/games rooms, art rooms, gym, quiet rooms and a gym.
The other patients were fantastic, but some of them very ill, this wasnt nice to see.
As i was on an adolescent unit as well as therapies like O.t and art we had to go to school. It was basicaly like a big primary school with gym art/tec/cooking rooms attached to the hospital. We had a full school day 9.30~3.15. We also had trips out to cinema/football matches/bowling in the evening. I dont know what happens on adult units though.
For me i hated the measures that were in place to keep me safe, having 2 members of staff with me at all times even in the toilet!, being restrained, and having all my possestions and furniture took off me. But i know it was for my own good.
I think hospitals can be positive and negative. They help if you let them, but other patients can bring you down/copy behaviours and also it is a false enviroment and it is all too easy to become dependant. Personally i think for people that need/want help a short admission could help. But it depends on the individual.
Hope that makes sense!!!!
xxxxx
Last edited by espoir : 28-07-2008 at 06:40 PM.
Reason: typo
After all this has passed, i still will remain
After i've cried my last, there'll be beauty from pain
Hospital functioned for me is the best way I can put it. It saved my life, I would have killed myself if I hadnt been admitted when I was. It also gave me an opportunity to take a break from everything, catch up on some sleep and let somebody else take responsibility for my safety because fighting urges to do stuff was leaving me absolutely exhausted. I was also allowed medications that my doctors wouldnt otherwise give me because Im considered too unsafe. I have also made some good friends.
The not so good things are it can be incredibly dull. You see people who are really very unwell and very distressed and yes, some may be a little frightening or upsetting. I was a very private person, so I found the constant observation night and day very, very difficult to deal with. It can also be hard to adjust when you come out.
However I think the most important thing is to remember that hospital will not solve all your problems for you. It will keep you safe while you need to be safe but ultimately its not going to make massive changes for you, only you with the guidance and support of your mental health team will be able to do that.
I have been in hospital 5 times, my admissions were all about 10months. I found it helpful at the time because it kept me safe from myself.
THere isnt much to do though and you lose all your privacy (I was subjected to many room searches. You often have to share a room, we had to be in our rooms by 10.30 and werent allowed out until 6.30 (except to use the bathroom) So i found this really hard because i suffer from insomnia.
You also run the risk of becoming institutionalised, and can become so dependent on the hospital that you begin to lose any of the coping strategies that you have, It just seems so much easier to go back to hosp rather than stay outpatient and try to get it through it yourself.
I recently got discharged (my sixth admission) and was only in there for a week, I found this more beneficial as a discharge date was set before i was admitted so i knew how long i would be staying and it gave me some time out from my feelings.
Personally i dont think you see the Dr.s enough and although the nurses are meant to talk to you once a shift, some dont even bother.
Sorry for all the negatives, but like i said i am still alive so it must have helped!
I am sorry to hear that things are so bad they are considering admitting you.
well from the sounds of it the mental health system is a lot different then in the uk than in the us but this is how it was for me...
I've been in an adolescent inpatient facility 5 times. I've only been in the short term one's though...you only stay for a few days and at the most a few weeks which I think isn't good because most people just end up coming back.they have short term places that they'll send you to for anything from running away to cutting too deep so you have to get stitches to trying to kill yourself or electricuting yourself. There basically we did groups all day. You either have one roomate or are by yourself. You have your own bathroom and shower in each room. They check on you every 15 minutes somestaff were jerks and some were nice. You see your Dr everyday
Then there's residental treatment facilities or RTC...I can't tell you too much about those as I've never been to one. They send you there if you've been to a short term place too many times or if your under 18...if your parents say they just can't keep you safe/don't want to deal with your behaviour.
sorry that probably wasn't much help since you live in the uk
Last edited by audree1141 : 30-07-2008 at 06:54 AM.
Reason: added more
Hospital helps me initially. I've been in adolescent wards, acute wards and a psychiatric intensive care (locked) ward. The locked ward was tough - I got restrained and forcibly injected (sedatives) few times daily because I was very ill, I was observed 24hrs and had almost everything confiscated. SOME of the nurses in all the wards were very helpful and I couldn't have got better without them.
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.
Sorry using mobile - limited space in a textbox.
Some of my hospital experiences are highly disturbing, but that's probably because of the nature of my illness.
But if I hadn't been sectioned recently, I don't think I would have survived another day.
Hospital helped me understand my illness and to recover.
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.
hospital for me really helped.
i was safe and had staff to help me not hurt myself which was good.
comming out of hospital is hard to deal with though.
the hospital i was in let me out for an hour then 3hours then half a day then a full day.
then ii was allowed allowed home for a night..then two nights. then a week etc. after a week ifi was doing ok i was allowed home for good.
that was followed by lots of outpatient treatment.
the only horrible thing was the other patients. some of them really frightened me and hurt me. i had one patient thump me. i was shocked. the next patient she thumped though got up and thumped her back...that was my worst experience
the hospital i was in let me out for an hour then 3hours then half a day then a full day.
then ii was allowed allowed home for a night..then two nights. then a week etc. after a week ifi was doing ok i was allowed home for good.
that was followed by lots of outpatient treatment.
Same here, I'm going through this process. I'm at the 3 hour leave point.
Although hospital was terrifying for the first week when I was extremely delusional and was convinced that all the nurses and doctors were spies and wanted to kill me
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.
