[Stormienite]

My 2nd post and I just dove right in the deep end of the ocean. (wait..is that a book title?)

Anyway, my main condition is rapid-cycling bipolar and stress just really knocks me for a loop. Mental trauma is a biggie and has landed me in the psych ward at the hospital. I highly recommend it for a dozen reasons, but let me give you the the top ones. First of all... you're suicidal? Homocidal? Meds just aren't working and you need help NOW? Go to your emergency room and tell them you're suicidal. Your hospital should also have a crisis center hotline. Don't be afraid to ask for what you need. Your P-doc can't see you right away? You would rather overdose than wait one more day? Take that advice.

1. It's the hospital. The only thing different is that you can't leave the floor. Or have shiny sharp objects but that's pretty much a given.

2. The staff is specially trained and you will get a p-doc that sees emergency cases all the time. They know what they're doing.

3. Your meds will be changed and you will be watched and tested to make sure you have what you need to get back on an even keel again.

4. On average, the stay is 5 days.

5. You get the much needed peace and quiet w/o distractions so you can focus only on yourself.

Sounds like a little piece of heaven right? Especially when you're bottoming out. I'd probably be dead right now if I had never gone.

[mudpuppy]

I'm glad your hospital experience was such a positive one for you.

I've often considered going to the hospital when things have gotten bad.
The irony of my issues is, they stem from lack of sleep. If I don't sleep, I'll get psychotic. If I do sleep, generally, I won't.
Why don't I sleep?

Somniphobia. I'm terrified of sleeping. Stress exacerbates it. I can't sleep alone. With someone else in the house, I sleep better.

My problem is, if I went to the hospital, would they actually witness my problems? Or would the safety of a secure building and other people enable me to sleep, thus ending the majority of my symptoms?

Granted, it would stop the immediate crisis, but in the long run, would it help? They wouldn't get an accurate picture of me.

So, for an immediate, potentially deadly crisis, absolutely I'd go. Anything short of that, I've shied away from.

[beetle]

I would never wanna go inpatient because I wouldn't want to have to share a room with someone. Do you get a private room? If so... I'm all over it. But seriously, I've never felt bad enough to have to go to the hospital. I guess that's a good thing. But it's definitely solid advice for someone in crisis. Most definitely ...get thee to the ER.

This post has been edited by beetle: 06 November 2009 - 12:18 PM

[gizmo]

The problem I have with the psych hospital is that I have a big issue with being told what to do every minute of the day. It makes me feel trapped like a rat in a cage. I also have moderate to severe issues with paranoia (people are watching me). Both of which are compounded by a stay in the booby hatch. I know, I've been there twice. My answer to the situation was to lie through my teeth and say anything I thought the doctor wanted to hear in order to get the hell out of there. Therefore, my stays in the psych hospitals were not productive for me, and I can't imagine them *ever* being productive if I happen to be committed in the future.

PS: I don't recommend anyone doing what I did to shorten your stay in the phospital.

[Stormienite]

Mudpuppy - by chance have you ever had a sleep study done?

Beetle - yes, I requested and got a private room.

[lavender]

Stormienite- glad you found your hospital experience to be a positive one, and you came out better than when you went in. Sounds like you could feel safe there and could focus on getting well! Over the years (well, the last 3 decades, actually) I've gone inpatient at 8 different facilities in 4 states and have had both good (like you describe) and not-so good (indifferent staff w/more of a jail-like approach) experiences. Many of the inpatient units across the country have closed down due to finances, and the ones that remain often seem to lose the personal approach to treatment, due to heavier patient loads and staff burnout. Haven't had to go in for almost 10 yrs now, but it's reassuring to hear there are still good ones out there!

[r2mnot]

I had a really good experience with both ER and the psych ward. I was treated with respect and got a complete overhaul of my meds. It probably saved my life.

[mudpuppy]

Stormienite, on 06 November 2009 - 09:38 AM, said:

Mudpuppy - by chance have you ever had a sleep study done?

Does sleeping with a Sleep Lab Technician count?

In short, no. Because the VA isn't huge on them around here.

[Maddy]

I'm glad that your hospital stays were so nice.
Mine weren't and are part of the reason why I have a fear bordering on phobia of going back.
I stayed in wards where there were multiple beds and no possible way of having a private room.
I was court committed multiple times.
I've been in state hospital.
I've been jumped while in the shower by a male.
The psych hospital that I was court committed multiple times was eventually shut down due to the horrendous standards of care.

[Carbface Jeffers]

I live in a somewhat rural area and my locked psych ward was quite a long distance away. Husband made the long ass drive there and back to visit me every night of my 8 day, thank you, good man.

St Mary's Good Samaritan Hospital in Centralia, Illinois. Home of James Brady from the Reagan years, craphole of a town, craphole of a hospital. The pdoc was an arrogant man, I know I should not have but I lied about not feeling suicidal anymore so I could leave.

The only common room blared 'COPS' or NASCAR all day. When no one was in there a couple of times, I took my book, muted the tv to read because my (sweet, young, sad) room mate told me 'they penalize you for staying in your room, make you stay longer.' The 2 patients I came to think of as 'the bullies in the ward' came in each time w/in seconds of my tv muting, 'DON'T YOU LIKE 'COPS?' 'DON'YT YOU LIKE NASCAR?' and cranked the tv even louder.

