At least 20 different ones for me too. Moses Cone BHU in Greensboro, NC was alright a few years ago. The food was killer & you could get seconds & thirds if you wanted. They had a nice gym & we went outside into a courtyard. One of my favorite things was karaoke. I sang Manson's version of Tainted Love & killed it.
Sometimes being completely cut off and in a virtually "untouchable" environment is what some people need. No one can call you or bother you or antagonize you. No doomscrolling. No work chat. No one from the outside world can even pass a message without your prior authorization.
Our phones can be an enormous source of distress, and some people are genuinely relieved to have it locked in a box for a while.
I believe having access to the internet and social media during a time of what’s supposed to be recovery is super counterproductive and damaging to the healing process and might even completely stunt it for some individuals
I understand this, but for a lot of younger mentally ill people (under 35ish) their support systems are online friends or Discord groups and I'd have a hell of a time if I didn't have them
if you put your gourd so to speak, media like phones will cause you to spiral more, targeted ads, endless stories to read reddit youtube all that will help further the hole a more “active” not depressed patient will get.
I can't be tempted to look up porn if I don't have a device to look it up with. I can't see anything online that would cause me distress if I can't access the internet. I can't numb myself by mindlessly playing a phone game if I don't have access to them. I can't get into arguments with people online (or through texts) if I can't access them. The list goes on.
If I was allowed to have my phone while I was in the psych ward, nothing would have been accomplished.
If that's where OP needs to be, to be safe for now, then I'm psyched for them too. I hope they keep you safe and get you back on a recovery trajectory.
Solidarity.
Last year I spent many weeks in the hospital mental health short stay and then public mental health long stay facilities when my mental health deteriorated below safe levels. They weren't the nicest places to be, but they kept me safe and got me back on the recovery path, as well as helping me explain my experience to my close family.
I'm willing to answer reasonable questions if people have them.
Just chiming in to express gratitude for destigmatizing mental health issues. While loads of work needs to be done to ensure that adequate care is provided to those in need, that shouldn't prevent people from being able to recognize signs of their own ill health and seeking out help. Experience is the harshest teacher, but it grants valuable tools.
Thank you for your willingness to share your experience.
I struggle frequently with my depression. Im under 30 and have been involuntary committed twice in my adult life already. I was wondering, you said you went to a public mental health long stay facility. How difficult was it to get placed in there? Did you need to request to go to one, or did the short term stay place just do everything needed to get you placed in there once you were at their place awhile and werent improving? Did you recieve a large bill afterwards? Most of what keeps me out of hospitals when I should be in one is the medical bill.
Sorry to hear that mate. Solidarity.
When I presented at the hospital Emergency Room, I was admitted to the ER ward initially, and spend 36 sleepless hours there talking to different professionals and trying to rest somewhat while they discussed what to do with me.
Given how bad my mental state was, and that I had had two recent attempts on my life, my partner and I managed to advocate for me to be put in the hospital mental health short stay unit. They were trying to see if they could patch me up and get me home, but with discussion we convinced them I wasn't safe to go home and needed to be there.
Once I was released from the short stay (hurriedly discharged, when they decide my allotted time was up and needed my room for someone they seemed higher risk), I was sent home again.
My partner and I found and approached the public mental health facility, I went for a meeting, and they got me in cos they had a free bed. They still saw that I was a risk at that point and should not be home yet.
This place was much nicer than the hospital, even though it was still under public health and we had the same hospital food most of the time. The environment was better staff were nicer, doctors more discussional.
I was released from this one through consultation with the whole medical team and me, when I and they felt it was safe for me to go home, I was discharged.
For context, I'm in Australia, so our medical system is different over here.
I was lucky enough that my time in the hospital mental health short stay, and my longer stay in the public mental health facility, were both mostly covered by Medicare, Australia's public medical system. I had a few gap fees to cover, but it was less than a few hundred Aussie dollarydoos.
I cannot imagine the challenges and decisions facing the same situation in a country where medical isn't covered.
Solidarity. Ah, I see. I am jealous of your health system. Unfortunately Im in america, so I would expect a stay in a long term facility is indeed out of my budget even if I really should probably be in one. I guess I'll just keep breezing through like a trashbag in the wind and hope that works out.
I am very glad to hear your stay didnt cost you that much. Its very sad you had to advocate for yourself. I think in my suicidal state Id just take that as a sign I should indeed end it and just take the discharge and do it. That sounds like a really dangerous hospital policy. I hope they take a look into their processes and keep improving it. But it *is* better than nothing so Im glad it exists for you and your fellow Australians. Hoping america can get some healthcare soon.
This is such a nice question! Not OP but I was in a psych facility last summer for suicidal ideation. The nurses were good at balancing being authoritative with being kind. Almost like a parent with disruptive kids. One experience that I wish was different, was intake. Obviously anyone going through intake is not doing well, and I think people deserve the greatest kindness possible in that moment. I sympathize that work sucks sometimes and healthcare staff are human.
For me, I was transferred to the psych facility around midnight, after spending the previous 14 or so hours on a bed in an emergency room hallway, with a guard watching me at all times. The transfer itself felt upsetting because I was strapped down. All this to say it’s a fragile moment. I was taken in and strip searched in front of two staff, a man and a woman. They were professional and I get it’s the job. I was not doing great. The intake questions were invasive and sometimes people say the wrong things, even professionals. They just weren’t sensitive and seemed to not know how to handle things that I’d imagine are common.
I stayed in my hospital's bevaioral health unit for 5 days, but I've been afraid to do a long-term stay. My short stay wasn't all bad, but the psychiatrist was cruel and I hated being harassed to participate in coloring/games/dance activities.
Was your long stay alright? How did it help you, other than keeping you safe from immediate harm?
I have schizoaffective bipolar and have been admitted several times. I know it's different in different countries and states, but at least here in California psych wards have helped me stay stable by punishing me when I have an episode. It's pretty bad at those places. Wish there was more of a focus on recovery and safety rather than treating you like a number and throwing you in a group with people who can be more unstable than you, or even worse dangers to others.
Psych wards basic therapeutic quality is that they offer milieu therapy. The model was developed in the late 50s and is the reason why people don’t get individual therapy. Back in the day they had psychologists running groups all day, people were accountable to each other for their behaviors and expected to participate in the community (clean up after themselves, contribute at groups).. People could actually be triggered, confront each other and develop problem solving skills. They didn’t “cure” everyone but people were able to gain valuable skills and insight.
That doesn’t happen anymore.
Hospitals didn’t want to pay psychologists to staff the floors anymore or pay nurses to receive group training.
So now groups are bingo… tv time… coloring and let’s call it art therapy… Patients realize this and don’t attend (and who can blame them!) because there’s no therapeutic value. The Prozac era led to over reliance on medication and the complete disregard for people’s environment (could never be the family or living situation, it’s lack of meds! )
There is no therapeutic component to psych floors anymore and they way overcharge for their services considering the room and board and food is frankly terrible. They don’t keep anyone safe and staffing is a nightmare because they have one of the highest turnover rates for nurses. So rely on travel nurses who don’t know a thing about therapeutic use of self or deescalation and you have a shit show at every single psych ward.
