To think a 25 year old is not particularly young in an adult mental health ward

[User33332]

Friends 25 year old daughter is in a mental health unit. She keeps saying how much younger her dd is and how she’s so young. I know it’s hard but her dd has been an adult for 7 years so won’t be that young.

You are focusing on an oddly belittling detail of your friend's situation. She's allowed to be concerned for her daughter. You tsk taking that her child is technically an adult is just an attempt at dismissing her feelings. If you can't be supportive, try giving her space while they go through this.

It may be up to 25 in a lot of places now on young person/adolescent wards for continuity etc with ECHPS going from 0-25 for children/young people & care leavers etc.

I’m not sure how supportive a friend you’re being by focussing on a very trivial and minor detail about the situation and putting it on MN for ‘views’

We're you planning to go to her and say a load of women on MN think she's wrong if that's the way the polling had gone?

In my area CAMHS is responsible for young people up to 25; they only transfer to adult mental health services at 25

Inpatient CAMHS start transitioning to adult between 16 and 18 so it's completely normal that she'd be in an adult ward.

Odd post.

I know someone at 21 who was treated in a teenage cancer unit. (And he wasn't the oldest)

Depends on what the trust have. We have a teenage and young persons wards which covers patients 16-24 for oncology and cardiology. Transition to the adult. services starts at 16. If over 18 for anything else you will be on an adult ward. Can make bed arrangements difficult as some 16 year olds are on a pediatric ward and look like fully grown men! Between 16-18 some services give u the choice of being on an adult or paediatric ward. Mental health adult services generally start at 18. Although some trusts have wards for young adult but generally those are few and far between

My DM was an inpatient on a mental health ward. It was a frightening environment and a 25 year old would very much be one of the youngest.

It seems like a strange thing to be focusing on. Her daughter if obviously acutely unwell, she probably is one of the youngest on the ward and shes her daughter so she will be aware of her vulnerability and be really worried about her.

@User33332

I’m not I just think she needs to focus more on her ds’s mental health rather than age.

If her daughter is struggling because she feels like she's too young and it's scary for her, then she is focusing on her mental health.

At her age in the ward, she'll be one of the younger ones comoar3d to those in their 30s, 40s, 50s, etc, but not the youngest.

Surely it's relative? 25 may not be a particularly young adult. But if everyone else is in their 50s then of course she's a lot younger.

Maybe she is thinking her dd might feel isolated as there's no one her age? So it is about her dds mental health. You are coming across as quite judgemental of your friend.

A 25yo with severe MH issues may be much ‘younger’ than a 25 yo without.

Jeez! That was supposed to be compared, not whatever gobbledegook autocorrect wrote there.

I spent 12days in hospital when I was 19yrs old, with pneumonia, everyone else in ward was elderly and many had dementia. I was so upset and lonely, nurses really went out of their way to support me as they themselves said the jump from children's ward to adult ward is so huge

Is this your niece, op?

When I worked in acute adult mental health services, the majority of people on in patient wards were adults 40-60yrs who were 'in the system' ie with repeat admissions and long histories. Often they would come across as older, as living with a long term condition can feel quite aging, in terms of how it affects your outlook and personality.
Apologies if that sounds insensitive to anyone, it isn't meant to be, but I can appreciate what a culture shock it might be for a 25yr old and their parent, especially if this is a first admission.