I’m kinda on risk for being put into one, so I kinda wanted to learn some stuff about how is it inside those. I think my biggest fear there is boredoom. Like, will I be able to videocall friends and/or listen to music there? Will my mp3 player/portable chinese retro emulator/phone/any eletronic be confiscated there?
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yes the boredom will be the biggest problem and no electronics are unlikely to be allowed. get a few good paperback books, a good puzzle book with some more variety than just word searches / sudokus, and bring a non-spiral bound sketchbook and some crayons (all psych wards will pretty much universally allow crayons vs if they’re acute enough they may worry about hard plastics, but admittedly that level of acuity is somewhat rare) and practice your figure drawing or just have fun scribbling if you like. also a great time to pick up origami as a hobby. If you ask nicely they will almost definitely play music for you but it might be in a group setting where you have to rotate choosing with the other patients.
hi I’ve been working inpatient psych for almost a decade, ama! lol.
Have you ever tried to use the AMA Lemmy community?
seems like a lot lol. idk how much people would care either.
I think lots of people would be interested.
ITT: Americans sharing horror stories from inside their gutted healthcare systems.
Best part is, when people have been fucked over by these psych wards, repeatedly (I have friends who were there 10+ times, had ECT that damaged their memories, etc) they tend to believe that all mental health care is designed to shut them down while taking their money. So we’re discouraging people who need treatment the most from actually getting it ever again.
Most folks seem to cover the emotional and psychological aspect so I’ll give some practical tips.
Shampoo and conditioner. If you are allowed to pack some or have some brought in by a visitor, do it. The hospital shampoo was really astringent and dried out my scalp horribly. After a week my head was constantly itchy from the lack of moisture. Conditioner would have saved me so much misery.
Make friends if you can. It will make you feel better to talk. It will help others to talk. It will make you a positive influence on the ward and help get you some leniency if shit hits the fan.
Take time with the crafts. It’s so fucking boring 80% of the time that when you can make something, really put your focus into it. Take your time. It’s cathartic.
It’s okay to ask for things. A lot of what you ask for will be a “no” but sometimes you’ll be surprised. I didn’t know I could get a shit ton of paper on request and tried to learn origami. It’s something to do and you’ll find what’s available.
Good luck. The ward is only scary the first time and the folks are so tired of dealing with shit (literally they all have a poo story) that you being calm is a relief. Be cool and you’ll be fine.
Remembering that the attendants are people, people who are at work. Remember work? How fun it was? They’re at work, being chill goes a long way.
I’ve been hospitalized about 10 times. Every stay has been different based on my demeanor and the severity of my mental state. Some hospitals are nicer than others, certainly the ones with good food were more positive. Good food stuck out to me.
The boredom is awful, but it gives you time to do things you wouldn’t normally do like read books or draw/color. Make friends there, it helps with the loneliness. I never maintained contact once I left the stay, but I have memorable connections that helped me get through what I was working with.
You most likely will not be listening to music unless a worker puts some on during groups, and phone calls can be made but you won’t have any access to a smartphone.
It’s mostly a place to get you stabilized on medication and establish aftercare plans. Any discomfort is temporary and if the anxiety of doing nothing gets to you, you most likely can get a PRN like Ativan (or Hydroxyzine if benzos aren’t for you) in a controlled environment.
They all vary pretty wildly from what I’ve heard. The one I spent 2 weeks in was mind-numbingly boring. No phones, no internet, and one hour of the wards ipad a day. The only saving grace was that I stole a water damaged deck of playing cards from some volunteer guy at the hospital I was initially put in before they transferred me. I played solitaire probably a couple thousand times over 2 weeks.
Other than that, you pretty much just talk with other people there and watch TV. They did some kind of activity every day and if you didn’t it would take longer to get out. The activities were dumb little arts and crafts nonsense and a bunch of coloring. After a few days though, anything is better than nothing.
In the ward I was in, medication was an issue for me. They put me on haldol and I had a really bad reaction to it, but the staff didn’t believe me until I couldn’t move and was in a lot of pain. Generally the staff doesn’t care much and will ignore lots of what you or anyone else says.
