[mdb81]

last week my counselor told me she would be talking to the psychiatrist regarding my ED. i'm assuming that they will want to send me inpatient, which to be honest is probably the best thing for my physical health right now.
today i havent eaten anything, and purge most food that i eat other days. i'm not (yet) underweight.. not too far off it, and i'm absolutely *terrorfied* of gaining.
what i'd like from this post is *1: has anyone ever been 'sent' IP? what happened? and *2: what are some opinions on my situation? would it be best for me to go IP?
~scared M.

[Rhapsody]

While I do not have an ED that would cause me death from not eating.... I do tend to over eat if any thing.... and while I have not been IP for an eating disorder I was IP for suicidal attempts (3x) and being IP was the best thing that could have happened for me.... it took me away from my buttons and pressure points long enough for me to think straight and it really helped me to connect with my inner wounds and with my doctor / helpers.


LoVe,
Rhapsody -

Since you are not yet under weight they will not right off intubate you with a feeding tube. they will basically do intake paper work and the usual vitals and search to make sure you are not smuggling in laxatives and so forth. Then you will be given a room and a schedule (the units routine of wake up, groups including which ones are manditory and which ones are not and asigned a unit therapist. and nutritionalist. then throught out the first few days you will go to your assigned groups, attend your assigned meal times (possibly with your assigned mentor welcome wagon person) and meet with the staff psychiatrists and your assigned therapists. Goal sheets will be made up with or without your help so its better if you cooperate and add your input or you may end up attending groups you dont want to or have no interest in. Then the rest of the time on the unit is just you following their routines and working on and achieving the goals that are set down for you. when you accomplish the goals you will be released. If you don't eat meals (and they do keep track by watching and cameras and so forth) for more than a couple days they will put in a feeding tube and you will be attached to a machine that pumps IV "food" in to you throughout the day and possibly nights. It is not a comfortable thing and is embarrassing because the machine is kind of like a huge box on an IV pole that you cannot hide so the whole unit knows you have refused to eat and comply with your assigned program and most of the people there are there to get better and dont take too lightly to those not working to get better.

I hope for your sake you do not need hospitalization because it is not a good place to be. In fact my hospitalizations for anything has been nothing short of straight out of a nut ward hell hooror flik, right down to being strip searched, restrained, drugged to the hilt and during one hospitalization raped by an orderly.

My advice make every effort now to help yourself because one hospitalized you will lose all rights to deciding what is right for you unless you have a legal document. Here the document it called Declaration for Mental Health Treatment.

Good luck to you.