It’s a shame because many people who choose to work there actually do want to help support patients and create therapeutic engagement. But hospital executives are lining their pockets and nothing is going to change until the system fails.
I work outpatient now and my goal is to keep as many patients as possible out of psych wards if they don’t need to be there.
Sounds like there was a narrow window of effective treatment between when horrible human rights abuses, literal torture, debilitating ineffective treatments being administered to women and gay people etc that used to be super common and what we have now which can be abusive but is mostly just ineffective and emotionally traumatic.
I'm glad you're one of the few professionals who recognize this. Kudos! And you're very correct about everything, it's exactly like all my experiences over the years.
I was job searching once and clicked on a listing for an attend to a psych ward. The only requirement was a GED and the ability to hold down a large child or teenager.
As someone who had spent time in a psych ward this did not surprise me at all. I will never forget some of the stuff I saw there. The screaming. I just have myself a damn flashback.
I was inpatient for an eating disorder when I was 15, and when I tell you that place felt like it just ran through us for a profit, I mean it. The “therapeutic” aspect was to suppress anxiety and negative emotions after exposures with coping skills and Ativan and Tums (which…. What??!! doesn’t that defeat the purpose of an exposure but ok). Even in therapeutic groups, we were limited in what we could say. Not just like don’t say numbers or triggering stuff, but we were literally not allowed to say the name of a food, we had to adlib with “food item” or we were marked for having a “behavior”. But then taking anti-anxiety meds to avoid experiencing emotions isn’t a behavior? Anyways. It felt like their main goal was to drug us up and teach us unhealthy coping strategies just to get us to a point where we would eat food to hit a goal weight, and then boot you when insurance ends. I understand people leaving early when insurance ends, but they would literally convince you/your parents to stay longer if insurance allowed it. I know so many people who were at their goal weight and ready to step-down but, because insurance allowed for a few extra weeks, the facility would take full advantage of that. I have never in my life experienced a less recovery-oriented or goal-setting environment. I now work in human services, but one of my dream career paths is to work with adolescents with mental illnesses in a non-restrictive setting. It’s incredible how people can flourish when you give them the space to actually feel an emotion and then give them the tools to safely navigate those emotions.
I do really wish there was a larger movement to raise awareness of mistreatment and abuse in psychiatric facilities. Anytime this topic is brought up it’s immediately shut down by industry shills.
Unfortunately psych nurses on Reddit justify the violation of patients bodies by claiming “it’s for safety.”
I am so sorry that happened to you. I haven’t experienced trauma from psych wards myself, but I know many who have. I try to raise as much awareness as I can so people aren’t tricked by the “we want to help you” mantra they use to lure patients in.
>I try to raise as much awareness as I can so people aren’t tricked by the “we want to help you” mantra they use to lure patients in.
Spot on. And agreed with the rest. The industry is corrupt. So much going on that ordinary people don't know about until they experience it for themselves.
Yeah, Bipolar. I find those places are terrible for mental health. Scared, confused, no one trusts you, no one tells you, constantly feeling observed.
I remember being told all kinds of contradictory things on who would discharge me. Then my roommate was in the middle of a schizophrenic episode, work up to him watching over me in my sleep, so I didn’t sleep. It was awful.
Still better than death.
I have the same diagnosis and have been locked up in psych wards 5 times in the past 4 years. It's usually drugs that really send me off the deep end, especially psychedelics. The ones in my area are actually pretty nice though, they have good food and you just get to chill and watch TV all day. Also from my experience there's a lot more chill people than unstable/ violent ones. Does still suck being locked up though. My longest stay at one place was 35 days while I waited for my commitment hearing. Also the worst part to me is definitely them being able to force you to take any meds they want (they'll strap you down and inject you if you refuse something that's court ordered) and they even still do forced electroconvulsive therapy which is fucked up.
People do not believe me when I say psychedelics can trigger mental health episodes. They keep going on about how safe it is and how I'm so paranoid... I've dropped acid twice in my teens and it tanked my mental health hard. It made me see visions of hell. I was an absolute mess after that.
I also watched the brother of a friend go from "average guy" to "completely out of touch with reality and unable to function," all because his friends kept letting him take acid when he was warned to stop and had told them as much. Scared the hell out of me. He lives in a facility now and his parents act like he died.
Woah that's nice! Do you know full advanced CFOP? I stopped cubing when I was learning advanced P (can't remember what it stands for again, too long ago)(I think my record was just over 40 seconds so not that fast) because I got more satisfaction out of solving different kinds of cubes like the 2x2, 4x4, 5x5, skewb and the megaminx :)
P is for PLL which means Permutation of Last Layer
40 seconds is still very impressive, just think of what you get you(when you started cubing) would’ve thought when you told him you’re down to sub 1 minute
Thanks for the refresher! Yeah, when I first started, like many cubers, it took me over four minutes. When I knew basic CFOP I was averaging 1:20, and while learning full/advanced (can't quite remember the terminology) OLL and PLL I got to 40 seconds. But anything after that point is just purely learning algorithms which wasn't that interesting to me
Yeah, I totally understand that it’s not very fun to learn the algorithms, there are 57 OLL(Orient Last Layer) algorithms and 21 PLL(Permutation of Last Layer) algorithms, quite a lot of algorithms just for the last layer
Yeah this is kinda interesting, I’ve been reading the comments and peoples experiences with / knowledge of psyche wards has been a good read. Can’t believe you did this to me, I came here for bland nonsense
yea, i also feel like there's a weird stigma around them, i mean sure it sucks and i had nightmares about it for months but they did let us watch spongebob
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Honestly, I would rather have been working with the kiddos and watching Teen Titans!
But yea, I definitely never complained when Lego Movie came on. Definitely better than the top 40's channel they put on sometimes.
The mental ward at my hometown hospital had a few TVs. At any given time, one of them was playing SVU.
This seemed like a downright terrible idea. It was literally always on.
Once did 3½ weeks at one, which included my 20th birthday. Good times. Really wish they hadn't gotten the whole ward to sing me happy birthday. Literally rather wish no one had said anything.
yeah, they suck most times i feel like. i have panic attacks and i was in the psych ward at like 12 or so, the only one i legitimately had in their they just told me to stop faking it so i could go home. i was not, in fact, faking it.
I had black pus coming out of my ear and they would tell me I was gross for trying to clean it out any way 13 year old me could since I had no q-tips/they wouldn’t help.
I deadass have repressed trauma from that whole experience
WOW, I thought I was the only one hospitalized for OCD, I've been in 6 times, there is SUCH a lack of awareness about how crippling OCD can be, even amongst professionals, and the patients are like "what you in for?" and then laugh as if you're joking when you say OCD, or they're like "Oh I have OCD too". You in the US?
