Spent a week in a psychiatric hospital - AMA

[Roxy1988]

I spent a week in a psychiatric hospital-AMA

why?

I don't have any questions, but I hope you're in a better place now

@pinkpantsrock anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts

@Blowyourowntrumpet thank you :)

Do you think a short admission was needed? Could you have been supported in the community if there was much better services available and funding?

@Laneyy I guess it was needed at the time to keep me safe as I was actively suicidal and actually took an overdose whilst in A&E waiting for a bed. In the long run it hasn't really helped and my recovery will be in the community.

What did you think of the other patients?

I myself spent time sectioned and this was the thing that fascinated me the most.

Some that I don’t think should have been there but had been there an age and weren’t allowed to leave - in particular there was one woman diagnosed with dementia who absolutely did not have dementia. Gaslighted daily that she would leave the next day, and had got the wrong day. For the whole month I was there. I still think about her sometimes to this day.

Others who needed to be in there longer but were released.

It was a mad house! Some days I wondered whether the staff were crazier than the patients and whether they were looking at the same people.

Hope you are feeling better. I have been struggling with my mental health for a while now so do understand. It's awful isn't it? I felt particularly bad last night but today has been a good day. Sending lots of love to you.

I don't think it helps being with other people who are also going through the worst period of their lives. You end up becoming reliant on the safety of the ward as well as time goes on. Well done for being discharged so quickly and getting the help you need.

Why were you only there for a week?

What did they do to help you? I was supposed to go in this week for the first time and I was scared that it would be a lot of no one actually doing anything but with more waiting around and less privacy/less good snacks than at home.

I've been on both sides was a patient now staff. You won't have seen the woman's medical records. Some people with dementia early stages and certain types present intially as having full cognitive function and can hold a conversation on the surface. It's not until you dig deeper with assessments you work it out. I absolutely agree some patients shouldn't be there. Many can't simply be discharged home though they need a package of appropriate social care which is hard to source. I do hate young girls being locked up for years because of self harm I believe it's incredibly damaging and doesn't fix the issues.

@LemonSwan I don't think I was there long enough to have an opinion on the other patients. I was very much focused on myself and getting out!

@ChristmasSnowCookie thank you, I'm just taking it a day at a time

@Laneyy I do agree to some extent and definitely do not want to go back!

@NC12345665 they discharged me after a week as I was no longer feeling suicidal (I was but I told them I wasn't to get out)

Yes absolutely hadn’t seen her records but I also have worked with people with dementia. Both young and old. And my uncle had it late 40s and was very functional. Could even drive nearly to the end.

Only twice have I ever said someone doesn’t have dementia; once in the place I worked which took them a year to figure out she didn’t have dementia - so I was right that time. And this lady when I was sectioned - where I obviously don’t know the outcome. But I would bet my house on it. I am that certain.

A short admission would be about keeping the person safe in crisis. It's like breathing space Enhanced observations and getting the community support in place. It won't be truly therapeutic as such there isn't time in a short admission to do full care planning. That would be the community teams job.

I was sectioned and the first night was on a full moon. It was absolutely horrifying. Even the staff apologised and said its not normally this bad. I had a girl reinacting being raped in the room next door, screaming at the top of her lungs and swearing for hours on end. A lad that was in there more than he was out. They had awful, awful rave/dance music on full blast till midnight every night, with women in their 70s raving it up (nothing wrong in that, put it was just so surreal) scary aggressive men who I'm sure some were actual psychopaths, lots of self harm. It was incredibly understaffed. Strangely though just a few nights later everything went quiet again, the 70 year old no longer danced, the girl next door slept peacefully, the woman rocking in her bed was able to get up and walk around... I've made every effort not to end up back in that place.

What was your treatment there OP? Any input from psychology or occupational therapy for example? Or just medication?
I hope you are feeling at least a bit better now.

Are you on medication now? And do you find it helpful? Wishing you well.

Psychiatric hospitals are grim. I have known of people struggling with their mental health and have well meaning (but clueless) people saying maybe a "holiday" in hospital will help.. like they are a calming retreat where you can just check out of life and responsibilities for a while.
I have been in hospital several times, and hate it every time. It is noisy, chaotic and most of all boring as hell.

I am glad you are home, and hope you are getting proper support in the community.

Glad you weren’t successful in your od OP.
When I lost my son I was at crisis point and know help is so hard to find
I believe our healing lies within and its up to us to use the tools we have

Sometimes a kind word, a smile and someone to listen to you opens you up to embrace you on your healing journey

Sorry … that sounded a bit wet but again Im so very glad that you’re here ❤️

@Laneyy yeah I am aware of what MH professionals think they are doing when they bounce people around from service to service without actually doing anything to help. It would have been nice to hear from OP as to what her experience was, about whether it helped or not, and what they did. For example whether they sorted her out with a prescription or referral to anywhere else, or whether she just went home once she said she felt better.
My impression is still that it just involves a lot of sitting around waiting and being ignored in a different location to your house while your brain burns with emotions, only now you don't have any distractions like Netflix. And probably not getting a therapeutic dosage of tea. This makes me likely to refuse to go next time as well because the whole system seems utterly pointless.

@LemonSwan what are your qualifications to undiagnose? I'm a senior nurse and can't do that, although I carry out mental capacity assessments and DOLS daily. The staff gaslight the pt? You do realise arguing with a dementia pt never has a good outcome. If they're looking for their parents despite being in their 80's you don't tell them that they're dead, you say they're at work.

They weren’t arguing with them.

She would go to the desk every day saying ‘you said I could go home today’
and they would say ‘no you have the wrong day, we said you can go home tomorrow’. Over and over and over for the month I was there. I literally saw it!

The lady was very meek. She even said she knew they were doing it and would tomorrow and just didn’t want to kick up a fuss so just walked off quietly but you could tell upset.

Your supposed to distract a dementia patient like ‘oh let me just check for you - whilst we wait shall we have a cup of tea’, not lie to them outright. But obviously that only works if they genuinely have dementia.

And honestly I have no idea why Pps seem to want to argue it could never happen. Are you genuinely trying to tell me that every single person right now and in the past in the U.K. with dols for dementia that not one single person has ever been misdiagnosed.

Because that’s not true. Because I literally know a case where that did actually happen and it was confirmed and the diagnosis/ dols removed. By that time she had settled into the care home though and decided to stay anyway.

@LemonSwan Of course you need to lie to them you can't say, you're not leaving today dear because you are under deprivation of liberty as you have dementia therefore need to stay against your will. What good will that do? Please educate yourself before saying qualified staff are wrong and gaslighting mentally unwell patients. OP sorry to derail and hope you're feeling better!