what is being in a psych ward/hospital like?

I have a few questions about psych wards...

What is it like being in a mental ward/hospital?
how mentally ill (depressed,suicidal,anxious,manic,psychotic etc) would you have to be to go to a psych ward?
do they still use padded cells?
do they forcibly inject you with medication?
can they lock people in psych hospitals forever?
do they take your stuff (phone etc) off you?
what are the other patients like?
what do you do while your in the psych ward?
do psych wards actually help?
do they keep the forensic patients in the same psych ward as "normal" mental health patients?

I've been to 3, so I'm sure there will be others who can answer with more experience, but I'll give a few answers based on my experience.

As far as how mentally ill you have to be to be admitted, I think it depends on if you're voluntarily admitting yourself or being involuntarily admitted. From what I understand it's difficult to get involuntarily admitted unless you are truly suicidal or homicidal. If one wants to admit himself/herself because one feels like he/she need to be there, it's seemed to me that mental health professionals are usually open to working with that option to help someone improve.

Once I was locked in a room for many hours by myself upon admission while they were waiting for a bed for me, but I don't think it was padded. I honestly can't remember. There was nothing in it except a bed, though, and that was pretty horrible.

What you do inpatient depends on the place, as well. I think most places have individual therapy sessions and/or group sessions that go on throughout the day, and of course there are meals. A lot of times people just sleep in between these activities. Especially if you're on new drugs, at least in my experience, it can make you really sleepy. Some places have activities like board games, pet therapy, and group activities planned for fun. Other places just have a big, boring room with a TV.

According to my experience, they can forcibly inject you with medication. I got too worked up about something and they wanted to calm me down. I don't know if they do in other cases or what reasons they would have. They didn't force me to take my oral medications, though.

Some places allow you to keep your phone and others don't.

The experience of being around other patients will vary. Sometimes they're friendly, sometimes they're not. Some scream or moan and cause a lot of commotion but a lot of the time it's quiet and there's none of that going on.

I didn't feel that my psych stays helped me, but my medical paperwork says I improved, so it's possible that my treatment team saw improvements I couldn't see at the time.

Hope that perspective helps a little…

There's a lengthy but most excellent thread here, with a whole variety of knowledge and advice from PC members who've also been: How to survive a psychiatric ward. I have it bookmarked just in case I ever need it!

I've only been to one and only for a few hours. It was more of an intake/waiting ward I suppose but the door was locked. It all seemed very strange to me but others there seemed comfy enough.

I spent a couple of days in a psych ward, nothing serious though. I was only in for "suicidal ideation" (really, self-harm ideation, but they consider them one and the same), so I probably didn't see the half of it.

I think one of the biggest factors is how much of a danger you are to yourself or others. Implying you're suicidal is basically a ticket in there. Violence is probably also a way in, though you'd most likely be in jail first if said violence was against others.

Real psych hospitals might, I think I hears something online about "rubber rooms" or something. Again, that's only for truly violent, dangerous patients.

Pretty sure that's illegal now.

According to the internet, no. My mom;s been threatening to have me locked away for life but supposedly, that cannot be done unless it's a psychiatric criminal facility. But for someone who's merely depressed, functionally schizophrenic, etc...probably not.

Oh yes. Everything gets taken, documented, and put under lock and key. I wore the same underwear and hospital gown for the 2-3 days of my stay.

That depends entirely on where you are. When I was in I was the youngest person there by far. There was one old woman who used to yell a lot, but mostly people just lolled around, chatted occasionally. There was another individual who was terribly argumentative and scared the hell out of me, but this was just my experience. I didn't really talk to anyone personally.

I don't know because I wasn't there for long: and there wasn't much to do except eat, watch TV, sleep, and read from a pitiful collection of books. There was also therapy options, but I didn't care much for those.

Once again, how much they help depends on the person and the place. My brief stay was useless, I'm actually worse now, I think.

As to forensic patients vs. normal ones - I would guess the two are kept separate. There's no reason otherwise.