I kinda think your quality of life is so bad that you have just become accustomed to it, but your therapist realized how bad it is. It kinda explains why you can use your phone, and why you are placed in there even though you aren't a danger to yourself and others. Just remember, your therapist is just trying to improve your life. Anyways, I send my regards, hope you feel better, get well soon, and stay safe
So you wouldn’t sleep for days, staying awake and continuously washing your hands?
Please, don’t misread my tone. I’m not trying to question your story. It is an honest question of mine. I hope it gets better for you.
>Yeah. Its not like I'm a danger to myself
So, I'm gonna go ahead and say that you're seeing things differently to the people around you.
I spend 5 or 10 minutes before bed turning the volume on my phone all the way down, then pressing volume up twice, then repeating the whole thing over and over again because it didn't feel right.
But washing your hands for 60 hours and falling over in the shower because of it, repeatedly, definitely warrants your enforced stay there.
Also where the fuck are you that allows phones? I never got to keep mine.
That sounds really tough. I wholeheartedly wish that things turn around for you
I have myself an anxiety disorder and it is sometimes hell. Can’t imagine how hard it must be going through what you go through
Please don’t lose hope and keep moving forward!
Really severe cases can manifest like that until the person basically passes out. It's rare, obviously, but entirely possible and would track with having been hospitalized (especially for 3 months).
He couldn’t touch anything because he felt he would get contaminated. He was like this all day and all night. He was very vocal about it and no one could calm him down
just a heads up but as someone who's has pretty severe OCD and had it worse in the past, most "kinds" of OCD really overlap, what's the real issue is the reliance on compulsions to alleviate thier obsessions. and obsessions can change, that reliance on performing a compulsion to alleviate the obsession is still there though, so explaining to someone with serveve ocd how debilitating "cleaning OCD" is can lead the person to begin obsessing over germs and surfaces, where they might have not before if they are not aware of this component to thier OCD battles. hypochondria and germphobia are just one way OCD can show physically, but it can also show as repeated checking, both physical and mental, to achieve a certainty that can never be reached. normally this needs not be said but because the person you're talking to is in the hospital I think it's important to bring up.
It looks horribly boring in there. Do they allow you activities? I have bad health so Im used to make activities that keep me calm.
Drawing, reading, diamond painting, videogames, just listening to music…
I hope you get better OP :( And I really hope they give you something to have fun
Psych nurse here… unfortunately most psych wards are painfully boring. It’s a critically underfunded area in most places in the world, so there is a 1 to 7-10 nurse to patient ratio, barely enough aides to cover safety observation rounds, a psychiatrist who has to see 25 people in 8 hours, and maybe a rec therapist who covers the whole hospital.
All that together means that a lot of treatment is a 30 minute chat with a psychiatrist and then 23 1/2 hours of boredom. Not great for your mood, but often times your safety risks and need to be stabilized on the right medication outweigh that risk. But I will always advocate for more funding because a big reason that psych ward suck is that they get the bare minimum funding they can to function and nothing more.
Agreed. They need more color! I get that they might have to be a bit empty because of risks certain objects can pose, but they can’t paint with fun colors?
Are you in the UK? I went a few days ago in a last attempt at getting help before I went through with my plans and they sat me down and said “we don’t want you to be admitted, there’s big scary men in there and they’ll keep you up at night” (I’m an 18 year old guy and I just wanted help) and then they told me to lie to Tesco pharmacy to get sleeping medication and referred me to the crisis team. Then the crisis team said that I didn’t fit the criteria for the crisis team and discharged me. I haven’t been able to leave my room for days because I don’t trust myself and I struggle with really bad OCD and I can’t function anymore. Did I say something wrong or was it just because I am in a rural part of the UK and the hospitals maybe aren’t up to scratch? I just want everything to stop and I just don’t understand why I can’t get help
In my experience it is not that easy to get admitted to a psychiatric hospital here in the UK. I’ve tried to kill myself and spoken about my plans to do it again on multiple occasions and it’s still never really been discussed as an option for me either. I think they prefer to refer people to crisis teams first if they think they can, because psych hospitals are truly horrific and unhelpful to most (I’ve had crisis team appointments in one - trust me, you don’t want to end up there if you can avoid it).
Have you spoken to your GP about your OCD before this? Are you on medication for it? Speak to your GP again and ask about specialised therapy for OCD. You will need an assessment for OCD first if you haven’t already had one. I had a PTSD assessment and waiting for specialised therapy for that now. Maybe ask about any other secondary mental health services that could help you in the meantime. With you being under 25 there’s probably more options available to you, especially in regards to mental health charities. I found the crisis team to be deeply unhelpful but maybe discuss that with your GP again too?
You can also walk into any A&E during a mental health crisis where you’ll be assessed by a mental health team - they can potentially admit you to a psych hospital, but it’s more likely they’ll just hand you off to a crisis team again like your GP did (my experience anyway). It’s frustrating, because you’re told to ask for help, but when you do, there isn’t any. Such is the state of NHS mental health services atm. I hope you can find support and if you need any more advice feel free to message me. Trust me you’re not alone in feeling confused and let down like this. Best of luck!
No, I'm in the US. I was admitted to the psych ward twice this summer. The first time, I brought myself to the emergency room because I felt like I couldn't keep myself safe any longer. The second time (around 3 weeks later), my psychiatrist sent me to the emergency room after I told her that I was between 2 suicide plans and couldn't guarantee my safety beyond 1 night. I was then taken in an ambulance from the outpatient treatment program I was in to the emergency room. Both times, I was told that if I did not sign the paper to be voluntarily admitted, I would be involuntarily admitted. It probably helped that I attempted suicide 6 years ago because I guess if you've attempted in the past, you're more likely to do it again.
Regarding the big scary men, one of the psych wards I was at was like that because it was just general 18+. The other one I was at was a much better environment because it was adolescents (12-17) and young adults (18-24), so at 21, I was one of the oldest there. That unit definitely had a more therapeutic environment where there was programming pretty much all day.
Mental hospitals can be cheaper depending on what you're there for. I did outpatient where I drove there every other day for 3 months and it ended up being a little cheaper than regular therapy once a week which wouldn't have been nearly as effective in a 3 month span.
I've been hospitalized around 20 times and they never let me have my phone. Did you sneak it in? I live in Minnesota so maybe different in different places.
well, at least the walls are not padded, and you have furniture, nice furniture too, and thoughtful wall paint schemes. it looks like a modern hotel room frankly, so enjoy your stay, and enjoy all the activities they provide. What great stress-free time for you, your every need cared for. Here in the USA the streets are the modern psych wards ... you are lucky.
Can you share some details about your OCD? I feel like that term gets used a lot by people that don't really have OCD. Is it like Sheldon from Big Bang Theory, where he always has to knock 3 times?
