Should I seek admission to Psych Hospital? Very hard to face.

My state of mind, which is chronically not so good, got a lot worse recently. To my own astonishment, I am thinking that I may need to accept considering going into the Psych hospital as an inpatient.

The few times that I've been hospitalized in my life, I absolutely hated it. The last time was in 2005 after some drunken self-harm. (was the first and only time I self-harmed. I was living with an abuser and just wanted to make the abuse stop.) Also, I have worked in the hospital that I would be going to, which has made me think that the humiliation and loss of privacy would be too much to bear. However, I am wanting to survive and need more serious evaluation than I have been given. (My pdoc has no idea how much anguish I am in.)

PLEASE - ANYONE WHO HAS GONE IN-PATIENT AND FOUND IT WAS NOT AS BAD AS THEY EXPECTED - TELL ME HOW IT HELPED YOU. ALSO, ANYONE WHO KNOWS ABOUT HOW INPATIENT CARE HELPED SOMEONE THEY KNOW, I'LD LIKE TO HEAR.

If you think you need to be in-patient then I think you should go and get an evaluation. Would you have to go to the hospital you worked in?

Some of my in-patient stays weren't so great. The one where I actually said I need to be in-patient, went better than I expected. I was able to get off a med that wasn't working and on a better one. I was able to get away from abusive family members. My boyfriend began to really understand what was going on and how he could help me. It was tough, but I'm glad I went. I learned better ways to cope with things and a bit more about myself. I hope that helps.

Hi there Rose,

I am actually currently in a psych hospital right now! I was only supposed to be in for less than a week, but the doctors have found that a longer stay would be beneficial (I have been here for over 2 weeks so far).

This is my 4th admission in an adult psychiatric hospital, and I don't regret any of the hospitalizations. Where I'm at, I am seen by a psychiatrist daily, and therapists too if you'd benefit from one. I always make friends when I come here because we can relate to each other, and some of the nicest people I've met have been in a psych hospital.

During this admission, we have been tweaking my meds and I am being monitored by nurses so I don't harm myself. I am depressed, so we are trying to elevate my mood. I find that most of the nurses, doctors, therapists and volunteers are very friendly, and the food isn't bad either.

I would absolutely recommend becoming an inpatient if you feel you are a danger to yourself. It does feel a little embarassing and awkward at first, but that goes away. If outpatient services aren't enough for you right now, I'd definitely talk to your pdoc about how you're feeling, or go to crisis/hospital.

I hope you'll keep us updated on how you're doing.

PleaseHelp, Thanks for encouragement. Yes, I would need to go to the hospital where I worked. (I have no health insurance. So I have to go to the public hospital, where I am on an indigent plan.) I notice you say that the best hospitalization was the one you, yourself, wanted. The patient's attitude toward being in the hospital could affect how much good it does. Glad to hear it helped you.

melissa.recovering, Thank you for responding while you, yourself, are going through being in the hospital. It means a lot to hear from someone who is in there and not hating it. Somehow, I think Canada might have somethings better organized than we do down here in the states. It sounds like you are being treated exceptionally well. Our healthcare, especially for low-income persons in a public facility, probably does not compare favorably to what is available to you. (there would be no therapists) As an out-patient, I have not even gotten a thorough evaluation. I only see the doctor every 45 days. It must be really nice to have found friends among your peers. That would mean a lot to me. Many long years ago, I was in-patient and the place was terrible, but some other patients were very kind to me. (That was the same hospital I'll go to now. They claim the place has overcome its well-known "dark history." Maybe.

I have been inpatient many times, always at the same hospital. I have never regretted any of my stays. The hospital staff was supportive and my pdoc was able to get my meds regulated much more quickly than he would have been able to do on an outpatient basis.

I have been in-patient twice, both times at the same dedicated psych hospital. Both admissions were very helpful to me.

I first went in, in 2007 when I was severely SU and first trying to stop drinking, I basically went straight from rehab to the psych hospital. I was in for7 weeks. It was a fairly typical psych hospital ward, but was a women only unit. Since I was in as a voluntary patient I could sign myself out for up to 2 hrs at a time to go for walks or coffee. We had group therapy everyday and I saw my psychiatrist daily. We added one med, and changed another. The only downsides from my perspective was the boredom -lots of downtime, the lack of privacy, and constantly being monitored.

The second time I went in was last summer, same hospital but different building. I was in one of their newest buildings where they're offering a new model of care. Every patient had their own room,with a private bathroom, and we could lock our doors. There were six rooms on each floor and each floor shared a common living/dinning room space -it was a lot like a university dorm. Again a fair bit of group therapy during the day, plus I was assigned a social worker to work one- on - one with, on relapse prevention. I was in for 4 weeks.

I've really been lucky with the psych care I've received- I've heard not so great things about some of the other hospitals in town. But I go to the dedicated psych hospital which is also a major teaching hospital.

--splitimage

((Rose 76))

I have been inpatient a few times in my life. Once, as a teenager. And twice as an adult (a few years ago).