>I was in the psych ward once and It wasn't as bad as it could have been.
Depressed/suicidal
>they just gave me a pill. Zyprexa. and 3 Klonopin a day.
>They had, I'm guessing a room/padded cell where I heard screams coming from but I think you are only put in for, well you know.
>They CAN inject you, and Will ONLY if needed.
>I was in for 7 days. When the visit with the doc came He wanted another 7 days but I got out because I had a psych appointment. and felt a lot better from all that rest.
I committed myself which is much easier to get out sooner rather than being committed by police, family, etc.
>They took everything and locked it up. I could wear my pajamas. NO DRAWSTRINGS, or anything on you that you could potentially hurt yourself with.
>The patients I roomed with were surprisingly very quiet. Although, walking down the hall, or being in group therapy, craft class, especially the lunch room, Which I did not stay in. They had coffee though!
>I didn't do much. The "library" was pretty limited. I think I read the Tim Allen book. And slept.
>For me, The Zyprexa was amazing because I was cloudy and tired, until I got used to it. But being in there isn't fun. but necessary. I may have to go back soon which I am not happy about.
>The only people I met were the mentally ill and Addicts. One was definitely shipped from a prison. I walked by his room while he shat right in front of me. Worst smell ever.

That's my personal experience. I've heard there is much worse and much better.

To me, it felt like jail without the rigors. Everyone wasn't there to beat up the guards, it was co-ed, and we had a t.v, group, and got to wear our own clothes. We couldn't leave (I was under commitment), had lights out, but could roam the halls in our socks or shoelaceless shoes.

Once was enough for the experience, but never again.

Your stuff is locked up. Good luck accessing it. If you bring in clothes or bags or whatever, everything will be searched. Anything like a razor or scissors, or anything made of glass will be locked away from you. No cords or shoelaces.

They don't still use padded cells. Now they are called "quiet rooms". They have plaster, thick walls and a mat on the floor. The door stays open unless you are violent or threatening.

Other patients have problems just like you. Some worse, some not so bad. Some are rich, some are poor. Some are really scary and others are super kind, awesome people..best you'll ever meet. More trustworthy and helpful than some of the staff, to be honest. Some keep to themselves and others are annoying.

Forensic patients are kept on forensic units and/or long term residential facilities. Typically patients not waiting for court are admitted for a week or two on a crisis stabilization unit.

They can forcibly inject you if you are violent, threatening, self-injurious, or refuse to take your meds. If you refuse meds, you have to go to an administrative hearing where the psychiatrist will convince an administrative law judge that your refusal of meds is a form of self-harm, because mental illness untreated is toxic to the brain. If the judge rules in favor of the psychiatrist, the staff can forcibly hold you down and inject you if you continue to refuse oral meds.

Let's see.. Rounds are every 30 minutes, where a staff member walks around with a list and writes each patients whereabouts on the unit. unless you are in the quiet room. Often they have a video camera on the ceiling and do a walk-by every 15 minutes if you are in the quiet room.

If you get really out of control and they lock the door to the quiet room, you're now in locked door seclusion. Start banging on the door or other sorts of violent behaviors and they'll come in really fast and put you in restraints on a restraint bed. If that happens a staff member will be within arms reach until you are let out of restraints. If you are totally calm in restraints, you'll probably be let out of them the next day.

There are groups and treatment team meetings. In the mornings and evenings there is a community group. Medication time happens twice a day.. Everyone lines up in front of the nurses station or med window. You say your name, they check your wristband, and they give you your prescribed meds in a little cup with another cup of water or juice to wash it down. There is usually a TV with really old VHS tapes or DVDs, maybe cable, but usually a few patients take control of it and you feel intimidated to ask them to change it.

You'll be assigned a staff member each day and you'll talk with them. Some are genuinely there to try and help, others are there for a paycheck. Meals are brought on large carts and everyone gets their own tray. No smoking inside by the way, and most facilities are smoke free even outdoors.

What is it like being in a mental ward/hospital?
how mentally ill (depressed,suicidal,anxious,manic,psychotic etc) would you have to be to go to a psych ward?
Either a danger to yourself or unable to care for yourself.
do they still use padded cells?
Not padded, just an empty room with a locked door. Not all facilities still use seclusion rooms.
do they forcibly inject you with medication?
In my country they can't.
can they lock people in psych hospitals forever?
Not generally.
do they take your stuff (phone etc) off you?
In one hospital I could keep everything; in another you had to hand in your phone and laptop at night, and some teens (it was a teen hospital) could only have their phone/ipad during certain hours or a certain number of hours a day.
I've always been allowed to keep my shoelaces and stuff with strings.
what are the other patients like?
Some are nice, some not so.
what do you do while your in the psych ward?
Sleeping, reading, writing.
do psych wards actually help?
Not in my case, but it has helped a lot of other people.
do they keep the forensic patients in the same psych ward as "normal" mental health patients?
Not really. However, there's an 'exception' for those who have been committed by the judge after a minor crime (such as dealing drugs) if they commited the crime because of a mental illness. But not murderers, rapists and such.

I'm talking about the teen hospital here.