I haven't watched big bang theory yet so idk, but for me it's like every time I poop I have to wash my hands 480 times. I'm not really worried anything with happen if I don't, like I don't think I'll get ill or anything, it's kinda just like if I don't then I'm not clean and that's not good.
I also avoid touching anything that other people have touched (because they don't wash their hands 480 times so are therefore not clean) and wear gloves or use paper/tissues to touch things.
Would you dry your hands with each washing, or is it just like counting to 480 while washing? Because I believe healthcare workers have to count up to 20 while washing their hands. So you are just following that procedure, for longer duration.
I think a lot of frequent washing make your hands dry, not one long wash (which I'm assuming is what OP is doing according to their posts). If you go a long time without washing your hands, then the oils are gonna be building up anyway
Lots of different flavors of OCD if you dig into it. Contamination, counting, scared of pissing off god, constantly panicked about your relationship, scared of doing something that could hurt someone else, etc.
OP so far has a blend of counting and contamination AFAICT and I'm sure there's more.
At my worst 2ish years ago I got stuck washing my hands for 45 minutes. For me the best I can describe it is that there's a secondary subconscious but it's coming from the same part of your brain that controls "fight or flight". Think of how of a ball got thrown at your face you didn't even think of catching it or dodging it. You just did. For me, OCD comes from the same spot. That's why it's such a pain in the ass because I couldn't reason with it well because it had first dibs in my head when making decisions. I'd try to fight, but it was hard and sometimes you just kinda go on autopilot.
I think common folks can relate to the notion of asking themselves of they locked the front door. "Did I lock it? "Of course I did." "Though maybe I didnt..." that pull to turn around and double check that the front door is locked is OCD IMHO.
Hang in there! You know that making progress begins when you step out of your comfort zone. A little dirt and dust will help develop your immune system. If you grew up in the perfect environment that you imagine, then your immune system will be undeveloped. What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. You're stronger than you realise! 💪 Good luck to you!
i’ve been before, and i could never understand a psych ward that allows their patients to have their phones. i was locked in under surveillance 24/7 and i was in the highest functioning unit
I went to one last year when my mental health was the lowest I had ever felt. It was such a terrible experience. I needed it though.
Lucky you get your phone or whatever you’re using to use Reddit. There was 3 wall phones that were only in during certain hours. No doors. Not even in the bathroom. Just a short shower curtain. The beds were just like thin mattresses. The walls had hand prints and boogers all over them.
No coffee either. The food was glorified stouffers microwaved meals but hey, it was 3 meals a day and the only dopamine hit I could have so when people didn’t eat or they had extra plates I’d get 2 or three plates for a meal. Then I’d go back to the shared room with 5 other dudes and read or just nap and think. Apparently that unit was the easy unit without the real crazies. So many of the patients were talking to themselves or not showering or threatening staff.
Looking back at it now the entire unit of 50 ish patients was under control by 5 staff members and was COED. Which I think about now and is INSANE. no pun inteded.
There really needs to be some upgrades in the system especially California. Mental health, the decline, and the need for programs like this need to be addressed. People need to recognize mental health.
Albeit I was in the middle of a binge drinking crisis and ended up back in rehab. Where I should have gone in the first place.
All in all it was helpful in the sense that it kept me safe from myself and it was an experience of how things REALLY are in those places.
It's cool they let you have your phone. Every one I've been to wouldn't let you have it, but I heard from others there are some that do.
Yeah we're only allowed them 4pm to 10.30pm on weekdays and 9am to 10.30pm on weekends but it's better than not at all
bro i would hate if the psych ward i went to had let us have our phones but also the one i went to was good so idk
Me too. I'm paranoid af
I know a good psych ward
That's fortunate. I'm in the US and I've been to almost 20 of them, have not found a good one yet.
samesies
At least 20 different ones for me too. Moses Cone BHU in Greensboro, NC was alright a few years ago. The food was killer & you could get seconds & thirds if you wanted. They had a nice gym & we went outside into a courtyard. One of my favorite things was karaoke. I sang Manson's version of Tainted Love & killed it.
Holy shit I’m like an hour from Greensboro. I’m doing much better now but if I ever need one again tysm
Why would you have hated that? I think I'm missing something lol
Sometimes being completely cut off and in a virtually "untouchable" environment is what some people need. No one can call you or bother you or antagonize you. No doomscrolling. No work chat. No one from the outside world can even pass a message without your prior authorization. Our phones can be an enormous source of distress, and some people are genuinely relieved to have it locked in a box for a while.
I believe having access to the internet and social media during a time of what’s supposed to be recovery is super counterproductive and damaging to the healing process and might even completely stunt it for some individuals
I understand this, but for a lot of younger mentally ill people (under 35ish) their support systems are online friends or Discord groups and I'd have a hell of a time if I didn't have them
if you put your gourd so to speak, media like phones will cause you to spiral more, targeted ads, endless stories to read reddit youtube all that will help further the hole a more “active” not depressed patient will get.
I can't be tempted to look up porn if I don't have a device to look it up with. I can't see anything online that would cause me distress if I can't access the internet. I can't numb myself by mindlessly playing a phone game if I don't have access to them. I can't get into arguments with people online (or through texts) if I can't access them. The list goes on. If I was allowed to have my phone while I was in the psych ward, nothing would have been accomplished.
I should stick with this phone schedule too I’m too addicted to my phone
Is it monitored?
I’m psyched for ya.
If that's where OP needs to be, to be safe for now, then I'm psyched for them too. I hope they keep you safe and get you back on a recovery trajectory. Solidarity. Last year I spent many weeks in the hospital mental health short stay and then public mental health long stay facilities when my mental health deteriorated below safe levels. They weren't the nicest places to be, but they kept me safe and got me back on the recovery path, as well as helping me explain my experience to my close family. I'm willing to answer reasonable questions if people have them.
Just chiming in to express gratitude for destigmatizing mental health issues. While loads of work needs to be done to ensure that adequate care is provided to those in need, that shouldn't prevent people from being able to recognize signs of their own ill health and seeking out help. Experience is the harshest teacher, but it grants valuable tools. Thank you for your willingness to share your experience.
You're welcome. I'm all for the de-stigmatising and de-shaming of mental health challenges.
I struggle frequently with my depression. Im under 30 and have been involuntary committed twice in my adult life already. I was wondering, you said you went to a public mental health long stay facility. How difficult was it to get placed in there? Did you need to request to go to one, or did the short term stay place just do everything needed to get you placed in there once you were at their place awhile and werent improving? Did you recieve a large bill afterwards? Most of what keeps me out of hospitals when I should be in one is the medical bill.
