I've been in-patient voluntarily twice at the same hospital, but in different units at different sites.

The first time I was in, was for 8 weeks, and it was a semi-secure unit, meaning the ward was locked, but depending on your privledges you could leave for certain amounts of time. Since I was voluntary, and considered low risk for SU I could sign myself out for up to 2 hours at a time to go for walks or coffee. There was a reasonable amount of group therapy, art therapy once a week, and recreation therapy 3 times a week. There were two lounge areas with TV's that we could watch when not in therapy. There was also a computer that you could sign up to use. Big problem was downtime - pretty boring. I couldn't really concentrate to read, so I wound up making a bunch of friendhip bracelets and I learned to knit and knit a lot. Biggest downside was lack of privacy / monitoring. The nurses checked on us every 20 minutes and thee were no locks anywhere, not even on the bathroom stalls. I had special permission to go out at night to attend AA meetings and I always got grilled on how they were when I got back. It was a women only ward. I saw my psychiatrist almost daily.

The second time I was IP, was a completely nicer experience. It was in a brand new building that reflects the model of care that the hospital is moving towards. Everyone had a private room and bathroom, with a door that locked. It was set up like a university dorm, with 6 rooms in a hall on each floor, a common living / dinningroom / kitchen. You could leave whenever you wanted, you just had to tell the nurses where you were going. There was a computer on each floor so you could keep in contact with friends, and each room had a phone with a private extension. There was group therapy every morning and some afternoons, but again lots of down time - I got a ton of knitting done. There was recreation therapy daily, a volunteer came in once a week to put on art therapy, and another volunteer came in once a week to play guitar for sing alongs. It was at the main hospital site so there were a lot more services generally, like there was a pool, and a library where activities were scheduled. Supervision was also a lot looser, they did check on you every 20 min. at night. I saw my psychiatrist 3 times a week and a social worker for one on one therapy. They also gave me a complete physical and an appointment with a registered dietician.

My experiences have all been in a dedicated psychiatric hospital that is a WHO Centre of Excellence, so I don't know what it would be like to be on the psych ward of a regular hospital.

Both times after I was discharged I had follow up day treatment the first time for 8 weeks, the second time for 4 weeks.

I don't like being IP, but if I had to do it again I would.

--splitimage