I’m kinda on risk for being put into one, so I kinda wanted to learn some stuff about how is it inside those. I think my biggest fear there is boredoom. Like, will I be able to videocall friends and/or listen to music there? Will my mp3 player/portable chinese retro emulator/phone/any eletronic be confiscated there?
These are my experiences in Ohio in a privately-run in-patient hospital. I had two stays of about 6 days each.
- No cell phones or electronics of any kind.
- You can call family at designated times on a landline.
- All of your belongings will be itemized when you arrive. All clothing with laces will either be locked up or you will be required to remove the laces from them before you can use them. Yes including shoes. Best to bring slippers. Everyone wore slippers.
- There will be lots of programming from the staff there. Tons of group therapy. Art therapy. Music therapy. Sometimes the therapy dog would come around.
- You will be very bored unless you do something. Bring a book. Bring some playing cards. Be prepared to do a lot of drawing if that’s your thing.
- You will also talk a lot to your fellow travelers. It will be weird because you will know the most intimate secrets and biggest fears of complete strangers.
The time is for you to get better and figure out what is triggering your mental health issues. The most important thing to remember is that you will probably never be 100% “fixed”, but you can learn to live with your condition.
I went through some super traumatic stuff, that ended with my mother almost murdering me, being resuscitated, and a long medial recovery. I was potentially going to be placed in a situation where my mother would still have control over me, because I was terrified of talking with my court appointed lawyer, or any adult about what happened. I became psychotically depressed and attempted suicide. (My first suicide attempt was as a 5 year old.) I spent 10 months in a mental hospital that had a unit for adolescents. The food was ok. 2 people to a hospital room. Pay phones were available, and you had to sign up for blocks of time to use the phone so everyone that wanted a chance to use them could. No computers, internet, or electronics. 1 TV for the whole ward. We had tutors so we could keep up with schoolwork. We had art therapy, group therapy, family therapy, and individual therapy. They kept us active and busy. Overall it was beneficial for my mental health, but I was misdiagnosed due to not knowing that bipolar ran in my family and my parent not being forthcoming with medical history. I struggled with mental health my whole life. It wasn’t until 3 years ago I was able to get stable insurance and find a psychiatrist with an opening for treatment.
Mental health is underfunded and understaffed. Unless you do shit that is criminal due to mental illness, or make an attempt at your life, many will find it very hard to get help.
It was ok, but this was back in 2008 and smartphones weren’t really a thing yet, so them holding your phone wasn’t a huge deal regarding internet access etc. (I had a Motorola slvr at the time). A typical routine for me: a crew came in at like 4am to draw labs, woke up 7am-ish, shower fucking sucked (motion-activated, ran for a limited time, about the amount of time it needed to heat up). Food was average hospital, no caffeine. I found out if I called ahead to request a meal I could get caffeinated coffee/tea. Group therapy like twice a day, individual therapy once a day, medication meeting once a day, lots of downtime and board games/card games. I could listen to music because I had a classic iPod separate from my phone.
Most people shared rooms. I somehow got my own, likely because I was the youngest by at least 10 years. Smoke breaks were still a thing, so after a few days of being cooperative you got those plus your belt back. For me it was an excuse to go outside and socialize for a few minutes.
Ultimately a good experience because I got the treatment and meds I needed quickly. Your mileage may vary of course.
Well, I never drank coffee on my life, so I’m fine with the coffee part.
Seems quite alright, expect with the “wake up at 7am part”. Now my last doubts are about the boredoom and the people thing.
Thanks, lad. Best response I saw until now.
I really genuinely hope that you find the help that you need, and in a way that you feel comfortable with.
Not bad. Strict schedule. Sleeping sort of sucks because people are always checking in on you.
Getting forced to have a room mate because they can’t be trusted by themselves isn’t great either.
When all of the other older kids are gone and the nurses trust you, they let you handle some of the data entry, or they let you play with the really young kids. It’s sad to see 5 year olds with depression.
Five year olds? Well, I once met a depressed 10 year old, but 5 year olds?
