Day Hospital

[WaywardTraveller]

Just wondering if anyone has ever attended day hospital as an eating disorder patient. I was having weekly sessions with a nurse from the Eating Disorders Team, but basically I haven't made much progress/have lost more weight and I've now had a referral to the Day accepted. I have an assessment there on Monday, so I know I can ask questions then, but I was just interested in other people's experience of this. TIA :)

*referral to the Day Hospital, that should say

Just replying because no one else has...can’t offer any insight I’m afraid but just wanted to say if I had the opportunity to do day patient I would jump at the chance - sadly it is not an option where I live. Hope your assessment went well if you’ve already had it, and that you can make the right decision for you.

Thank you @glitteringfishy. Your response means a lot. I've been accepted at the day hospital, and am due to start next week.

I do know how fortunate I am to have been given this opportunity, and I'm scared I'll waste it. I'm so ambivalent about recovery, and as I get sicker I get more depressed and feel more prone to giving up.

Undergoing treatment will be a big interruption to my life - I work full time, and will have to go sick. I'll be paid in full for three months, but I have no idea how long this program will last. They couldn't give me a definitive answer at the assessment.

Nominally, then, I'm investing a lot in this. I actually felt quite hopeful after the assessment. But I'm well aware of my proclivity to fuck things up, and I feel extremely self-destructive at the moment.

Five days to go. Nervous, and still very much on the fence. I want to want to get better. A little part of me does actually want to get better. Maybe that[s enough

I relate a lot. I want to want to get better too, I want to want to put on weight. I think the wanting to want to is the beginning. And with the right support around you hopefully you will move forward. It sounds like you’re willing to commit and give it a chance so there must be a strong part of you inside that knows it’s for the best and is ready for change. It’s so so hard though, the ambivalence. Constant head fuck. It is a big interruption to your life, but hopefully one that means you’ll be able to return to work a lot more free.

@glitteringfishy sending you much strength and hope that you can recover. First day here. So far very gentle - regular eating is expected but the quantities are manageable. And all the staff are very nice. It’s strange adapting to the clinical environment - being weighed in a gown etc. And the rules about what you can and can’t talk about with other patients (I’ve already been told off for talking candidly with another girl who also started today). I’m only here till 1.30pm, but I’m already exhausted. And scared. Being here really brings home how much I’ve fucked up my life. It feels like a really big knot which I’ve got to somehow untangle. I guess I’m not on my own with it though.

I’m going to try to keep checking in here, in an attempt to preserve some kind of sanity.

What a week. I’m glad it’s over. Lots of eating and lots of sitting. I’ve been able not to purge in the day while I’m at the hospital, which is a massive improvement, but I’ve obviously not been binging either and I think I’ve lost weight. Monday will tell (they’re weighing me weekly at the moment). One of the most helpful things so far has been that we are expected to make all our meals ourselves, and it had been a long time since I’d done any cooking. I made a pizza tonight. I managed less than half of it, but am trying to think positively - pizza is a typical binge food for me, so I think the fact I was able to attempt it at all is an achievement. I’m apprehensive about how I’ll manage this weekend with ‘independent eating’ (a phrase I learnt this week), but knowing I’ll be back at the hospital on Monday is helpful. Overall it does seem like a nurturing, caring environment and I think I really need that at the moment.

Well done😁 you should be so proud of yourself.
One meal at a time, doesn’t mean because you binge at breakfast you will for lunch, dinner.

Your very lucky these days(unfortunately) to even get to a hospital!!
So get what you need from it to get yourself on the road to recovery

Best of luck