Each time, I wasn't real excited about my admission, but I did enter myself in each case. I always had to stay longer than orginally intended, but I also know that my case is complex. Finding more solid ground takes me some time, tears, and hard work. that's just the way that it is.

I don't have any hard feelings towards going inpatient. Sometimes, that needs to be done to ensure that you won't find the way to end it all. And when you are seriously considering options and consequences, you need some help to get out of that state of mind.

It's always nice to "click" with other patients ~ to have that support and camraderie. It helps reassure that some people in this world actually do like you. You aren't completely worth the self-hate that you may grip onto tightly. (I do that. )

I would recommend going into the hospital with the expectation that you will get out when the doctors start seeing some solid improvement in your general mood and perspective towards life (in general). When doctors see that you can maintain self-control, despite triggers being present. Generally, that's a sign that you will be able to have more independence in your daily life and trust that you won't freak at the slightest trigger.

That is my personal experience & knowledge that I've gained through my time spent in mental hospitals. I have been in a few different mental hospitals, and some are better than others too. Mayo Clinic was wonderful for me! That was most home-like, and comfortable. A county hospital in Ca (that I went to as a teen) sucked!! Very low income patients, some of them psychopathic. All of us in one room. I sure as heck wouldn't recommend going to a hospital like that again. Last, was more in the middle. I didn't have the luxuries or the freedom that I had at Mayo. I was kind of being treated as a child, in some ways. (Which I didn't like.) But, as I improved, the behavior of the staff also improved towards me.

Gentle hugs to you honey ~ very best wishes!

i only went once, and it made me worse. Everyone was mean and they took away my shoes and humiliated me in every way they could think of. They wouldnt listen to anything I said, and I didnt get the right drugs. I guess it depends on where you go and your insurance and stuff. I had to go budget.

Hello, Rose76. My thought is to share your post with your psychiatrist. Then you and he/she might discuss the pros and cons of going inpatient and arrive at a decision that is best for you.

Good luck.

I agree with Byz, Rose...there might be a way for your psychiatrist to intervene without going inpatient.

That being said...I was hospitalized four times about 20 years ago, so I'm not sure my experiences are relevant. But I did work in a psych hospital for four years very recently, and I can tell you that almost all the doctors sincerely wanted the best for their patients. The nurses were the same, with the exception of a few jaded ones.

I feel confident that you are articulate enough and willing enough to work hard at being well. You will make it the best possible experience, whatever the circumstances of your admission.

Rose,

First off do not go to a hospital with a psych ward. Very bad places, very few programs and only tv to watch during the day. Go instead to a psychiatric hospital. IF you need help finding one pm me and I will be more than happy to help.

I've had only bad experiences with hospital psych wards but mostly positive experiences with psychiatric hospital. I once drove eight hours to get to a psychiatric hospital and that's where i found the cocktail that has worked so well for me!

Good luck and if you think it's time to go in it probably is. I say go in before you get committed then you have more choice.

Love and Hugs,
Tara

Where I live there is one psych hospital, and it is run by a university affiliated teaching hospital. The psych hospital is free standing, separate from the large medical hospital. It is not a ward within a general hospital. I get my out-patient care at this facility. They have current records on me. It is not the greatest run place in the country. I mean it would not be on any list of top psychiatric hospitals in the USA.

Sorry I somehow missed that you had no choice of which hospital to go to. If it's a hospital with psych ward then make sure you take lots of books, coloring books, reading books, anything to keep you doing something. Otherwise you'll end up like me sleeping all day and all night and being kept longer because you're "depressed" when in fact the depression is due to the environment and not having anything to do but watch t.v.

Love and Hugs,
Tara

splitimage: I have to say, what I am hearing described in Canada sounds way better than what I'ld find anywhere here, with the possible exception of some exclusive place for the very well-to-do. Third party payers, like insurance companies and government programs in the US would generally figure that - if you don't need to be locked up, then you should only be getting out-patient care. (Correct me if anyone knows different.) I doubt any group therapy, or any one-on-one therapy goes on in the place I would be considering. Perhaps that my be related to my living in one of the poorer states in the US.

I like the Byz's idea of printing off your post for your pdoc. Keep checking in so we know how you are....

The hospital I go to is a psych ward inside a hospital and it is excellent. You really can't make blanket assumptions about the quality of any particular type of facility. You just need to investigate and become as educated as you can about whatever facility you will be using.

You're right farmergirl. I didn't mean it as a blanket statement, just a from my experience perspective. I've been in a number of psych wards and the ones that are just hospitals with a psychward have always been bad with activities etc. Maybe that's just southern California I don't know. Do investigate your local options. I went to Cedars Sinai once (a teaching psychiatric hospital) and that was an amazing experience. Night and day when compared to the others.

Love and Hugs,
Tara

Hi Rose -- The hospital quality might depend on the state you live in. I won't ask you to identify your state, just saying that different states have better or worse psychiatric facilities. Nevada's is horrible. So is Idaho's. I've been hospitalized as an inpatient one time in each state, and both times were terrible, especially the Nevada facility.