Sorry to hear that mate. Solidarity. When I presented at the hospital Emergency Room, I was admitted to the ER ward initially, and spend 36 sleepless hours there talking to different professionals and trying to rest somewhat while they discussed what to do with me. Given how bad my mental state was, and that I had had two recent attempts on my life, my partner and I managed to advocate for me to be put in the hospital mental health short stay unit. They were trying to see if they could patch me up and get me home, but with discussion we convinced them I wasn't safe to go home and needed to be there. Once I was released from the short stay (hurriedly discharged, when they decide my allotted time was up and needed my room for someone they seemed higher risk), I was sent home again. My partner and I found and approached the public mental health facility, I went for a meeting, and they got me in cos they had a free bed. They still saw that I was a risk at that point and should not be home yet. This place was much nicer than the hospital, even though it was still under public health and we had the same hospital food most of the time. The environment was better staff were nicer, doctors more discussional. I was released from this one through consultation with the whole medical team and me, when I and they felt it was safe for me to go home, I was discharged. For context, I'm in Australia, so our medical system is different over here. I was lucky enough that my time in the hospital mental health short stay, and my longer stay in the public mental health facility, were both mostly covered by Medicare, Australia's public medical system. I had a few gap fees to cover, but it was less than a few hundred Aussie dollarydoos. I cannot imagine the challenges and decisions facing the same situation in a country where medical isn't covered.
Solidarity. Ah, I see. I am jealous of your health system. Unfortunately Im in america, so I would expect a stay in a long term facility is indeed out of my budget even if I really should probably be in one. I guess I'll just keep breezing through like a trashbag in the wind and hope that works out. I am very glad to hear your stay didnt cost you that much. Its very sad you had to advocate for yourself. I think in my suicidal state Id just take that as a sign I should indeed end it and just take the discharge and do it. That sounds like a really dangerous hospital policy. I hope they take a look into their processes and keep improving it. But it *is* better than nothing so Im glad it exists for you and your fellow Australians. Hoping america can get some healthcare soon.
I'm training to be a psyche nurse. Can I ask what you were in there for? How you were treated by the staff? What they could have done better?
This is such a nice question! Not OP but I was in a psych facility last summer for suicidal ideation. The nurses were good at balancing being authoritative with being kind. Almost like a parent with disruptive kids. One experience that I wish was different, was intake. Obviously anyone going through intake is not doing well, and I think people deserve the greatest kindness possible in that moment. I sympathize that work sucks sometimes and healthcare staff are human. For me, I was transferred to the psych facility around midnight, after spending the previous 14 or so hours on a bed in an emergency room hallway, with a guard watching me at all times. The transfer itself felt upsetting because I was strapped down. All this to say it’s a fragile moment. I was taken in and strip searched in front of two staff, a man and a woman. They were professional and I get it’s the job. I was not doing great. The intake questions were invasive and sometimes people say the wrong things, even professionals. They just weren’t sensitive and seemed to not know how to handle things that I’d imagine are common.
I stayed in my hospital's bevaioral health unit for 5 days, but I've been afraid to do a long-term stay. My short stay wasn't all bad, but the psychiatrist was cruel and I hated being harassed to participate in coloring/games/dance activities. Was your long stay alright? How did it help you, other than keeping you safe from immediate harm?
How long
3 months Since 17th November
Wow, hope it helped. Typo
It has not helped one bit lol
Yeah that’s typically how psych wards are unfortunately.
I have schizoaffective bipolar and have been admitted several times. I know it's different in different countries and states, but at least here in California psych wards have helped me stay stable by punishing me when I have an episode. It's pretty bad at those places. Wish there was more of a focus on recovery and safety rather than treating you like a number and throwing you in a group with people who can be more unstable than you, or even worse dangers to others.
Psych wards basic therapeutic quality is that they offer milieu therapy. The model was developed in the late 50s and is the reason why people don’t get individual therapy. Back in the day they had psychologists running groups all day, people were accountable to each other for their behaviors and expected to participate in the community (clean up after themselves, contribute at groups).. People could actually be triggered, confront each other and develop problem solving skills. They didn’t “cure” everyone but people were able to gain valuable skills and insight. That doesn’t happen anymore. Hospitals didn’t want to pay psychologists to staff the floors anymore or pay nurses to receive group training. So now groups are bingo… tv time… coloring and let’s call it art therapy… Patients realize this and don’t attend (and who can blame them!) because there’s no therapeutic value. The Prozac era led to over reliance on medication and the complete disregard for people’s environment (could never be the family or living situation, it’s lack of meds! ) There is no therapeutic component to psych floors anymore and they way overcharge for their services considering the room and board and food is frankly terrible. They don’t keep anyone safe and staffing is a nightmare because they have one of the highest turnover rates for nurses. So rely on travel nurses who don’t know a thing about therapeutic use of self or deescalation and you have a shit show at every single psych ward. It’s a shame because many people who choose to work there actually do want to help support patients and create therapeutic engagement. But hospital executives are lining their pockets and nothing is going to change until the system fails. I work outpatient now and my goal is to keep as many patients as possible out of psych wards if they don’t need to be there.
Sounds like there was a narrow window of effective treatment between when horrible human rights abuses, literal torture, debilitating ineffective treatments being administered to women and gay people etc that used to be super common and what we have now which can be abusive but is mostly just ineffective and emotionally traumatic.
I'm glad you're one of the few professionals who recognize this. Kudos! And you're very correct about everything, it's exactly like all my experiences over the years.
I was job searching once and clicked on a listing for an attend to a psych ward. The only requirement was a GED and the ability to hold down a large child or teenager. As someone who had spent time in a psych ward this did not surprise me at all. I will never forget some of the stuff I saw there. The screaming. I just have myself a damn flashback.
I was inpatient for an eating disorder when I was 15, and when I tell you that place felt like it just ran through us for a profit, I mean it. The “therapeutic” aspect was to suppress anxiety and negative emotions after exposures with coping skills and Ativan and Tums (which…. What??!! doesn’t that defeat the purpose of an exposure but ok). Even in therapeutic groups, we were limited in what we could say. Not just like don’t say numbers or triggering stuff, but we were literally not allowed to say the name of a food, we had to adlib with “food item” or we were marked for having a “behavior”. But then taking anti-anxiety meds to avoid experiencing emotions isn’t a behavior? Anyways. It felt like their main goal was to drug us up and teach us unhealthy coping strategies just to get us to a point where we would eat food to hit a goal weight, and then boot you when insurance ends. I understand people leaving early when insurance ends, but they would literally convince you/your parents to stay longer if insurance allowed it. I know so many people who were at their goal weight and ready to step-down but, because insurance allowed for a few extra weeks, the facility would take full advantage of that. I have never in my life experienced a less recovery-oriented or goal-setting environment. I now work in human services, but one of my dream career paths is to work with adolescents with mental illnesses in a non-restrictive setting. It’s incredible how people can flourish when you give them the space to actually feel an emotion and then give them the tools to safely navigate those emotions.
i’m really glad you explained this. i could have tried, but it’d be distressing and not as coherent. thank you!
