obsession with hospital..

You hit it spot on,

I have learned not all psych units are the same, I like the one I just got out of better than the last one. The staff was better and more helpful, we actually got to go outside sometimes and the food was quite good. It got rather stressful at times, as there was a bit of drama, obviously not everyone is going to get along with each other too well but that exists anywhere I imagine.

So yeah sometimes the experiance can depend on the facility...I kind of doubt that will be the last time I have to go to a psych ward or mental health facility but at least for now I am feeling a little more stable and not on the verge of suicide.

Yes, but this is reserved for people who are a threat to the public and/or themselves. Most of them have committed crimes and have been declared not criminally responsible.

Young hard drug user,s love being in mental hospital, I witnessed some strange stuff, they were the first I made friends with. I was in a male ward dorm of 6 beds and I was oldest, they hid drugs in the ceiling tiles , smoked heroin in roll up cigs in the smoking yard. They had been deemed mentally ill and this was the cause of the drug addiction but some pulled a scam. Think about it free food and a bed we even sent out for take away, they had day release ,so scored for anyone who wanted heroin all under the nose of the so called staff. And if suspected and told to take a blood test they cried the were allergic to blood test so the hospital has to get a order to test them , and by that time they would be clean. ALL this and the benefits were still being payed into the bank fueling more drugs . I moved out there dorm because they went to sleep at 3 am and got up about 2pm next day, I was friends so they didn't take offence when I moved wards , I said I needed sleep. There is all sorts in mental hospital , don't get me started on the night security,

I know there have been many replies to this post so far but my question to the OP would be, is it perhaps an indication that your outpatient treatment/support isn't as helpful as you would like? I often find that when i crave being in a hospital environment its because i feel vulnerable and not properly taken care of. What does your pdoc say about all this? Do you feel you could discuss it with them if you haven't already? I would like to reassure you though that your concerns are certainly not uncommon. Perhaps this is the most effective way of coping with how you feel even if it doesn't come to fruition. Kind of like how somebody who is trying to cut down on cigarettes may keep them around not as a temptation but for reassurance just in case they feel they need them - they may not want to use them, in the same way that you don't want to end up in hospital - but in a way they're kind of like a security blanket. On the other hand you may be inadvertently allowing your fear of going into hospital to prevent you from taking on the bigger challenges in your life. I'm not in any way criticizing you or undermining your efforts to get better but again i think it comes down to a question of support. After all change is scary and it can be overwhelming at the best of times but i put it to you - if you were sure that the help you were getting was as good as you'd like, would you fear bigger things happening in your life as much? All of these are just my thoughts as an objective observer. I don't know your full circumstances and i hope none of this is taken the wrong way as it certainly wasn't meant to offend. I wish you the very best of luck.

THANKS , But no I didn't I soon reolised this was my illness , nobody can help you, you have to do it alone with whatever tools you have meds , drink whatever . Hopefully your brain will stop the onslaught , your still ill but you manage it yourself nobody has a clue whats inside your head only you.

Well, Psych wards I don't wary about at all....It's been considered, but have always managed to talk my way out of it (it helps when the "patent" also studied enough psychology to out talk and confuse the doctor when I want to), and have done that since a pretty young age, so......
It's medical issues that concern me there - but I can't get around that, I have tried (and still will until I figure out how to get everything done, but NEVER actually stay over night (even if it's going to be a lot of pain, I would rather go back and fourth between home and the hospital every day than stay even one night.
My idea the last time I was admitted for a UTI no less (Urinary Tract Infection) what I was REALLY after is just start the IV tube (since I don't know enough to be comfortable starting it without wary of ruining a vein - but teach me how, and I'll do that myself too). Give me whatever it is going to take, and I will go home to my own bed and do it where I am not going to have anyone watching like a halk, if I feel up to it (and I don't care who says what, I REALLY DO know more about what I am capable of when than they do so unless you have a reason other than you are going to be weak or something to that effect I don't want to hear it. To even say you could fall and break a bone - I say that could happen anywhere anytime anyway - and if you are already in a hospital - then that is the perfect place.
But the fact is feeling like I am being watched too close, where there is almost no way to make any move of any kind without others knowing about it - well that bothers me more than being sick dose - and I have already refused to even let anyone look at things - main reason - I had no idea what was wrong - but I knew for sure I wanted to stay at home regardless of anything.

