the cuckoos nest

i just read docjohns blog thingamabob on the cuckoos nest hospital place in oregon i dont know the proper name for it but yeah.
i always had my doubts of mental institutions. my aunt worked in one for a period and said they were horrible places. and a few aspects in this article made me worry like hell.
my mates here will probably know that there is someone we love who is in a mental hospital. and i dont like it. i didnt like it before.
ugh lol im just worried sorry.

(((selfy))))
never feel bad for worrying about other ppl
means you care
your a good person
take care of you
muffy

My Alevel psych teacher used to work in one as a nurse.. and she didn't have anything good to say about them either.

At least it is safe there, that is the main thing.

Can honestly say I enjoyed my stay in one, I have been back as well and would recomend it.

I went inpatient in a psych hospital for 7 weeks last summer and while I can't say I loved it, I did receive excellent care and it was what I needed. If I ever got as depressed as I was then, I would definitely go back. But the particular hospital I was in is a WHO Centre of Excellence in Mental Health and I was in a specialized program for women with severe mood disorders and a trauma history.

All of the nurses were very caring and competent and I could talk to my assigned nurse at almost any time. I got to see my pdoc almost every day which was helpful as we were adjusting my meds. I was super lucky though in that my hospital pdoc was also my regular pdoc as she's clinical director of the unit I was in.

We had lots of group therapy, we got to go to a gym if you wanted 3 times a week, there was a therapy dog who came and visited once a week. Even rec therapy was pretty good. I learned to knit when I was in.

The only thing I didn't like was being checked on by the nurses every hour, or when the unit was locked down. Otherwise, since I was inpatient voluntarily I could pretty much sign myself out whenever I wanted to go for coffee or for walks, and they let me leave in the evenings so that I could go to my AA meetings.

Then after I was discharged they had a really good transition back to the community program, for 8 weeks, where I went back for some group therapy a few times a week, and met with a nurse and a pdoc to talk about how my goals of getting back to my life were going.

They also run all kinds of different short term intensive outpatient therapy programs - like they've just started a SAFE program for self harm, and they have a CBT group.

So I think it's a really good hospital with great staff and programs. Not all psych hospitals are horrible.

---splitimage

I have to agree with splitimage.....not all psych hospitals are horrible.....heaven knows, I have seem myshare of all different ones & from involuntary stays to voluntary. I have been in psych wards that are part of medical hospitals to specalized psych hospitals to an eating disorders treatment center.

I had never known anything about them until I was 42 & depression hit after I lost my career. The first time I was put into a psych hospital was after an OD, so it wasn't a good experience that time, but it was in a small local hospital where my own pdoc practiced. They also had a good outpatient program. Then my insurance got involved in saying where I could & couldn't go.....ended up in UCLA's psych hospital & thought I was going to really freak out........I had an anxiety attack so bad that they allowed me to sleep in the TV area. Then the stupid insurance ended up forcing me to go to a hospital almost 100 miles away from home because they wouldn't cover the psych ward in the local hospital. The experiences when I was in the closed unit after OD's were probably the worst experiences of all.......but as time passed, so did those feelings.

The last experience was right after my Mother died.....my Pdoc knew I was sick & the only part of the hospital he could put me in was a psych ward until my medical doctor realized how medically sick I really was.

I found the hospitals that specialized in mental health that were private were much better than most of the psych wards within the hospitals.......sadly, it's usually up to your own pdoc to have the contacts with the good care facilities. No matter what, I know when I was really feeling bad, the hospital was a safe place most of the time......the only time it wasn't for me was a situation where I wasn't feeling any better when they released me than when I came in......needless to say, what happened then, changed hospital policy big time.

I can truely say that most of the people working in the hospitals really cared & gave good treatment....some of the pdocs I ended up seeing left a lot to be desired but the rest of the care was good & it was a good time to be away from what it was that was causing the depression.
Debbie

aww... my poor dot dot dot. It's a healthy thing that you have concern for your friend.

many hugs sugar pie

btw.. i am loving your sig picture

I gotta love your dot sign! Of course... I probably overuse the ellipsis myself TC!

Anyone see the video on the news from an actual hospital mental health unit where a lady laid on the floor for an hour dying? It was from the hospital's cameras they use on the units. I think it was in Pittsburg. Made me think twice.

I have to say my sister spent 3 or 4 days in one
she was helped very much
with out I know she would not be here
she had been a drinker since age 14
and had done coke for 7 years.
It was her only answer at that point.
As she was at the end of her rope.
With out it i am not sure she would be here
muffy

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Angel_of_the_Past said:
Anyone see the video on the news from an actual hospital mental health unit where a lady laid on the floor for an hour dying? It was from the hospital's cameras they use on the units. I think it was in Pittsburg. Made me think twice.

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Yeah I saw it, made me think more than twice.... I refuse to go back...my pdoc keeps trying to get me too, but I'd rather ride out the storm at home...

TJ

I saw it too. That was awful. The majority of time mental ill patients are not properly cared for. We denefitely need better, improved facilities with caring, decent, respectful, properly trained personnel. I will avoid going to hospitals unless absolute emergency. I, too rather stay at home and weather it out.