My first stint in inpatient was at 9 after I tried to hang myself, so yeah…
Fuck, that’s heavy. I hope you’re doing better these days
When I was a teacher in South Korea, I had a 5 year old student hospitalized for anxiety. It was fairly common by high school ages.
When I was at 5th grade I had a depressed classmate. At the age I thought it was “just craziness” or a lie (conservative parents suck).
Well, now I’m depressed too.
Mine wasn’t a pleasant experience either time if I’m being honest. I technically went in voluntarily but the people I was around didn’t really give me a choice. Not saying it was the wrong choice but I digress.
The point of the place I was in was to keep me from killing myself for a few days, thats kinda it. No doorknobs or hinges, no shower heads, no cloth towels, very thin bedding in a very cold building. They tried to change some medication, tried some group therapy type get-togethers but it was cliche and soulless. I wasn’t allowed my phone or any electronic at all, I could bring a few books but that was the last thing I wanted to do while I was there. Mostly ended up sitting in silence in the little interior cube of outside we had access to and watching ancient reruns on the one TV the ward had.
I’m alive so they did their job at the time but the experience was traumatizing and did more to hurt me than help.
Don’t get me wrong, if you feel you are out of control of yourself then please use this resource and take care of yourself just realize they aren’t there to make you better. They’re there to get you past a crisis so you have the chance to make yourself better later.
Sorry this doesn’t answer the question, but I read this as ‘hearing people’s experiences’, as in, “the experiences of people who can hear” and then that line about “listening to music” confused me because you’d seemed to imply you couldn’t hear
Ah, English is not my native language, I do tend to confuse some gramatics and words.
Sorry for that in advance. Gonna edit the post to make it more understandeable.
I didn’t mean to criticise your English! Evidently everyone else understood what you meant, and so did I after a moment. It was more of a funny observation ;)
I know, it’s just that my English IS confusing sometimes.
Might wanna say which jurisdiction… different countries are very different. In some countries, they could be very bad.
Brazil, by the way.
CAPS (our psych ward) is mysterious as fuck, never seen anyone comment anything on it and there aren’t any pictures on their insides. I hate this.
All the descriptions I’ve seen so far sound very much like my sister’s experience in eastern USA. I feel like there’s no info here to say whether it’s the same in Brazil or wildly different.
If it was me looking for the info I’d ask the question again in Portuguese
Here is the thing. CAPS (our psych ward here) is hiding A LOT.
Google “psych ward routine” in English. You’ll find a thing or two.
Now try to find a singular picture of a CAPS corridor. You can’t. They’re hiding lots of stuff.
Eh, I have worked in 2 psychiatric hospitals in the USA. Neither have interior pictures posted online - it’s not that they’re trying to hide anything, it’s probably just that it never occurred to anyone with authority that making photos available could be helpful/useful. The only time I’ve seen interior photos online is the websites of private/for-profit places that wanted to show off how nice their facility is in order to attract customers.
That said, whether CAPS has something to hide is a question beyond me.
You see, I can find this when I search for “Psych Ward Day/Shedcule” : https://roxburyhospital.com/treatment-services/adult-inpatient-psychiatric-program/saturday-schedule/
https://www.sanantoniobehavioral.com/what-to-expect/day-in-the-life/
I can also find A LOT of information on the Tokyo Matsuzawa Mental Hospital website.
Now, I try to search for “Dia no CAPS/Rotina no CAPS” (“a day/shedcule CAPS”) and won’t find a singular thing that isn’t just a VERY simple overview. Their website also is just a small article on the government website.
That would make me nervous
You should add that to your post.
Oh you probably shouldn’t take most of these comments seriously, most Fediverse users are from North America or Europe, I don’t know about Brazil’s Human Rights, so you might wanna ask local groupchat/forum or something.
Just an example:
I’m in the US, there are supposedly a lot of legal protections when it comes to patient’s rights.
But, back in China where I was born in… the culture is very conservative and if I was ever involuntarily held there, I could be possibly be held indefinitely. They don’t treat people mental illness very kindly. The legal system just reflects on the society’s conservative attitude. I heard horror stories of my village just locking up a kid in their house because they view that kid as a danger.
