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Mental health

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Original poster

Day Hospital - Day 1

20 replies

PainForLife · 17/04/2013 11:22

this is more of a thread for me to put down my thoughts and feelings about the the day hospital programme they have got me on now. so I don't expect any replies.

so far we have had a group intro session, that wasnt too bad as the people seem to be nice. so the anxiety is down to a minimum and manageable. going to be doing a therapy session in about 15 mins either a relaxation or mental health depending on what group they put me in.

so far it's not a bad experience but not sure how I will be in the session. starting to feel funny the voices are saying a lot of horrible things about the people around me. noise level is a bit high as everyone is laughing away! agetting a bit irritated but just sat here ignoring it the best I can :(

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Original poster

PainForLife · 17/04/2013 11:25

could go out for a cigarette but I inky have 3 for the day so I gotta make sure I don't smoke em all in one go then I'll be going crazy the whole afternoon .

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GracieLoo · 17/04/2013 12:31

I was in day hospital for two weeks last year, was a strange experience, and scary but when I stopped going I felt better for a bit. There's a lot of sitting around, I used to think what's the point in being here, just sitting. There are a real mixture of people too, some can be quite intimidating. I found some of the therapy sessions quite good.

I've just been referred to the crisis team, day hospital was mentioned but she said she thinks it would make me feel worse, as very loud there at the moment.

Hope your days there are ok and you improve, I'll be reading your thread. Also everyone seemed to smoke, sometimes was the only thing to do, take a packet!

Original poster

PainForLife · 17/04/2013 13:35

OMG graciloo u r so rightttttt about the sitting around.... we had a relaxation session which ended at 12.30 & I was sitting in there thinking what a load of b***ks. they gave us lunch then which was absolutely horrendous & now we are sitting around waiting for the next session which will start at 2!!!

people are ok not too bad but I'm so breaking boreddddd :( of course when ur bored ur mind wanders off & u start thinking about crap again! I could easily do this at home...... and this is only day one. God almighty in going to go nuts sitting around.

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Original poster

PainForLife · 17/04/2013 13:39

I'll need to make sure I bring a full deck of cigs tomorrow to get through this st

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Original poster

PainForLife · 17/04/2013 13:39

shiteeeeee

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Original poster

PainForLife · 17/04/2013 13:48

oh gracieloo hope ur ok & the crisis team are sorting you out. it's never nice having to go through a crisis. just take it slow & don't let them push u into doing anything u don't want too. thinking if you

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GracieLoo · 17/04/2013 15:00

I found the staff ok, but thought there'd be more chance to talk to them. I wasn't even spoken to the day I was discharged, I walked out and burst into tears! They also said I needed to go to complex needs but my cc, GP and psych disagreed. How long have you got to go for? They like to go for group walks too! I never went.

Original poster

PainForLife · 17/04/2013 15:42

I think I gotta do this for 4 weeks..... I think i will be proper psycho by then

they took some of them out for a walk but I politely declined. going for a walk in my state the I have problems walking with the help of the stick as it is.... big sigh!!!

oh that's terrible about the way they discharged you. we have a lady being discharged today but the staff have been lovely to her! I suppose it's pot luck what kind of staff you come across.

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Original poster

PainForLife · 17/04/2013 16:35

day 1 is over and what have I gained apart from a bad back "nothing". although in saying that I did enjoy the quiz session this afternoon.

they could do with having more assortment of biscuits at tea time but still at least the bad biscuits.

I'm absolutely knackered

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Original poster

PainForLife · 17/04/2013 16:38

posted before finishing.....

I'm absolutely knackerd and just want a bed to put my head down and sleep for a few hours!!! I'd rate today as 50/50. let's see what tomorrow brings!

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Original poster

PainForLife · 18/04/2013 16:29

day 2

so my legs & feet are all swollen up since yesterday. ive kept my feet allevated all but they are still puffy. if they are still the same tomorrow then they will send me to the hospital to have a CT Scan to see what is going on. I've been told it looks like water retention. anyway will see how they are tomorrow. they are starting to get painful now :(

as for the sessions - morning session was around sleep (quite interesting as I have insomnia) and there were good tips explored like:

don't have a busy room I.e clutter as even though you don't think about it when your trying to sleep it is still somewhere at the snack of your mind.
no technology in bed I.e mobile phone's, ipads, laptops etc. the lights the emit is different to the light emitted by a room light. it will wake you up rather they have the effect of you trying to sleep.
dark room - so no light being emitted from anything.
no thinking - if there are things on your mind you need yo sort out get a piece of paper and write them down. once they ate written down they are out of your mind. plus there isn't anything you can do about them at night!
temperature of the room - make sure it's not too hot. heat also causes people to stay up. open a window if you have to.
no caffeine after 5/6 pm. the biggest thing wd do wrong is have a cup of tea/coffee when we can't sleep. this will.just wake you up. instaed have a warm glass of milk.

just a few tips that might work for some people!!!

the afternoon session was a talk from a lady from MIND. she gave contact details
and a rum down of their services to us. quite informative but a bit boring.

so survived the second day let's see what tomorrow brings :) time to put my feet up & ho.pe swelling goes down :(

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GracieLoo · 19/04/2013 11:47

Hope Day 3 is going ok? Do you find it helpful going there? I found it hard at first, then got used to it and started to get dependent on it so found it hard when I stopped going. But think that's just me.