I was obsessed with going back to the hospital after going three times in 4 months. It was a way to cope with life that was safe and predictable...unlike being out in the great big world. I went to psyche wards...not hospitals and I always came away better than I was before and learning a great deal. I also enjoyed the other patients....being able to directly relate to others that have mental illness like me.

I was not stable when I was wishing to be back there. Now that I am better that longing is dissipating. But sometimes I still wonder...when will I be there again. How long can I go this time?!

If your sectioned you don't have a SAY, your in until they say so. Whats with the other medical illness your on about. English mental hospitals are not in medical hospital they are separate mental hospital,s not 2 wards on general hospital. IF you in charge of your own brain then you wont get in there for acute case,s , get you locked down find a med . maybe fry you brain for a week then show you the door.

Exactly why I made it a point to make sure I could out talk and confuse them.....I have already had cases when I KNOW I was loosing it - but by the time I was done I had the doc thinking he should make an appointment with me! - All I need is to not even hear what they are saying, just the tone, facial expressions, exc. and I WILL get you to think any thing I want you to (well that is as long as you don't have anything tangible that says I'm wrong)
And here as far as if they are separate hospitals or not depends on what one you are talking about, and what for. There are quite a few that include both medical and psyc, others if it's something small fine, if not, shipped off elsewhere.
Now what I deal with are two separate ones, but they work closely with each other (and the mental hospital I WOULD use if I had to also dose medical stuff, it's just not there main thing - but if you say were in a car wreck and they were the closest, they can patch you up, even do emergency surgery if they have to. But while it is closer to home, I still will go a bit farther to get to the medical hospital I always use - even if I thought it were a psych issue and I was staing (and had decided I am not going to reverse things on the guy) I would still go to the medical one first, I am way more comfortable with those people (especially after I did it the other way once, and ended up talking really fast, exc. just to get the guy to go away after being paranoid that I might try to hurt myself right there - at that point - don't trust me without a reason not to, then I don't trust you at all. Besides IF there really is no other choice, I have heard from lots of people that if you go to that medical place first, it's a lot better experience - from what I understand, don't know that it'ds deliberate or not, but I understand you most of the time even end up with a nicer room that way. But at least in 45 years no one has been able to catch me off guard enough to keep me from reversing the whole deal. I guess anything is possible, but I would have to be real bad, and then it wouldn't matter anyway until I was with it again - then comes all the other stuff. But I am not worried about that so much - don't like hospitals in general, but in that case, it's more records then being there that is disturbing to me, and there are ways to alter or remove things after the fact. It's much easier to not put it there in the first place, but it's not as though anything is carved in stone.

You answered your own question, you have never been that bad .You may think your fooling them, but there sat the other side the desk no you. They have seen it all before, your no threat to yourself or anybody so the let you have your little moment of glory and then send you on your way, Then its business has useual with the next patient who thinks he knows better than the shrink. You have never been in mental hospital because your not sick enough. You have to be really bad to get in the zoo make no mistake on that one.

When it gets bad enough you stop caring about the bill you might get, whether or not you can afford it and all that stuff or if it will be a good experiance. You just know you're going to lose it in the sense you will be a danger to yourself or others and need to do something or else. At least that is how it is both times I've been in the psych ward.

The most recent was much better though it was a seperate facility than the main hospital and we got to go outside and to the cafeteria where the food was good. The first couple days I was confined to the unit so I had to stay in but once they where sure I wasn't going to run away or harm myself under the lessened supervision I was able to.

As for getting into a psych ward or facility perhaps its easier in the U.S than the U.K, one can still go voluntarily even if they aren't a danger to themselves or others I have seen it anyways.

I see, that would be impossible in England, if you were able to get to the zoo and ask for entrance, you wouldnt be out your mind enough to get in, they would maybe take you in a room and have a chat , but 9 times out 10 they show you the door and say go to your gp first. I did see one guy they let in , his father had died he was a regular day patient ,they let him stay for a week for a rest, he ate all the food he could get his hands on watched tv till 2 am and was a pain in the arse he was out pronto. We have to many acute people waiting for in patient treatment mabye years. Suicide attempts are out the door the next day mostly.

I agree with sewerrats in that english psych wards are just awful, they are filthy, understaffed and those that are regulars are usually poorly trained or show an appalling lack of compassion and understanding. Also you literally have to be on a knife edge to earn a place there. Those who can be managed without outside 'help' don't get a look in. I've been in the system since i was 15 and it's utterly useless - all i would say to those who have access to what they need when they need it, consider yourself exceptionally lucky.