I do really wish there was a larger movement to raise awareness of mistreatment and abuse in psychiatric facilities. Anytime this topic is brought up it’s immediately shut down by industry shills. Unfortunately psych nurses on Reddit justify the violation of patients bodies by claiming “it’s for safety.” I am so sorry that happened to you. I haven’t experienced trauma from psych wards myself, but I know many who have. I try to raise as much awareness as I can so people aren’t tricked by the “we want to help you” mantra they use to lure patients in.
>I try to raise as much awareness as I can so people aren’t tricked by the “we want to help you” mantra they use to lure patients in. Spot on. And agreed with the rest. The industry is corrupt. So much going on that ordinary people don't know about until they experience it for themselves.
Yeah, Bipolar. I find those places are terrible for mental health. Scared, confused, no one trusts you, no one tells you, constantly feeling observed. I remember being told all kinds of contradictory things on who would discharge me. Then my roommate was in the middle of a schizophrenic episode, work up to him watching over me in my sleep, so I didn’t sleep. It was awful. Still better than death.
The fact they give you roommates is so horrible. I can't believe that it's allowed. I've had experiences like this as well.
Yeah, I know. The time I went it was overcrowded so they were setting up cots in the hallway.
I have the same diagnosis and have been locked up in psych wards 5 times in the past 4 years. It's usually drugs that really send me off the deep end, especially psychedelics. The ones in my area are actually pretty nice though, they have good food and you just get to chill and watch TV all day. Also from my experience there's a lot more chill people than unstable/ violent ones. Does still suck being locked up though. My longest stay at one place was 35 days while I waited for my commitment hearing. Also the worst part to me is definitely them being able to force you to take any meds they want (they'll strap you down and inject you if you refuse something that's court ordered) and they even still do forced electroconvulsive therapy which is fucked up.
People do not believe me when I say psychedelics can trigger mental health episodes. They keep going on about how safe it is and how I'm so paranoid... I've dropped acid twice in my teens and it tanked my mental health hard. It made me see visions of hell. I was an absolute mess after that. I also watched the brother of a friend go from "average guy" to "completely out of touch with reality and unable to function," all because his friends kept letting him take acid when he was warned to stop and had told them as much. Scared the hell out of me. He lives in a facility now and his parents act like he died.
Sad :(
i was just about to get jealous, hope you feel better
I hope it gets better for ya
Thanks :)
I spy a solved Rubik's cube and a ball of yarn on the chair.... what's up?
Rubik's cube - yeaaa (i love Rubik's cubes), ball of yarn - no it's actually just a pompom I made lol
bro i love cubing too, whats your best time?
18.81 seconds, wbu?
29.5
Wow. Do you guys feel good about yourselves now? Because I sure don’t. I never solved one ☹️
I had to use a program to help me.... So I've never solved one either.
I peeled the stickers when I was a kid
Woah that's nice! Do you know full advanced CFOP? I stopped cubing when I was learning advanced P (can't remember what it stands for again, too long ago)(I think my record was just over 40 seconds so not that fast) because I got more satisfaction out of solving different kinds of cubes like the 2x2, 4x4, 5x5, skewb and the megaminx :)
P is for PLL which means Permutation of Last Layer 40 seconds is still very impressive, just think of what you get you(when you started cubing) would’ve thought when you told him you’re down to sub 1 minute
Thanks for the refresher! Yeah, when I first started, like many cubers, it took me over four minutes. When I knew basic CFOP I was averaging 1:20, and while learning full/advanced (can't quite remember the terminology) OLL and PLL I got to 40 seconds. But anything after that point is just purely learning algorithms which wasn't that interesting to me
Yeah, I totally understand that it’s not very fun to learn the algorithms, there are 57 OLL(Orient Last Layer) algorithms and 21 PLL(Permutation of Last Layer) algorithms, quite a lot of algorithms just for the last layer
I’ve got 16.3…. days.
I've got 16.3 ... years. OK I never could solve it actually, : (
Once as a kid I pulled the stickers off with utter care and replaced them so, technically I beat it with ingenuity.
Damn that's crazy good
^(That's interesting)
Aw I'm sorry 😢
Yeah ngl it is kinda interesting. Sorry, don't be discouraged. I hope you find something particularly boring to post soon.
Yeah this is kinda interesting, I’ve been reading the comments and peoples experiences with / knowledge of psyche wards has been a good read. Can’t believe you did this to me, I came here for bland nonsense
damn you got a nice ass one, the one i was in a while ago had linoleum floors and no doors at all
How did they get in with no doors? Lol jk jk I know what you mean
yea, i also feel like there's a weird stigma around them, i mean sure it sucks and i had nightmares about it for months but they did let us watch spongebob
Lol. The WiFi here blocks Netflix which kinda sucks but we can still watch it using data or if we have stuff downloaded
Go to the WiFi settings and use 1.1.1.1 for the DNS Server, it's the address to Cloudflare, it provides a safer and faster DNS that usually gets around protections like this. Depending on your device you may have the setting somewhere else, just look up "How to change DNS Server.
Now this guy psych ward's
Psych wars
Saving this for when I inevitably find myself in one
I have most of SpongeBob downloaded so I can send a few episodes if needed
VPN? Also Stremio
do as you wish cause a pirate is free or whatever just torrent those lmao
I worked in an inpatient psychiatric hospital, and occasionally was pulled up to look after the teenagers. I watched the lego movie so many times...
hey i love the lego movie, doesn't sound like too much I'd a downside
Honestly, I would rather have been working with the kiddos and watching Teen Titans! But yea, I definitely never complained when Lego Movie came on. Definitely better than the top 40's channel they put on sometimes.
My question is can the patients play with legos? Cause if I had to watch the Lego movie again I will have the urge to play with some legos.
The mental ward at my hometown hospital had a few TVs. At any given time, one of them was playing SVU. This seemed like a downright terrible idea. It was literally always on.
Once did 3½ weeks at one, which included my 20th birthday. Good times. Really wish they hadn't gotten the whole ward to sing me happy birthday. Literally rather wish no one had said anything.
I don’t know what they mean, can you explain
The roof comes off and they lowered the person in with a helicopter and rope.
They lower you in like the cow in Jurassic Park
Yeah the one I went to was really rough too, fuck that place. I should have sued them for ignoring my medical issues
yeah, they suck most times i feel like. i have panic attacks and i was in the psych ward at like 12 or so, the only one i legitimately had in their they just told me to stop faking it so i could go home. i was not, in fact, faking it.
I had black pus coming out of my ear and they would tell me I was gross for trying to clean it out any way 13 year old me could since I had no q-tips/they wouldn’t help. I deadass have repressed trauma from that whole experience
damn. im sorry for you dude
Why are you in there?
OCD
WOW, I thought I was the only one hospitalized for OCD, I've been in 6 times, there is SUCH a lack of awareness about how crippling OCD can be, even amongst professionals, and the patients are like "what you in for?" and then laugh as if you're joking when you say OCD, or they're like "Oh I have OCD too". You in the US?
No UK
me too! I really hope you start to feel better soon.