Well, so it doesn’t change in anything from the outside.
Sorry this doesn’t answer the question, but I read this as ‘hearing people’s experiences’, as in, “the experiences of people who can hear” and then that line about “listening to music” confused me because you’d seemed to imply you couldn’t hear
Ah, English is not my native language, I do tend to confuse some gramatics and words.
Sorry for that in advance. Gonna edit the post to make it more understandeable.
I didn’t mean to criticise your English! Evidently everyone else understood what you meant, and so did I after a moment. It was more of a funny observation ;)
I know, it’s just that my English IS confusing sometimes.
Might wanna say which jurisdiction… different countries are very different. In some countries, they could be very bad.
Brazil, by the way.
CAPS (our psych ward) is mysterious as fuck, never seen anyone comment anything on it and there aren’t any pictures on their insides. I hate this.
You should add that to your post.
Oh you probably shouldn’t take most of these comments seriously, most Fediverse users are from North America or Europe, I don’t know about Brazil’s Human Rights, so you might wanna ask local groupchat/forum or something.
Just an example:
I’m in the US, there are supposedly a lot of legal protections when it comes to patient’s rights.
But, back in China where I was born in… the culture is very conservative and if I was ever involuntarily held there, I could be possibly be held indefinitely. They don’t treat people mental illness very kindly. The legal system just reflects on the society’s conservative attitude. I heard horror stories of my village just locking up a kid in their house because they view that kid as a danger.
I’m not saying that such hospitals can’t help you, but you might wanna be careful. How Progressive/Conservative are the people? If they are very conservative, I’d try to avoid it as much as possible, seek legal help maybe.
Brazil’s psych wards hide a lot. No brazillians I ever talked to ever went to a CAPS (brazillian psych ward) and they hide even their interiors. Try to find a picture of a singular CAPS corridor. You can’t.
I’m gonna lie everything to my psychiatrist.
All the descriptions I’ve seen so far sound very much like my sister’s experience in eastern USA. I feel like there’s no info here to say whether it’s the same in Brazil or wildly different.
If it was me looking for the info I’d ask the question again in Portuguese
Here is the thing. CAPS (our psych ward here) is hiding A LOT.
Google “psych ward routine” in English. You’ll find a thing or two.
Now try to find a singular picture of a CAPS corridor. You can’t. They’re hiding lots of stuff.
Eh, I have worked in 2 psychiatric hospitals in the USA. Neither have interior pictures posted online - it’s not that they’re trying to hide anything, it’s probably just that it never occurred to anyone with authority that making photos available could be helpful/useful. The only time I’ve seen interior photos online is the websites of private/for-profit places that wanted to show off how nice their facility is in order to attract customers.
That said, whether CAPS has something to hide is a question beyond me.
You see, I can find this when I search for “Psych Ward Day/Shedcule” : https://roxburyhospital.com/treatment-services/adult-inpatient-psychiatric-program/saturday-schedule/
https://www.sanantoniobehavioral.com/what-to-expect/day-in-the-life/
I can also find A LOT of information on the Tokyo Matsuzawa Mental Hospital website.
Now, I try to search for “Dia no CAPS/Rotina no CAPS” (“a day/shedcule CAPS”) and won’t find a singular thing that isn’t just a VERY simple overview. Their website also is just a small article on the government website.
It was ok, but this was back in 2008 and smartphones weren’t really a thing yet, so them holding your phone wasn’t a huge deal regarding internet access etc. (I had a Motorola slvr at the time). A typical routine for me: a crew came in at like 4am to draw labs, woke up 7am-ish, shower fucking sucked (motion-activated, ran for a limited time, about the amount of time it needed to heat up). Food was average hospital, no caffeine. I found out if I called ahead to request a meal I could get caffeinated coffee/tea. Group therapy like twice a day, individual therapy once a day, medication meeting once a day, lots of downtime and board games/card games. I could listen to music because I had a classic iPod separate from my phone.