We have a nice hospital around the corner from me. You generally have to wait a few days to be admitted voluntarily, unless it is an emergency.
Your pdoc has to do the admission for you, so it's not just anyone getting in for a break from life.

Having others to talk to that understood me, was very helpful. And just being able to sleep.

Yes. I feel like that if I am truly honest about the things that I go through, and these little 'visions' I have, that can be quite disturbing. Yeah I feel like I will be hospitalized if I am completely upfront about everything.

No. but there was a time when, I was post-parthum, about to be diagnosed with MS and my father and mom were looking into places for me. I was soooo exhausted, that I was complaining that the tv just seemed louder than usual. Was drinking, at the time too...

yeah...that didn't happen, and isn't going to happen. What were they going to do, try to get me committed, to realize, hey wow, she just needs to not drink? Not have 3 kids in diapers with a husband that was working 60+ hours a week at the time, oh and not have MS fatigue?! Lack of sleep, some depression and anxiety, but oh the things they called my neuro up on. No wonder, he referred me to the pdoc, in the first place(i.e., girl, get yourself out of danger, by having a pdoc in your back pocket)

Do I fear landing in the psyche ward?! NO, not any more!!

Yes your right, they scar you for life, you never forget the zoo, its tattooed on your brain.

let get this straight about mental hospital in England, its free we pay out our wages every week for the NHS so if breakdown or thousands of $ heart surgery its all free. If you IN AMERICA have insurance companies paying you hospital bills they would let you in with a headache to make money. Somebody earning thousands or a tramp get the same treatment in ENGLAND. So you all receive the same waiting time and the same care which is usually S F A

Reading all this makes me glad to be Australian.

We have a public and private system. We don't NEED insurance, and I think most private hospitals keep you for a maximum of 3 weeks?

The public system takes anyone. You can go in for a med adjustment and stay in for months. Someone I knew went in to come off Xanax & stayed in the public system a few days then was transferred to a private hospital at no cost to her - some special system the government has.

Personally ive been in many times for anywhere from 1 day to 4 months. You dont have to be in a crisis - but if you have attempted suicide theres no way you would be out the next day. You'd be there for weeks at least.

The staff are mostly good, you see your psychiatrist 1-3 times a week and the places are cleaned every morning so theyre not disgusting.

Staff wise, the places Ive been have had 1 staff assigned to 4 patients - so thats not too bad.

I carnt say mine was filthy like one English poster said, but mental patients are a messy bunch ,we dont care what WE look like so we are not bothered obout the mess we leave when unwell , I think the cleaners do there best plus there is always couple of OCD patients always willing to clean up. The shrink is on the ward every day the consutant you see once a week. STAFF in a English phyc ward of say 20 men and women mabye 2 or 3 , but there only there to over see trouble, there are like bouncers if it kicks off. Has for going in hospital for a med change WHY .a med change happens regular whats the big deal that you need to go in hospital , you get sicker before you get better that's the norm. I have taken a buddy to A-E WITH an overdose and there was 8 people scattered round a room who had overdosed. You carnt put every one in hospital for weeks you would have to build a new zoo every month. Plus don't forget some are crys for help we don't do cry,s for help in England. Do you no that MENTAL forums in England don't really exist , we don't get full meds use or care . BUT we seem to pull are self out of the deepest s*** on the planet with minimum help , a testament to the ENGLISH will power .

Yeah the consultant and registrars are there every day - so you can see them if needed, but generally they will see you 2-3 times a week if everythings going along smoothly.


Not everyone needs to go in - most dont. But some people react badly and have history of issues with med changes. Or maybe if a doctor wants to put a bipolar person on an anti depressant and that bipolar person has gone manic on them before, they will try them on them in a safe hospital setting.



No you cant - and we dont. Its a case by case basis - not a one size fits all, toss everyone out within a few days regardless of whether theyre ready or not.


Thats not an English thing. Thats a human thing.

I arguably went to hospital unnecessarily when I went through. Major depressive episode and my pdoc had to change my meds. But also just being away from life helped me significantly

I have to disagree on this one , we have no resources or backup . the meds are near all generic and after care is if you have life long depression, a 10 minute visit to a shrink every 6 months, miss your appointment and that's you finished, out the door gone ,we get a different shrink every time mostly students. If a med cost money we don't get it at hospital . I get escitaloram from GP citalopram is cheaper so that's what you get at hospital , I have been on both and Lexapro, escitalopram is far better.

Then it wasnt unnecessary