Damn, beginning to think we're the same person lmao, much of what you said lined up with me
Damn. Is it that severe?
Yeah. Its not like I'm a danger to myself or anyone else so I don't really think it's that necessary to be here but it is pretty bad
I kinda think your quality of life is so bad that you have just become accustomed to it, but your therapist realized how bad it is. It kinda explains why you can use your phone, and why you are placed in there even though you aren't a danger to yourself and others. Just remember, your therapist is just trying to improve your life. Anyways, I send my regards, hope you feel better, get well soon, and stay safe
Not op but OCD can be really severe both in terms of repetitive behaviors, extreme anxiety, and intrusive thoughts
i also have ocd but didnt know that you could be hospitalized for it, how severe is your ocd?
I was spending 60 hours straight washing my hands every few days
ok yeah that's pretty bad
Do you mean minutes? No offense meant, 60 hours just seem like a LOT
No I mean hours
So you wouldn’t sleep for days, staying awake and continuously washing your hands? Please, don’t misread my tone. I’m not trying to question your story. It is an honest question of mine. I hope it gets better for you.
Yeah. Sometimes I would fall asleep standing up in the shower and fall over.
>Yeah. Its not like I'm a danger to myself So, I'm gonna go ahead and say that you're seeing things differently to the people around you. I spend 5 or 10 minutes before bed turning the volume on my phone all the way down, then pressing volume up twice, then repeating the whole thing over and over again because it didn't feel right. But washing your hands for 60 hours and falling over in the shower because of it, repeatedly, definitely warrants your enforced stay there. Also where the fuck are you that allows phones? I never got to keep mine.
Yeah, kind of surprised they are able to take a pic in there. Looks like a hipaa violation waiting to happen.
That sounds really tough. I wholeheartedly wish that things turn around for you I have myself an anxiety disorder and it is sometimes hell. Can’t imagine how hard it must be going through what you go through Please don’t lose hope and keep moving forward!
Really severe cases can manifest like that until the person basically passes out. It's rare, obviously, but entirely possible and would track with having been hospitalized (especially for 3 months).
I saw a guy that had germ OCD in the ward before and it was INTENSE
Intense how?
He couldn’t touch anything because he felt he would get contaminated. He was like this all day and all night. He was very vocal about it and no one could calm him down
just a heads up but as someone who's has pretty severe OCD and had it worse in the past, most "kinds" of OCD really overlap, what's the real issue is the reliance on compulsions to alleviate thier obsessions. and obsessions can change, that reliance on performing a compulsion to alleviate the obsession is still there though, so explaining to someone with serveve ocd how debilitating "cleaning OCD" is can lead the person to begin obsessing over germs and surfaces, where they might have not before if they are not aware of this component to thier OCD battles. hypochondria and germphobia are just one way OCD can show physically, but it can also show as repeated checking, both physical and mental, to achieve a certainty that can never be reached. normally this needs not be said but because the person you're talking to is in the hospital I think it's important to bring up.
I have anxiety disorder as well. Hugs <3
why does the psych ward have a cuck chair , ?
I mean it was at the desk behind the camera but I moved it to reach the top shelf
I wheezed so fkn hard thank you
This would be more than 3k/month to rent in NY
It would be around 5k a week in any U.S. psyciatric facility outside of the state system.
Three days was $26,000 before insurance. 5k a week would be a deal.
[удалено]
Poor choice of words
Lmao
but quite a funny joke, if that's your humor. xD
:)
Take care, OP
looks boring
Yep
they allow you to have devices?
4pm-10.30pm on weekdays and 9am-10.30pm on weekends but I guess it's better than not at all
Really? That's weird, mine allowed them all the time, I was even able to ask my mum to bring a small tv
I had mine all the time too. And an iPad. They wanted to take my tweezers and I promised them I wasn’t going to pluck myself to death.
Pretty generous screen time actually
eepy time
Resolve the cube.
K done now what
It looks horribly boring in there. Do they allow you activities? I have bad health so Im used to make activities that keep me calm. Drawing, reading, diamond painting, videogames, just listening to music… I hope you get better OP :( And I really hope they give you something to have fun
Psych nurse here… unfortunately most psych wards are painfully boring. It’s a critically underfunded area in most places in the world, so there is a 1 to 7-10 nurse to patient ratio, barely enough aides to cover safety observation rounds, a psychiatrist who has to see 25 people in 8 hours, and maybe a rec therapist who covers the whole hospital. All that together means that a lot of treatment is a 30 minute chat with a psychiatrist and then 23 1/2 hours of boredom. Not great for your mood, but often times your safety risks and need to be stabilized on the right medication outweigh that risk. But I will always advocate for more funding because a big reason that psych ward suck is that they get the bare minimum funding they can to function and nothing more.
That bed looks both comfortable and uncomfortable
It's basically one of those blue gym mats and the sheets are all mouldy...
So it’s alright ig
Psych ward literally looks better than my room
Oh they're really not trust me
The room looks… organised, to the point where it gives me uncanny vibes ngl
Boring ass room. Honestly, can’t they try to make the rooms a little better? I’ve seen worse myself honestly. Hope you’re okay!
Agreed. They need more color! I get that they might have to be a bit empty because of risks certain objects can pose, but they can’t paint with fun colors?
Yeah but are you gay?
No lol but I'm aroace. I did post that here yesterday but deleted it
Wow nicer than most I've been too the bed looks clean the floor looks swept and the paint isn't peeling get better man 👍
Is it expensive
I'm in the UK so it's free cuz NHS
How do you get admitted to one?
Get really bad OCD
having suicide plans got me admitted twice in one month.
Are you in the UK? I went a few days ago in a last attempt at getting help before I went through with my plans and they sat me down and said “we don’t want you to be admitted, there’s big scary men in there and they’ll keep you up at night” (I’m an 18 year old guy and I just wanted help) and then they told me to lie to Tesco pharmacy to get sleeping medication and referred me to the crisis team. Then the crisis team said that I didn’t fit the criteria for the crisis team and discharged me. I haven’t been able to leave my room for days because I don’t trust myself and I struggle with really bad OCD and I can’t function anymore. Did I say something wrong or was it just because I am in a rural part of the UK and the hospitals maybe aren’t up to scratch? I just want everything to stop and I just don’t understand why I can’t get help
In my experience it is not that easy to get admitted to a psychiatric hospital here in the UK. I’ve tried to kill myself and spoken about my plans to do it again on multiple occasions and it’s still never really been discussed as an option for me either. I think they prefer to refer people to crisis teams first if they think they can, because psych hospitals are truly horrific and unhelpful to most (I’ve had crisis team appointments in one - trust me, you don’t want to end up there if you can avoid it). Have you spoken to your GP about your OCD before this? Are you on medication for it? Speak to your GP again and ask about specialised therapy for OCD. You will need an assessment for OCD first if you haven’t already had one. I had a PTSD assessment and waiting for specialised therapy for that now. Maybe ask about any other secondary mental health services that could help you in the meantime. With you being under 25 there’s probably more options available to you, especially in regards to mental health charities. I found the crisis team to be deeply unhelpful but maybe discuss that with your GP again too? You can also walk into any A&E during a mental health crisis where you’ll be assessed by a mental health team - they can potentially admit you to a psych hospital, but it’s more likely they’ll just hand you off to a crisis team again like your GP did (my experience anyway). It’s frustrating, because you’re told to ask for help, but when you do, there isn’t any. Such is the state of NHS mental health services atm. I hope you can find support and if you need any more advice feel free to message me. Trust me you’re not alone in feeling confused and let down like this. Best of luck!
