Long term inpatient facilities

Long-term hospitalization is mostly a thing of the past. Sadly, it's primarily reserved for the criminally mentally ill. But there are people in long-term. For example (TRIGGER WARNING!!)
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
my great-niece attempted suicide when she was 20 by shooting herself in the head. She ended up completely and permanently blind. She is on heavy meds and has been living in a long-term psychiatric care facility for almost 2 years. She threatens suicide, should she be released. The eventual hope is to get her into a group home, but for the time being she remains in the psych facility. She seems to be content there. I think she feels safe and secure in the facility.

If you don't mind driving to winston for things, I've found the best PHP/IOP in the area is at Old Vineyard. It's off Stafford Rd in Winston. Their program is centered around DBT and is really helpful. My pdoc is in Winston too at the Mood Treatment Center. They opened an office in Greensboro though, and are really good in the treatment of BP. Not sure if my dr works at that location though. I've been seeing him since 2010, so not sure how hard it is to get into see him now. I know they keep hiring NPs at the winston location. I think they have 3 now. I've seen one after getting out of the hospital one time and she wouldn't touch my meds though, just did refills until I could see my Dr.

When I go IP I usually go to Wake or Old Vineyard. I prefer Old Vineyard. They have more groups and things and really help you out. It's a little private hospital. They even take you outside in their courtyard. DO NOT GO TO FORSYTH. lol. It's horrible from what I've heard. Novant took them over and it's just horrible in general.

At least in Greensboro you have the Super G Mart. That's the one thing I miss the most. I cook a lot of asian dishes and it was handy having that place at my disposal. When I lived in Greensboro I lived off west market by the biscuitville, so it was right down the road. We moved out of greensboro in 2009 and I'm glad. I hate going there. haha.

I was in a hospital for almost 30 days. That's what insurance would cover, I still wasn't well when I left.

The approach isn't supposed to be getting you well. Nobody leaves any hospital 100% for anything physical or mental. It's to be like a bandage and to make sure you are safe. You go home to heal. I've left fully suicidal before, but I also lied.

Funny, I was just about to come up here to see if you could tell me about specific programs, lol. I looked into one at Moses Cone, and it appeared to be three hours of group therapy everyday for several weeks. That wasn’t exactly what I was looking for in IOP - how do the other programs work?

I am willing to drive to Winston for good treatment, it would have to depend on the timing. I typically drop my girls off at school, then pick them up in the afternoon, sometimes to go to activities, so if I can do something in the 9:00 - 2:45 range in Winston I should be ok.

I’ll look into the pdoc you mentioned. I really need to see a psychiatrist, not a PA, not a NP. When I was last hospitalized in November the psychiatrist very honestly said my illness has become so complex I really need to see an M.D. psychiatrist. That’s why she was pleased I was going to Duke. But it’s still a long drive when you have kids to get to and from school, and you only have one car!

She was right though because I basically got kicked out of med management at the place I get therapy. After a therapy session this week, I wanted to get on the schedule for one of their PAs, just in case the care I was getting at Duke was not worth the drive. So the receptionist started looking up things on the computer. She asked me my diagnosis, and I told her it was bipolar disorder. Then she said, but you haven’t been hospitalized, right? Um no, I’ve been hospitalized three times. Then she looked a little uncomfortable and told me the pdocs there usually refer a patient out to more specialized care if they’ve had three or more hospitalizations, because they feel the patient would need more intensive services than they can provide. And this is the practice I’ve seen since I moved here, minus a few months with a NP at another place that provided me even worse care. So basically I am too screwed up to be seen by a normal psychiatric practice with NPs and PAs! I honestly have never been under the regular care of an actual psychiatrist since I was diagnosed 10 years ago, my pdoc in Greensboro was a NP. Although I knew the psychiatrist at IP had a point, I thought maybe she was being elitist. After this encounter at my therapist’s office, I realized I really do only need to be seen by psychiatrists, and as nice as my therapist is, I probably need more structured therapy as well. I should have been seeing a psychiatrist all along.

I do need to find someone in Greensboro or Winston though, and I even though we don’t plan on moving until June/July, I plan to make an appointment this month with with one psychiatrist, maybe even two as a backup, because the good ones seem to have months long waiting lists. While I would prefer something in Greensboro, I would consider Winston since it’s only a 30 - 45 drive depending on where you leave from and go to in the cities. I think I called the Psychiatry department at Wake though, but they really didn’t seem to know what I was talking about when I asked about IOP? I’ll look into what you mentioned and definitely any other suggestions you can provide.

You just had to mention Super G. My husband is doing backflips with the excitement of going back there. . We do all kinds of international cooking, particularly Asian, Indian, and Caribbean, so I’ve had to resort to ordering spices, dry, and liquid ingredients from Amazon since we’ve been here, lol. Can’t wait to visit Super G again!

After I got out of the hospital in 2010 I had the hardest time finding a new pdoc because of the multiple IP stays. The dr at the mood treatment center doesn't mind though. He's even wrote a book about BP called "Bipolar, not so much." It's what he specializes in. Yeah Wake doesn't have an IOP program just Old Vinyard and Novant in Winston. The novant one sucks though. The Old Vinyard one runs from 9 to I think 2 or 2:30 every day and they even give you lunch and have stuff for breakfast. I can't remember about the Novant one, it's been a long time since I went to that one.