I asked the pdoc politely if perhaps one of the many locked, empty conference type rooms (totally safety proofed) might be opened during the day for a few hours 'for patients who wanted to chat w/out the loud tv, perhaps read.' He replied, 'Well, Kim, I am so sorry 'Club St. Mary's is not to your liking but no.'

Someone had taken a dump in the communal shower when I went to use it. Asked one of the nurses for cleaning supplies, she told me 'just take some toilet paper and toss the turd in the can.'

The only therapy sessions my entire stay consisted of:

1. one of the NURSES passing around what looked like an Easter basket w/'Christian' words folded on a piece of paper in it. We were to each pick one and say what that word meant to us. My word was 'Faith.' I really wanted to reply, 'Hill' but I quickly learned humor was not got nor appreciated there.

2. Another NURSE passing out a freaking WORDSEARCH puzzle w/therapeutic type words to find. No discussion of what words even meant.

3. Once again, a NURSE putting an old 'Guess the country music star from the clues' video in she found at Walmart for .99 cents. she was very proud of this discovery, mentioned it 4 times so I'm including this detail as a shout out because she was one of the two compassionate, helpful staff there, was kind enough to lend me her cell phone for 15 minutes, 'Don't tell anyone!' The only communication out was a public phone in the hall where we were not allowed to make out going calls. When a loved one called, it was up to a patient to answer. It was right by the nurses station but the nurses blithely ignored the ringing, the patient was supposed to yell the name of which ever patient the call was out. They'd then toss the receiver in the nearby drinking fountain basin. If you didn't hear the yell, tough luck.

The other compassionate staff member? The sweet, sweet, elderly housekeeping lady who found me crying on my bed one afternoon and took the time to talk w/me. She gave me a huge hug when I left, the only person to say goodbye.

4. A childlike 'craft therapy' hour, consisting of popsicle sticks, glitter and foam stick on hearts, stars, etc ran by another NURSE.

I'm capitalizing nurse because I never saw any therapists there except for the brief, rushed daily visit w/the pdoc. I was told 'the therapist was on vacation.'

The pompous pdoc in increased my Lithium while I was there. I had recently been diagnosed w/bipolar I. A few days after my release, my real pdoc discovered I had Lithium Toxicity, that accounted for my vomiting, bone pain (I kept accusing long suffering, patient husband of feeding me glass. I know, makes no sense.), thinking and screaming my feet fell off my body one horrid night, perhaps even my suicide attempt.

Sorry this is so TL;DR but my stay was so unhelpful, horrendous, I'm venting uncontrollably. My real pdoc and the therapists on his staff apologized profusely about the place, 'It's the only one w/in 200 miles' and asked me if I would be so kind to write a letter, a formal complaint (I gladly did.) because his practice is affiliated w/their hospital and the hospital treats this (excellent) branch like 'an unloved step child' as one of the therapists put it.

Once again,sorry about this long, negative post.

This post has been edited by Carbface Jeffers: 06 November 2009 - 04:06 PM

[Artemisia]

If you find yourself semi-voluntarily in a decent psych ward, I think it's comparable to being on a regular medical/surgical floor. Sure, technically, you can leave med/surg a lot more easily, but if you do leave against medical advice and then develop complications because of that, your insurance may decide not to pay for the treatment of those complications. So, really, you're better off staying till the med staff says you're OK to go (or your insurance company gets sick of paying for an extended hospitalization); it's almost like blackmail... (Though I suppose this argument applies to you if you do have insurance.)

So regardless of why you find yourself a hospital in-patient, effectively, you only get to contribute an opinion with respect to how long you'll be staying.


Edit: I should probably add that I've never been in in-patient treatment of any sort--psych or non-psych--and I dread both possibilities about equally. Hospitals aren't fun places to have to be.

This post has been edited by Artemisia: 06 November 2009 - 05:35 PM

[lavender]

MP, lol !!!

CJ, Sounds like we've been vacationing at the same resort ! Here's some of the highlights:

1.) Tackled, dragged and shackled for refusing group therapy when sick with flu.
2.) Groped by psych tech while pacing hallway at night.
3.) Accused of ODing after loss of consciousness from Risperdol THEY had given to me (at the same time I was accusing the staff of giving me a shock treatment without my consent, lol).
4.) While in ER for suicide attempt some psych supervisor(?) kept coming in, insisting I was under the influence of cocaine and demanding I tell her how much I'd done (haven't touched the stuff since college, no history of drug abuse) but no matter how many times I tried to tell her, she got angry, kept insisting I was lying to her, etc.

Could list many more, but you get the drift....

[lluvia_z]

you get better in a good hospital.

you get worse--much worse--in a bad hospital.

I've been in hospitals that saved my life.

and I've been in hospitals where I didn't eat for days because the other patients stole my food.


somehow, the good experiences don't stay with me like the bad experiences sting to this very day.

