[jtassar93]

I'm really afraid of being sent to the psych ward or a mental hospital. I was wondering people's experiences. Do you get to shower and go to the bathroom by yourself? That's something I'm really self conscious about.

Sorry for my multiple threads today.

[WorkhorseDVM]

Originally Posted by jtassar93

I'm really afraid of being sent to the psych ward or a mental hospital. I was wondering people's experiences. Do you get to shower and go to the bathroom by yourself? That's something I'm really self conscious about.

Sorry for my multiple threads today.

When I was IP I had own bathroom and shower. They will check on you if in there for a long time but not walk in.

[BipolaRNurse]

I used to be really scared of the hospital, but it wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be. I had my own room, bathroom and shower, and the staff would check on me every 15 minutes but not come in if I was using the bathroom. I was also allowed to shave my legs on my own, but had to turn in the razor after I was through with it. They do try to respect your privacy, within limits of course, and in my experience the worst invasion of privacy was when they did "safety checks" (going through my stuff at 6 AM). Otherwise, it wasn't a bad experience. Please don't be scared---if you need the hospital, go.

Depends what hospital you go to...

Ive been watched in the shower and bathroom. It is humiliating and degrading especially when they comment.

[fishin fool]

It really depends on what hospital you go to.
Some are far better than others I have been told.
I was IP only once and it is creepy at first but the
place I was in really was not bad at all.

[wildflowerchild25]

Everywhere I've been gives you privacy in the bathroom, UNLESS you are such a danger to yourself that you require a one to one aid. Then that person goes in the bathroom with you. But it's unlikely that you would require a one to one.

I've been hospitalized a lot and the majority of them were nice stays that really helped.

[~Christina]

I have gone to 3 different ones.. One I loathe mainly because the IP Pdoc is a smugBastard to be honest, He is use to people just swallowing any pill he deems you need.. I don't blindly take things, I like explanations. This was a stand alone facility.

The other place was just a 72 hour stabilization unit. I came home from a trip to Florida and everyone of our water pipes broke due to the bitter freezing. I lost my mind , it took over a week to get a running toilet and almost a week to get a shower going. The entire process took almost 8 weeks, I snapped about day 7 . The place was fine, it had hot water and allowed me to regroup and focus. Also a stand alone facility.

The other place is a great place to be if you need IP. They have a wonderful staff. The ward holds about 20 people, It's a large University It actually has numerous wards.. I was on what they call the mood unit, basically Bipolar, depression, suicidal. They have a psychosis unit and also one for street drug detox and more of the violent types etc.

I know by now what clothing is allowed and whats not. I have yet to go IP where its not like a freezer, So I take my "IP Sweater" I call it. It's not a horrible ordeal , it's a great place to go if your not safe for yourself or to others.

Every place is run a bit differently other than the basics.. The University is where I prefer to go. It just requires my husband to drive me 110 miles , which he is always willing to do when I tell him I can no longer stay safe on my own.

Every place I have gone does 15 min checks. I have never had someone "watch" me shower.

IP is a great place when you need it.

The place I have gone to has a regular bathroom in each room. They may ask through the door if you are okay when they are doing their routine checks, maybe even just ask you to show your face around the shower curtain, but they've otherwise been very respectful of privacy in such things.

[secretgalaxy]

My hospital stay was fun, we had oreo pound cake for dessert, play uno till the cows came home, had a karaoke night, and stayed up all night messing with the nurses. I can honestly say that being in the hospital was the most carefree, childish time in my life and I loved it. Every minute of it. If I ever need to go back, I would.

[BadWolfC]

My hospital experience was not good, but apparently I was not put into a very good one. When I was admitted, I wasn't allowed to have my clothes (had to wear scrubs that they gave me) and wasn't allowed to shower or have new clothes for 3 days. Once I was allowed to have my clothes back, I was allowed to take a shower. But 3 days of that was horrible. And on top of this, I was having really bad insomnia and they made everyone get up at 7am which was torture to me. I felt even worse once I was admitted because of all this stuff. They also gave me medication that made me sick, and made me take it twice before they figured it out because there was no communication between the staff. I ended up pretending to get better so they would release me because I couldn't stand it in there. Once they finally did, after being in there 6 days against my will when I was supposed to be there voluntarily, I had to drop out of college because I got worse and moved back in with my parents.

I highly recommend that you do research on whichever hospital you might be admitted to, if you can. It sounds like most people haven't had experiences like mine, but I would try to be careful just in case.

[jtassar93]

Thanks for replying everyone. It makes me feel a bit better. I'm preparing for the possibility of being committed. I researched my hospital and it said each room has its own bathroom, but not sure about a shower

Should I cut the strings off all of my pants?

[Victoria'smom]

My hospital has 15 min checks and you get a shared bathroom with another patient. We get to take 2 sets of clothing without strings a sweater without strings.

[Angelwngs25]

Originally Posted by jtassar93

I'm really afraid of being sent to the psych ward or a mental hospital. I was wondering people's experiences. Do you get to shower and go to the bathroom by yourself? That's something I'm really self conscious about.

Sorry for my multiple threads today.

The Psych Ward I have always gone in a hospital called St. Lukes where they have behavioral units, was always a great experience for me. They had 2 people to a room, so me and my bunk mate. They only watched you with a chair by your door if you would try to do something like hang yourself with a sheet. And by watch I don't mean they watched you shower. You got to see your Psychiatrist almost every day. They had really good food. They had groups you could go to. The patients would play a lot of games with each other most of the time. They had TV. They had snacks like 2-3 times a day. They had nurses there to give you your meds at certain times a day. You got to go out of the ward sometimes to go do activities. And I have been there 3 times. Once in 2013, 2014 and 2015. And mind you this Psych Ward is in Phoenix, Arizona. But I'm sure other wards are pretty much the same. Oh, and they do have to watch you shave if you need to.