You could check with NAMI and see what grade they give your state (Nevada had an F but recently "improved" to a D).

Just a thought.

Good luck to you.

Thank you, thank you, thank you all for excellent feedback. Yeah, Tara, seems to me if I am not mistaken (i'll google it), that Cedars Sinai is a classy act, a real classy act. What's available to me is so not even remotely . . .

Yes, AvidReader, I think you've nailed it and if, Nevada (which is not all that far from me) with all it's casino money is that bad, well where I am . . . I live in one of the poorer states, and, yes, I'm thinking that could be a factor in why my care is what it has been and continues to be. I would have thought Idaho would have been better than where I am. I will definitly google NAMI, and ty so much for letting me know they do ratings!!!!!
If they rate my state low, I might be better armed to be more assertive if (rather more like when) I do go in.

I can't say, adequately, to every poster on page 1 and page 2 how grateful I am to find this level of interest and concern from my fellow PC members. To a rather social avoidant person, with major trust issues, this is extremely therapeutic. It has me actually rethinking my whole attitude about reaching out for help. What I've just said also applies to those who've responded to some other threads I started, all kind of related to the issue on this thread.

Rose, thanks for keeping us updated. What about checking with a facility that is designed to treat what you need? I know some facilities have some funds put aside to help people pay for their treatment when they are unable to pay for it themselves. I know I looked into that a couple of times. Just another thought.

I'm managing to hold off on hospitalization. Still, I see it as possible for me to accept. You see, prior to talking it out on PC, I had it ruled out as just something I would never again do. In 2004, I found it excruciatingly embarrassing. (Knew too many people there.) Yet, something very good came out of it. A wonderful resident, who seemed to care, got me referred to the Partial Hospitalization Program, which was extremely worth participating in. And I got a lot better. It was intensive, 5 days/week, for like 6+ hours/day. I even was managing to work quite a bit on the weekends.

I try to tell myself - "You can't predict what will or won't happen." That program, PHP - mentioned above, has been either gutted or eliminated. My doctor is supposed to call me back within 48 hours of my calling the Center, requesting a call back. I think it's gone way past that amount of time, but not getting calls returned is not surprising for this facility. I'm not in "imminent danger." If they are crowded, that would be their criteria for admission.

3 days ago, I did go to the crisis triage area. The nurse and pdoc there were way more concerned and empathetic than I expected. Even though I denied any self harm intent. They seemed to feel that I've been underdiagnosed. It was such a non-scary experience going to triage that I started this thread, thinking I might be able to face going in. My hope would be that a better assessment would be done if I did go in. Out-patient, where I get seen about every 45 days, is not understanding that I am facing crisis. I'm not doing a good job of resolving that. Maybe they can help, maybe not. Last night, I said "Well, just go get a job and everything will be okay." I'll manage to believe that for a few hours. But the fear I have becomes overwhelming.

This is a lot of dithering around that I am doing by myself. Today, I see a T for 45 minutes. I'm not funded to see him very often. Also, once before when I got distraught, he told me he isn't comfortable doing "crisis intervention." I think: "What am I going to say to this T?" He gets upset so easily, I worry about troubling him.

Hello, Rose. Tell the therapist what you are going through. It defeats the purpose of seeing a therapist to have to protect the therapist's insecurities. Seeing a different therapist if possible might well be better for you.

As I so often do, I will suggest you print a copy of your post for whomever you see. The post captures your thought process so well. You are not getting the help you need. Talk about your options and the pros and cons of each. After the discussion, make the choice(s) that is/are best for you.

Good luck.

I did go to the Psych triage at the psych hospital on one day in the past week. I was treated nice and told that my pdoc would be informed that I am distressed. A few days later I was back very confused about why I was going back. My pdoc happened to run into me (quite a coincidence). He sat and I told him how bad it's been getting. So he encouraged me to consider going in-patient, and to consider maybe ECT. He said no one would pressure me into ECT, but that he wanted me to consider it because he said I have "treatment resistant depression."

What I read about ECT sounded kind of risky, and possibly dangerous . . . loss of memory, loss of cognitive function. It was right after ECT, that Hemingway killed himself.

I was kind of thinking of being admitted so maybe I could get better assessment. Pcych emerg./triage pcoc (not my own) said that with the weekend coming up, I would not get much assessment. I know how these places (it's the county hospital, for the poor) can be just warehouses. So I said I would go home. I'm not imminent danger to myself, and they do believe me on that. But, after years of having recurrent depressions, I've never had anything this bad for this long. I am so afraid to even try to go back to work.

Plus, the thing that is really "treatment resistant" is my loneliness. Though PC has been quite a help. My depression is really an outcome of other things that I have unsuccessfully tackled. It is very hard to have hope.

Oh, by the way. I did speak to the Therapist and he was way more supportive than I ever expected.

Hello, Rose76. I am happy people are listening to you. I wish you the best.