Experiences of mental health section / inpatient treatment

Occupational therapy
art therapy
music therapy

To be honest OP, if you have the capacity to do so, you need to be on the facility/ psych/ nurses like flies on crap.

The services are so hideously under resourced and pretty poor so to think they're doing the absolute best is wrong.

The point in him being there is going to be to try medication out. You need to advocate if you can. Side effects can be hideous, they downplay all this stuff. You want assurances that the absolute lowest dose will be started, they need tell you mg levels. What will they try alongside this? For example, I had diazepam to help me adjust to an ssri medication years ago.

I've been in hospital with physical illness many times and have observed so much. I haven't been an in patient like this.

If DS is Neurodivergent or suspected ND; what will they do to assess for that? CBT is not usually helpful for most people, especially ND people.

What long term therapy options are there for him? Can you research and source this yourself? The NHS is the absolute pits I'm sorry to say.

You might need respite and can't do this which is understandable.

Caged vehicle? No not necessarily. Depends on what transportation has been requested by AMHP

Agreed. Never had therapy.

I have never been on a MH unit with a therapy programme. Not once. And I've been in more than a few.

I can’t imagine him accepting the situation without being able to take his Xbox with him!

That's not going to be up to him.

Sending you strength OP. Seeing him taken away in a caged vehicle will be hard, but it's for his own safety.

Hi, I’ve been sectioned several times. You can have your mobile but you’ll need to get him a short charger as the longer ones could be used inappropriately so they remove them.
It’s a bit of a holding pen, you see a psychiatrist once a week but otherwise there isnt much else that happens.
There should be a room with a tv he can watch and one I’ve been in had a dvd room.
Food is generally pretty rank so take him snacks and nice drinks but nothing in glass or cans.
He will need a roll on deodorant. Aerosols aren’t allowed.
Happy to answer questions.

Is he being admitted under CAMHS or adult inpatient? Is he aware there is a planned admission?Will this be his first inpatient admission?

on admission a nurse will read him his rights and orientation to ward
Be told about ward round, tribunal etc
Staff will talk you through what to expect eg ward round, named worker, no leave initially until he’s more settled

May need to be medicated on admission to manage mental state and any agitation.

He will keep phone , not Xbox ,no.
Give him some money for snacks when staff go to shops. Not too much though

Depending on risk (self harm, absconding, mental state) he will be on general observations or if high risk he will be on close observation

He will be oriented to the ward, told the rules and expectations eg leave, smoking,meal times ,introduced to staff. Told about therapy programme

wards will have rules regarding leave,substances etc

wards can be noisy and a bit disorienting. He will get own single occupancy room

Yea they can take their phones with them and use them as they wish. He won’t be allowed an Xbox though. Anything he could harm himself will be taken from him.
My dd has been sectioned twice, I’ll be honest it’s not a nice place to be and made my dd worse as she learned more dangerous behaviours in there.