Twice back in 1976, post partum. The first time was voluntary, but I never got a diagnosis and the pdoc saw me once and put me on something that made me stupid. A drug that is never used anymore.

I was not stable enough to go home, but I had a 1 year old and an insane husband, winter was coming and we had no heat. I could not even build a fire in the remaining stove. After that, things get very foggy, with my ex calling a sheriff to take me to a nearby mental ward. They handcuffed me, and would not tell me why they were not going to the city with the mental ward. By the time I got to the other hospital, I was completely freaking out, and what I went through was nightmare from hell.

The pdoc was insane, gave everyone ECT, including himself for fun. I was starting to recover on huge doses of Chlorapromazine (Thorazine), although drooling a lot. Then he decided I needed more ECT. It took about a week to recover, and I phoned my parents and begged them to come and get me. They drove 12 hours straight, and got me an my young son, and I lived with them for 8 months before recovering. I cut the Thorazine in half the first day, then gradually cut it down, with no pdoc.

It was the WORST experience of my life, for sure, and I made sure I stayed sane enough to never be committed. Hubby tried to commit me about 8 years ago, when I attacked him for trying to sleep with my ex best friend. I talked to 911 and told them wouldn't you be angry if your husband was taking out you best friend and they cancelled the ambulance. It took a long time to realize at that point, he was suffering from major depression with psychotic features, and about 3 more years to get him on the right meds.