[Lazuli]

Hi all!

I've been lurking on the forums for a bit, and decided to reach out.

Today is one week since I was discharged from my first stay at a psychiatric hospital.

While there really isn't an overwhelming pressure from my family to ‘move on’, I’ve found myself tiptoeing back into what my life was.

My therapist and I will begin working on outpatient things next week, but for now, I’m blindly navigating what I thought was my life.

I’m curious if anyone else has experienced this - I feel like a stranger. My school seems unfamiliar, my home is like a copy of what it used to be. I’m struggling to feel the connections I felt between my boyfriend, friends, and family that I held before I left. It’s a total disconnect.

Aside from feeling like a stranger to myself, the silence of others is driving me up the wall! I know people are trying to be courteous/they don’t know how to address it, but not talking about it all makes it feel like it never happened.

And that’s the last thing - I feel like I was never there. Three weeks that simply feel like a fever dream. I finally cut the hospital bracelets off today, and now it really feels like it didn’t happen.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? If so, if anyone has coping/grounding advice, I’d love to hear it. Love

[~Christina]

Readjusting back to life after a IP stay can take a bit of time.

Will you or are you currently in Therapy?

Welcome to PC , this is a great place for advice and support

[PlayD3ad]

I had my first stay at on a psych unit last august. I felt exactly like you did. it was like, you did this thing and time has kind of stopped and when you leave you feel like you just have to be better because you left there. feels kinda like you dont know anything anymore but than again you do. things will calm down in your head about being in there for whatever reason you were in there for. especially with therapy you will feel a little better one day at a time. i have been there and one day at a time is all you can do. pm me anytime if you need someone to one on one talk to im here for ya =]

[PlayD3ad]

I also newly joined so welcome!

[Sunflower123]

Hello. Welcome to PC I'm glad you're here.

[Shazerac]

Welcome to psych central

[Lazuli]

Originally Posted by ~Christina

Readjusting back to life after a IP stay can take a bit of time.

Will you or are you currently in Therapy?

Welcome to PC , this is a great place for advice and support

I am in therapy, I'm planning to change from one session a week to two per her suggestion.

[Lazuli]

Originally Posted by PlayD3ad

I had my first stay at on a psych unit last august. I felt exactly like you did. it was like, you did this thing and time has kind of stopped and when you leave you feel like you just have to be better because you left there. feels kinda like you dont know anything anymore but than again you do. things will calm down in your head about being in there for whatever reason you were in there for. especially with therapy you will feel a little better one day at a time. i have been there and one day at a time is all you can do. pm me anytime if you need someone to one on one talk to im here for ya =]

Thank you so much! That's exactly how I've been feeling. It's good to know I'm not alone