Original poster

PainForLife · 19/04/2013 21:15

hey GracieLoo,
ur right it has been a mixture of emotions.
I'm absolutely shattered today! I'm even struggling to type this.

today's first session was tolerance - we spoke around what kind of things can help avoid crisis. tbh I have forgotten what was said already :(

second session was physical activity. we did stretches & played a few games. nothing strenuous just things like throwing/catching a ball. well I say not strenuous but even doing simple things like that I have come away absolutely sore all over - every limb/muscle/bone is hurting. legs/feet are still swollen. Dr said it's odeama but haven't given me anything for it??? I might go to walk in center tomorrow if it's really bad.

im already in bed & just want to knock out hopefully the pain will ease & I'll get some sleep. this week has been demanding on me physically :(

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Original poster

PainForLife · 20/04/2013 15:55

Saturday - I have just got out of bed as my body is aching all over thanks to the physical activity session.

there is an option for individuals to go in over the weekend. they provide lunch & it's suppose be so people socialize with each other. I'm not going to be attending I'm too physically f**d from the weekdays!

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BicBiro · 21/04/2013 01:05

hi painforlife.

how are you doing today? i feel a bit of a rookie posting here because i have never been in a day centre so cant offer you any advice from shared experience. i have been into long stay units many times as my brother has a chronic condition - but he doesnt really get involved in any activities, which i'm never sure if is down to the meds or the condition to be honest.

i was interested to read the sleep tips. god i am such a crap sleeper. my mind always goes crazy when i turn the light out. i can only really sleep when i am properly physically worn out, which makes getting up for work hard.

it does sound like a demanding week. even sitting around is tiring i think in strange way! how is the physical pain now, i hope it has eased a bit.

what would you like to get out of the day centre?

Original poster

PainForLife · 22/04/2013 11:22

hi bicbiro

I'm not really sure what I want to get out of day hospital. I guess at the moment I'm using it as a distraction from the voices. it's physically exhausting but my body will get used to it so I can move around more physically. it's only for 4 weeks so I've got to make sure afterwards I have things in place that will keep me busy all day.

sorry to hear about your brother - MH illnesses are not nice to be dealing with whether it's yourself effected or someone you know. I hope he get better with medication in time.

Day 4 - week 2
I'm still exhausted from last week and already feel tired. let's see what the day brings.

on a personal note - diet starts today!
so far I've had hot lemon water & one cup of tea. no sweets/chocolates/ pudding from today.

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Original poster

PainForLife · 22/04/2013 13:13

so first session was minfullness - u basically close ur eyes & firstly just concentrate on ur breathing then concentrate on u just sitting in a room in a chair. it was guided by the session person for 8 mins. I found it quite good as I concentrated on just the breathing fans being in one place. it meant having a break from the voices! I'm going to try it out myself tonight to see if I can use it to relax my mind to go to sleep.

lunch time - so the diet is broken already as I had 2 serving if pudding but in ky defence I won't be eating any dinner tonight :) I'm feeling rather tired but that tends to happen after a meal.

looking forward to the next session just have to get some medication first for my swelling.

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BicBiro · 22/04/2013 22:49

thank you re my brother x

does it work as a distraction for you? i try and do mindfulness too. i do it in bed usually. i use it to try and get to sleep - sometimes it works but quite often it doesnt! sometimes when i do i became aware of lots of intense feelings inside which i'm then too aware of to sleep. that's interesting it gave you a break from the voices - i wonder if that means you could do more of it yourself and give yourself more breaks from them?

bugger re the puds!! there's always tomorrow!

hope the swelling has gone down too

GracieLoo · 25/04/2013 21:50

How's it going? Are there a real mixture of people in there? X

Original poster

painforlife · 27/05/2013 20:22

Hi all,

Sorry it's been a long time since I wrote anything on here. Day hospital kept me busy!!!

Bicbiro - I've found mindfulness to work sometimes aswell & sometimes not.

Gracieloo- yes there's a mixture of people that attend. What I found really comforting was that more or less everyone had experienced similar things. Despite me being uncomfortable initially I really opened up after a few weeks.

I've been discharged now & well feel a bit weird. I didn't know what to do with myself today. So grabbed my brother and put little one in the buggy & off we went shopping. Spend a good few hours in my local shopping centre (ok so I had to sit down like a million times because of my back) but it was worth it. I managed to waste a few hours & tire myself out so tonight I should get some sleep hopefully :)

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