I’m not saying that such hospitals can’t help you, but you might wanna be careful. How Progressive/Conservative are the people? If they are very conservative, I’d try to avoid it as much as possible, seek legal help maybe.
Most people here are conservative elders that say Gravity Falls is a satanic production. (coughs in my parents)
Brazil’s psych wards hide a lot. No brazillians I ever talked to ever went to a CAPS (brazillian psych ward) and they hide even their interiors. Try to find a picture of a singular CAPS corridor. You can’t.
I’m gonna lie everything to my psychiatrist.
Depends entirely on who you share a room with.
I’ve been in one several times. The rules about what you’re allowed to do probably vary from one psych ward to another. I was pretty bored there but I was allowed to have my cellphone and books. I did a lot of sudoku and writing.
The more you pay typically the better it is.
rhe american way baby
Visited my brother in a few, so I’m just going off what he said.
Some are better than others, and either way, they will make you do things you don’t want to do, but that’s because the people in there want to do things that are not healthy for them.
Behave yourself, participate in therapy, and follow your plan and you’ll be out of there a lot faster than if you fight it.
ITT: Americans sharing horror stories from inside their gutted healthcare systems.
Best part is, when people have been fucked over by these psych wards, repeatedly (I have friends who were there 10+ times, had ECT that damaged their memories, etc) they tend to believe that all mental health care is designed to shut them down while taking their money. So we’re discouraging people who need treatment the most from actually getting it ever again.
My experience may not be everyone’s but I was in threee times over a month.
The food was lot great, I couldn’t smoke or drink which sucks, and yeah alot of times it was boring.
Inside there I found some really accepting and cool people.
I recommend doing all the little classes and groups it’s really helps to break up the day. Use your outside time to get sunlight, if you have people who will visit you ask them to.
All that helps to break up the boredom.
Other than that it was kinda like camp. I got to color a bookmark. I haven’t colored anything in ages lol.
Most folks seem to cover the emotional and psychological aspect so I’ll give some practical tips.
Shampoo and conditioner. If you are allowed to pack some or have some brought in by a visitor, do it. The hospital shampoo was really astringent and dried out my scalp horribly. After a week my head was constantly itchy from the lack of moisture. Conditioner would have saved me so much misery.
Make friends if you can. It will make you feel better to talk. It will help others to talk. It will make you a positive influence on the ward and help get you some leniency if shit hits the fan.
Take time with the crafts. It’s so fucking boring 80% of the time that when you can make something, really put your focus into it. Take your time. It’s cathartic.
It’s okay to ask for things. A lot of what you ask for will be a “no” but sometimes you’ll be surprised. I didn’t know I could get a shit ton of paper on request and tried to learn origami. It’s something to do and you’ll find what’s available.
Good luck. The ward is only scary the first time and the folks are so tired of dealing with shit (literally they all have a poo story) that you being calm is a relief. Be cool and you’ll be fine.
Remembering that the attendants are people, people who are at work. Remember work? How fun it was? They’re at work, being chill goes a long way.
My (former) friend got sent to one after a Suzie Side attempt. She had to spend about a week there and we visited. She seemed overall happy with how she was treated. They are very restrictive on what you can and can’t have, and were very confused by the Junji Ito book I brought for her lol
Suzzie Side is a funny way to censor it.
They all vary pretty wildly from what I’ve heard. The one I spent 2 weeks in was mind-numbingly boring. No phones, no internet, and one hour of the wards ipad a day. The only saving grace was that I stole a water damaged deck of playing cards from some volunteer guy at the hospital I was initially put in before they transferred me. I played solitaire probably a couple thousand times over 2 weeks.
Other than that, you pretty much just talk with other people there and watch TV. They did some kind of activity every day and if you didn’t it would take longer to get out. The activities were dumb little arts and crafts nonsense and a bunch of coloring. After a few days though, anything is better than nothing.
In the ward I was in, medication was an issue for me. They put me on haldol and I had a really bad reaction to it, but the staff didn’t believe me until I couldn’t move and was in a lot of pain. Generally the staff doesn’t care much and will ignore lots of what you or anyone else says.
Well, so it doesn’t change in anything from the outside.