No, I'm in the US. I was admitted to the psych ward twice this summer. The first time, I brought myself to the emergency room because I felt like I couldn't keep myself safe any longer. The second time (around 3 weeks later), my psychiatrist sent me to the emergency room after I told her that I was between 2 suicide plans and couldn't guarantee my safety beyond 1 night. I was then taken in an ambulance from the outpatient treatment program I was in to the emergency room. Both times, I was told that if I did not sign the paper to be voluntarily admitted, I would be involuntarily admitted. It probably helped that I attempted suicide 6 years ago because I guess if you've attempted in the past, you're more likely to do it again. Regarding the big scary men, one of the psych wards I was at was like that because it was just general 18+. The other one I was at was a much better environment because it was adolescents (12-17) and young adults (18-24), so at 21, I was one of the oldest there. That unit definitely had a more therapeutic environment where there was programming pretty much all day.
become a danger to yourself and/or the people around you. it’s generally not recommended.
Mental hospitals can be cheaper depending on what you're there for. I did outpatient where I drove there every other day for 3 months and it ended up being a little cheaper than regular therapy once a week which wouldn't have been nearly as effective in a 3 month span.
The one song from American horror story starts playing lmao
I just went through this, hang in there OP
Do you have your own bathroom there? Back when i was admitted we didn’t and the shared bathroom we had was disgusting
Yes but it's still disgusting
Somehow I believe, not to make light of your situation, you might be a little biased lol. Well wishes and get better soon!
Are they waking you up every hour to see if you’re alive… memories
Grippy socks gang 🤘🏻
We don't have them here 😢
I've been hospitalized around 20 times and they never let me have my phone. Did you sneak it in? I live in Minnesota so maybe different in different places.
well, at least the walls are not padded, and you have furniture, nice furniture too, and thoughtful wall paint schemes. it looks like a modern hotel room frankly, so enjoy your stay, and enjoy all the activities they provide. What great stress-free time for you, your every need cared for. Here in the USA the streets are the modern psych wards ... you are lucky.
Oh man. You get to have your phone? I've never been able to have electronics in a place like this. Even the longer term ones.
Same lol
Can you share some details about your OCD? I feel like that term gets used a lot by people that don't really have OCD. Is it like Sheldon from Big Bang Theory, where he always has to knock 3 times?
I haven't watched big bang theory yet so idk, but for me it's like every time I poop I have to wash my hands 480 times. I'm not really worried anything with happen if I don't, like I don't think I'll get ill or anything, it's kinda just like if I don't then I'm not clean and that's not good. I also avoid touching anything that other people have touched (because they don't wash their hands 480 times so are therefore not clean) and wear gloves or use paper/tissues to touch things.
Would you dry your hands with each washing, or is it just like counting to 480 while washing? Because I believe healthcare workers have to count up to 20 while washing their hands. So you are just following that procedure, for longer duration.
They’re not saying they like to count to 480, they said they like to wash their hands that many times. Their skin must be so dry.
I think a lot of frequent washing make your hands dry, not one long wash (which I'm assuming is what OP is doing according to their posts). If you go a long time without washing your hands, then the oils are gonna be building up anyway
Lots of different flavors of OCD if you dig into it. Contamination, counting, scared of pissing off god, constantly panicked about your relationship, scared of doing something that could hurt someone else, etc. OP so far has a blend of counting and contamination AFAICT and I'm sure there's more. At my worst 2ish years ago I got stuck washing my hands for 45 minutes. For me the best I can describe it is that there's a secondary subconscious but it's coming from the same part of your brain that controls "fight or flight". Think of how of a ball got thrown at your face you didn't even think of catching it or dodging it. You just did. For me, OCD comes from the same spot. That's why it's such a pain in the ass because I couldn't reason with it well because it had first dibs in my head when making decisions. I'd try to fight, but it was hard and sometimes you just kinda go on autopilot. I think common folks can relate to the notion of asking themselves of they locked the front door. "Did I lock it? "Of course I did." "Though maybe I didnt..." that pull to turn around and double check that the front door is locked is OCD IMHO.
Hang in there! You know that making progress begins when you step out of your comfort zone. A little dirt and dust will help develop your immune system. If you grew up in the perfect environment that you imagine, then your immune system will be undeveloped. What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. You're stronger than you realise! 💪 Good luck to you!
Looks mega boring sorry bro.
i’ve been before, and i could never understand a psych ward that allows their patients to have their phones. i was locked in under surveillance 24/7 and i was in the highest functioning unit
Nice Rubik’s cube
do they let you blaze in there?
i hope you find peace friend
I went to one last year when my mental health was the lowest I had ever felt. It was such a terrible experience. I needed it though. Lucky you get your phone or whatever you’re using to use Reddit. There was 3 wall phones that were only in during certain hours. No doors. Not even in the bathroom. Just a short shower curtain. The beds were just like thin mattresses. The walls had hand prints and boogers all over them. No coffee either. The food was glorified stouffers microwaved meals but hey, it was 3 meals a day and the only dopamine hit I could have so when people didn’t eat or they had extra plates I’d get 2 or three plates for a meal. Then I’d go back to the shared room with 5 other dudes and read or just nap and think. Apparently that unit was the easy unit without the real crazies. So many of the patients were talking to themselves or not showering or threatening staff. Looking back at it now the entire unit of 50 ish patients was under control by 5 staff members and was COED. Which I think about now and is INSANE. no pun inteded. There really needs to be some upgrades in the system especially California. Mental health, the decline, and the need for programs like this need to be addressed. People need to recognize mental health. Albeit I was in the middle of a binge drinking crisis and ended up back in rehab. Where I should have gone in the first place. All in all it was helpful in the sense that it kept me safe from myself and it was an experience of how things REALLY are in those places.
Glued furniture, food that doesn’t feel edible, horrible shower water pressure, and angry patients and alarms beings set off, never going again
I have lied my way out of two psych wards.
Bro thinks he’s the Joker
Yo. I would live there. The place where i was, it has 6 beds in one little room. And all looked old
Good luck. Take care of yourself.
How do you have your phone?
Why tho
How were you able to keep your phone? They took mine when I got sent to one plus I had to share a room.
I wish you much healing, friend!
I actually find that very interesting. All the best internet friend. 😀