Most people shared rooms. I somehow got my own, likely because I was the youngest by at least 10 years. Smoke breaks were still a thing, so after a few days of being cooperative you got those plus your belt back. For me it was an excuse to go outside and socialize for a few minutes.
Ultimately a good experience because I got the treatment and meds I needed quickly. Your mileage may vary of course.
Well, I never drank coffee on my life, so I’m fine with the coffee part.
Seems quite alright, expect with the “wake up at 7am part”. Now my last doubts are about the boredoom and the people thing.
Thanks, lad. Best response I saw until now.
I really genuinely hope that you find the help that you need, and in a way that you feel comfortable with.
Depends entirely on who you share a room with.
Not bad. Strict schedule. Sleeping sort of sucks because people are always checking in on you.
Getting forced to have a room mate because they can’t be trusted by themselves isn’t great either.
When all of the other older kids are gone and the nurses trust you, they let you handle some of the data entry, or they let you play with the really young kids. It’s sad to see 5 year olds with depression.
Five year olds? Well, I once met a depressed 10 year old, but 5 year olds?
My first stint in inpatient was at 9 after I tried to hang myself, so yeah…
Fuck, that’s heavy. I hope you’re doing better these days
When I was a teacher in South Korea, I had a 5 year old student hospitalized for anxiety. It was fairly common by high school ages.
For me, I treated my stays like the opportunity it is. To relax, decompress, and take a break from the internet and social media. A cleanse of the mind.
I’m one to usually just keep to myself. I do not tend to socialize much, but I still go to group sessions and keep my responses short and to the point.
I try to just sleep through the week while adjusting to medication changes.
This is the best way to look at it I think.
I wish I could clone you – <3, an inpatient psych nurse.
This is pretty close to my experience. It wasn’t a hospital, kind of a crisis-level group home situation. The biggest downside was not being allowed to take a walk in the park across the street to stave off boredom, next was being monitored to take meds I wanted to take. Other than that, it was the most peaceful time of my adult life. I had 3 days to not worry about a single thing, interrupted one night when a screaming patient had to be removed from the premises. Then I had a few more days to start figuring out what I needed to change in my life to never have to go back.
Fuckin’ crazy.
… okay?
My (former) friend got sent to one after a Suzie Side attempt. She had to spend about a week there and we visited. She seemed overall happy with how she was treated. They are very restrictive on what you can and can’t have, and were very confused by the Junji Ito book I brought for her lol
Suzzie Side is a funny way to censor it.
Visited my brother in a few, so I’m just going off what he said.
Some are better than others, and either way, they will make you do things you don’t want to do, but that’s because the people in there want to do things that are not healthy for them.
Behave yourself, participate in therapy, and follow your plan and you’ll be out of there a lot faster than if you fight it.
I’ve never been to one, even though I should’ve probably been sent to one like 4 times at this point. I do however, know people that have been sent. It’s not very fun. They confiscate all your stuff that you have on you, I believe. No access to your phone. It’s boring, but you’ll live. Making friends helps. Best of luck if you do get sent.
I’m gonna try to lie to my psychiatrist and avoid having my mom remembering to book a consultation as max as I can.
I guess I’m better off having fun at home but around a shitty family.
I think you should try writing poetry, could be therapeutic. At least it is for me, sort of…
Depends, but lying to your psychiatrist helps. If you don’t mind me asking, what did you get caught doing? I understand if you don’t feel like telling some internet random, you probably shouldn’t, but the answer does probably make quite a difference for the answer’s accuracy.
Two suicide attempts by overdose. My mom found the second out by missing pills. She’s too busy to talk to a psychiatrist, though, and I hope she forgwts it.
If she’s even half decent as a parent, she won’t forget. I got away with lying about cutting myself, because I only did it once (for fun if you can believe it) and I’m never doing it again. Honestly, if I didn’t have my experiences, I’d probably send you to get help as well. But, I do know that they don’t really help a lot of the time. If I were you, I’d tell my friends about where you’re going to be, prepare for it mentally, and make the most of the time you spend there. Best of luck.
The more you pay typically the better it is.
