well... i've been in hospital 3 times, once for a suicide attempt, once for psychosis, and this july for psychotic depression. i was so worn out my voice was monotonous, i didn't take care of myself, all i did was lay in bed staring at the ceiling.

so basically... what i think about hospitalisation.. the positive experiences i had was that it was extremely easy to get along with other patients (here in the north pole - almost LOL - people are really quiet and withdrawn and need their own space). it was cruel to throw me back into the reality amongst those beasts i don't feel comfortable around with! but really... once i was there for 1 week and had no talk sessions with a nurse, just saw pdoc to adjust meds... and in july i met up with a nurse a lot at first (i was there for 3 weeks) and they told me a lot of bull crap that even my pdoc (the one that treats me when i'm outta hospital) wondered why they said that - she thought they must've been really busy (though i don't think that is a reason good enough to lie). maybe they just thought that i didn't know stuff even though i have studied psychology and pharmacology since age... i don't know. but very young.

however, my depression DID get better, i got to communicate with some awesome people, got horrible side effects from the meds tho, but stopped taking them when i got out. maybe it was just the environment? one thing i would like to have is the freedom to refuse taking medication, whether you're in hospital voluntarily or not.

BUT my very first experience was good - that was the suicide attempt one but it was good. didn't talk to other patients then but did get to see the nurse and the pdoc often and they were very nice and when they found out i had studied meds & psychology, they didn't treat me like an idiot. not that they did in the first place anyway.

that's the way we do it over here... good luck to you in whatever you choose (((earthmama)))

PS. i found this from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5150_(I...chiatric_hold) - that applies to california but apparently there you can refuse meds. i don't know what the reality is, though.