--lluv

[Stormienite]

What I'm talking about is the mental health ward of my hospital. We have the 4th floor dedicated to us nut cases. I've never been to a state run facility or actual psychiatric hospital. I can imagine the difference would be night and day. Some of these stories scare the crap out of me. (will make sure I clean it up in the shower)

[Carbface Jeffers]

Stormienite, my ward was the mental health ward of that hospital too. Just a bad hospital. I'm a little envious of your experience and happy to hear all psych wards in hospitals are not like St. Mary's.

Quote

Some of these stories scare the crap out of me. (will make sure I clean it up in the shower)

Just take some toilet paper and toss the turd in the can, hon!

[lavender]

Never been in a state run facility either, this stuff happened in "regular everyday normal" hospitals on the psych floor. To be fair, I should mention that I've also received some excellent care while inpatient. It really depends on the staff, director, and of course $$$. A good pdoc can make a world of difference too. Am very grateful for all the docs, therapists and nurses who do care and haven't become cold and hard toward us patients, even with the understaffing/underfunding/greedy insurance companies they're faced with at every turn. Bottom line, psychiatric inpatient care is inconsistent from hospital to hospital, and sometimes downright inhumane. I truly hope our society and govt will make a priority to improve the standards of so-called "behavioral Health" services, but most likely won't be in this lifetime, and we do have CB!!!

[danceintherain]

I've been fortunate to have two very good experiences. Not good in the sense that it was fun and games. Good in the sense that it was safe, but challenging and helpful. My very first time was like rapid emersion to mental health (had never really even heard of mental illness or seen a therapist before and next thing you know it I'm nearly suicidal). The second time was when I was very out of it and needed the supervision to get myself back into my head (haven't really figured out if it was a PTSD-like response, hypomania, or psychosis, because it went back down to purely depression after a few days of anxiety meds w/ lots of stuff to help with sleep).

One was a "pure" psych hospital, followed by their day program, and the second was the psych wing of a regular hospital, followed by their day program.

Anywho, I wish there was a way to confidentially rate these hospitals and programs. I know that different people have different experiences, but I'd actually give very strong recommendations fro both of mine, and that seemed to match the general experience of my compatriots. :-)

[the man in a box]

Stormienite, on 06 November 2009 - 04:40 PM, said:

1. It's the hospital. The only thing different is that you can't leave the floor. Or have shiny sharp objects but that's pretty much a given.

2. The staff is specially trained and you will get a p-doc that sees emergency cases all the time. They know what they're doing.

3. Your meds will be changed and you will be watched and tested to make sure you have what you need to get back on an even keel again.

4. On average, the stay is 5 days.

5. You get the much needed peace and quiet w/o distractions so you can focus only on yourself.

Sounds like a little piece of heaven right? Especially when you're bottoming out. I'd probably be dead right now if I had never gone.

1) It's EXACTLY like the hospital. meaning shared dorms with people who snore loudly or talk to themselves early in the morning and remind you rudely that it's breakfast time with no consideration whatsoever

2) The staff are apathetic, inept, and one even joked about my suicide attempt. You can only talk in private with someone at scheduled times

3) I'll be watched everywhere I go and no meds will be administered to you other than sleeping pills to help with the uncomfortable beds and uncomfortably loud patients.

4) 8 days. And this is AFTER I'm threatened with a section, and told I can leave the next day in the morning. Sure, I know they should monitor to you for a lot longer, but outright lying isn't appreciated

5) You're bored out of your fucking mind with various other patients who talk loudly to themselves, self-harm in public, argue with the staff and act out in general. No other distractions, so you can concentrate on yourself and fixate on all your problems.

only good thing was the hot occupational therapist. And even then, it's hard to fantasise with the all the snoring and general lack of privacy there.

Heaven? Hell is a freakin psychiatric ward.



I'm almost comforted by the other negative experiences, but then I remember the contradictions of the term 'healthcare', as I felt neither healthy nor cared for there.

[Mckey]

My experience was okay the only time I was hospitalized in a psyche facility. I came out alive and unbruised and unscarred anyway. I hate hospitals though. Period. Especially the ER. The ER I go to at the Naval Hospital sucks ass and they dont take anything seriously.

But even with my just "okay" experience and my hate for hospitals, I still thought about going back in a few weeks ago because of symptoms.

So apparently I believe they do something good.

[Stormienite]

Mckey, on 06 November 2009 - 08:46 PM, said:

My experience was okay the only time I was hospitalized in a psyche facility. I came out alive and unbruised and unscarred anyway. I hate hospitals though. Period. Especially the ER. The ER I go to at the Naval Hospital sucks ass and they dont take anything seriously.

But even with my just "okay" experience and my hate for hospitals, I still thought about going back in a few weeks ago because of symptoms.

So apparently I believe they do something good.

Ugh I could go on and on about the ER. Went in for chest pain, shortness or breath (which I've been having for 8 months at the time but my hr dropped on the treadmill from 129 to 79 in a split second). 9 vials of blood, one blood gas and a needless CAT scan pumped up with dye for the um..4th time I believe and 7hrs later the Dr comes around, shrugs her shoulders..."we can't find anything".