To think it takes something serious to trigger 2 weeks in a psychiatric hospital?

[SnuckIn]

I found out my mum spent 2 weeks in a psychiatric hospital when I was 2 years old.

i asked my Dad what triggered it he said “stress.”

I think it takes a serious trigger event for someone to go into a psychiatric ward for a fortnight

My mum is long dead btw
AIBU?

Well having a 2yo can be extremely stressful and if she had untreated postnatal depression (not sure on your age but likely was untreated as it's not always been spoken about) it may have led to postnatal psychosis. She may have already had a genetical predisposition for mental health issues and the stress of a toddler triggered a breakdown.

My mother was in and out of psychiatric hospitals in the 70's/80's for "nerves". With the benefit of todays knowledge it is obvious that she was actually autistic.

now mental health facilities are in short supply due to shutting down many places but years ago the big old austere Victorian hospital buildings were plenty.
during the 50s and 60s many people were wrongly sectioned as has been pointed out. you could be put away for the most pitiful reasons but by the 70s things were different.
dont forget also valium/diazepam was in full swing re the song by the Rolling Stones Mothers Little Helper which was all about the above. i know my mum was addicted to it as it was handed out like smarties i was put on it at 6 years of age.
as for the institutes people were often put in there for a little rest. i know 2 ladies who when they had had enough of their life looking after husband and kids etc would trot to the Dr and go in for a few weeks rest.
they had social dances lots of fresh air walks good food it was a very happy friendly place yet coming out it was back to a lonely boring existence with abusive husbands etc.
i would not read anything into someone being in a hospital in those days think of it more like a health spa break. there were things like Electric Shock going on but this was more for severe cases most people just had a few pills and a rest.
there were also a lot of mum and baby units so they often came in for PND care rather than like now being left in the community to recover.
i myself went into hospital after a traumatic baby loss and had a few weeks rest nothing major happened just talking to other patients records and dancing walks etc just gave me a break from the situation and time to recover physically

Dr Claire Week’s well-known book “self-help for your nerves” was first published in the early 60’s I think. I found it quite useful during a bout of depression. It almost tries to take a CBT approach before CBT became an identified approach.

The title just reflects how people thought and spoke about mental health in those days. “Depression” or “anxiety” was rarely used. People talked about their nerves if it was spoken about at all.

My mum was in one for a few months during COVID, extreme anxiety that caused real genuine issues.

Can’t you ask her?

Try reading the last paragraph of the OP. Ffs

When I started mental health nursing (much less than 50 years ago!) the threshold was sooooo low. People would phone and ask if they could come in for a fortnights respite, or cos their daughter was away to the caravan and they didn't want to be alone etc. an absolute world away from today. I really wouldn't read too much in to it .

In the early 70s, I had a friend with anorexia. She was not only whisked straight into a psychiatric hospital when her doctor realised she had anorexia (she hadn't actually gone to him asking for help for that), she was immediately put onto a programme of electric shock treatment. It was brutal but in the 70s we were only just emerging from the era when people were "put away" for all sorts of reasons. But rest assured, @SnuckIn, if your mother had had any significant psychiatric conditions, she wouldn't have only been admitted for a fortnight.

Things have changed a lot in the last couple of decades
I qualified as a mental health nurse in 1996
There were a lot more inpatient beds than
Some patients would never have got an admission now but did then
Ime some patients were kept in hospital a lot longer than they needed to be.

I think if you watch "carry on hospital" or "carry on Doctor" you would also see how a lot of people in hospital were really quite healthy in those day.

@ItsProperlyColdOut

Surely you realise these films were just rather silly comedies, not an investigative documentary into healthcare?

Yes I wondered abut post natal depression.

Also years ago there were more places and more beds!

My sister was sectioned 4 years ago, she was 47. She was in for 2 weeks. It was actually severe peri menopause symptoms she had, although no-one at the hospital suggested this, which I find absolutely shocking. So it still happens.

Echo what PPs have said. Before care in the community came along there were lots of big psychiatric hospitals and the threshold to be admitted was very low. One of my friends had a breakdown due to exam stress and was admitted for a couple of weeks. Mental health provision was much better then than it is now in some ways. Obviously locking people away for long periods of time was not ideal however.

Yes..’Carry on Doctor’ very accurate representation of hospital life🙄🤨

It's more than likely postnatal depression, OP. It must be a difficult thing to find out but I'm glad she didn't stay in any longer. 💐

I don't find your dad's answer strange. I was in a psychiatric until for 3 weeks relatively recently. I would say stress was definitely one of the triggers that made me unwell.

It says in the post she died a long time ago

dont forget also valium/diazepam was in full swing re the song by the Rolling Stones Mothers Little Helper which was all about the above. i know my mum was addicted to it as it was handed out like smarties i was put on it at 6 years of age.

I was put on it at 4 or 5 for eczema for some years!

@Username056 I wonder if the rest of your dad's siblings had anything to do with your nice aunt ending up in hospital from time to time!

I will check - it was some years ago.

Probably. Nice aunt was youngest of 8. I remember her being very kind and always cheerful and laughing. However think she had frequent “breakdowns” as they were called then and at one point I think she was given ECT. Modern anti-depressants not available. I think my dad also suffered as he was the next youngest in age. I remember my mum saying that before we born he once spent several weeks sitting in an armchair crying. Eventually he went to the Doctors and then went back to work. My mum didn’t seem to have enquired too closely as to what was wrong with him🤷‍♀️. He didn’t end up in hospital as far as I know.

Not in the UK.

Yeah things have changed now days and if at all possible, people are treated in the community. That wouldn't have been the case when your mum was unwell. There won't have been any in between system like a home based treatment team (crisis team) or outreach or whatever..