T said "I'm "testing" him" ???

You should respond to his initial email asking him to clarify what he means, because it makes no sense whatsoever.

Hey kazzax you musta gotten my brainwave, I was just thinking about you!

Heya Hankster!

I did try. He responded that sometimes it's better not to respond to me. And that was that....

Yes a little. The cough isn't as bad. Thank you.

as of this AM, no beds......
I am trying to ground a lot. Tomorrow I babysit my grandson; that's the best grounding there is.

Hope a bed opens up soon. And so glad you'll spend some time with your grandson.

I don't know where you are from, but if you are from the States there is a wonderful place in Edmonds Washington called The Center. It is a partial hospital, they provide a place to stay but you also have freedom. It is a long term extensive treatment facility. By long term I mean anywhere from 4 to weeks. It is better then a psychiatric hospital and saved my life personally. Here is the link, you may look into it. This place is what a psychiatric hospital should be. They don't just focus on getting you stable, they actually work with you and get you on a right path to get better.
http://www.aplaceofhope.com/intensive_edmonds.html

anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks or longer if needed. sorry my post ate my words lol

I'm on the other side of the country, but thank you firefly. I couldn't justify going so far , spending so much, or leaving home for that long.

Hi everyone
I didn't really disappear.....I just got hospitalized and it was very bad. I'll have to fill you in later cause I'm about to crash. This week has been a nightmare;I felt like I was in prison.

Thank you for checking in, Calista. Keeping you in my thoughts.

we wondered where you had been. so glad to hear from you again♥♥♥

thinking about you....

The issue with my T is almost resolved (about him saying I was testing him) but my experience at the hospital that I usually go to was a nightmare. May trigger********
This used to be one of the best hospitals in the state. Now, it's nothing more than a minimum security prison. There is no help or healing to be done there. There are very high metal fences all alone the perimeter (because the wealthy town doesn't like the thought of a psych hospital being there. ) One cannot even walk around the once beautiful ,peaceful grounds any more. There are a series of gates or fences all connected, that you must pass through. The DOC (doctor on call) discontinued most of my meds after speaking tome for all of five minutes. I was in withdrawel all weekend. I caught him in numerous lies concerning the rules and why I wasn't getting my meds. The first day my husband came to visit, it was all changed. He had to go to a different building to get a pass to get in. Since the names for the units have changed since I was there last, he just said "adult unit". He was told by a nasty receptionist that he "must be one of those restraining order cases" since he didn't know the exact name of my unit or my room number. She refused to call the nursing station or give him the pay phone numbers(as these had changed also) She finally ended up telling him to leave or security would be called. He was told that she reported him to the CEO. We figured out the reason why the phone reception was so bad. They were tapped. They also had video cameras in the hallways (without warning us before hand) and all over the outside property. I had to be strip searched and a metal detector wand passed over me. For the smokers, there was one large cage to go into and a table to sit at.
When my outside T came to visit, he was shocked and saddened to see how far down this place had come. He used to work there until the 90's. I have never felt so unsafe and uncared for in my life. There seemed to be one fiasco after another but the hospital was very good at covering their butts. My husband called the CEO and human rights officer but they refused to speak to him.
I guess there are many changes in the mental health system but this is beyond horrible. I wish I had never gone inpatient. It was a waste of time. There's more to it than just these examples, but it's so painful to go into. Especially since one of the reasons I went inpatient was the anniversary of a rape that happened at that same hospital.

Calista, sorry to hear your hospital stay was such a nightmare. I'm surprised you would go back there after you had been raped there previously. That was a pretty strong sign that things there were greatly amiss.

One of the things you might do is investigate other hospitals in the area that have psychiatric programs. They aren't always free standing psychiatric hospitals. The one I use is part of a regular hospital which is run by a hospital system with a very good reputation. It only has about 30 beds. It is a locked unit partly because it is a dual diagnosis unit and partly because, as I have witnessed several times, some patients try to "escape" which would not be good for their own safety. But no fences, etc. I also have a strip search, although they are very careful to try to expose only one part of the skin at a time to preserve as much privacy as possible. The skin check is for any scars or bruising or needle marks that they record as documentation in case something happens during your stay such as SI or suicide attempts, etc. There is no cavity search. They do use a metal detector on your clothing and shoes to check for anything that could be used to self harm or for needles (remember this is a dual diagnosis unit). There are reasons for some of these procedures they use that while they may not pertain to us personally, they do serve a purpose for safety and security on the ward. But your hospital sounds like it has lost all focus on compassionate treatment. You know what you need in that kind of treatment, so while you can, check around for other hospitals that have more of the type of care you would like to see. So sorry it was such a bad experience for you.

Chris at that time, they had a much better hospital, though the privilege system was flawed. It was another patient who did it. The system was changed and I felt safe again.

Does anyone have advice or experience on filing charges against a hospital? I know it's a big deal and most likely won't work. I have to do something.

I think you should start a new thread with this. It is a good question, and I have some experience with it.

Calista, I'm so sorry that this happened to you.

You certainly do not have to explain to anyone, or justify why you went back into that hospital. Jeez. Enough already with the "support" people. It's coming across as blame... As I recall you had some problems getting a bed anywhere. You had every right to expect that things had changed.

Really people, really?

Bottom line, I'm very very sorry that this place has turned out to be so awful. I wish you luck with your complaint and potential lawsuit.

Elliemay, I wasn't being unsupportive. I was simply trying to understand the situation. Perhaps you knew all the background, but I didn't and was just inquiring to figure out how long the hospital had been so awful. If you read criticism in my post, that is all on you. Scold someone else.

Elliemay, thank you but it's ok. It was a legit question, and maybe needed to be answered. Silly thing is, when I was raped, the hospital was in wonderful shape, EXCEPT for the priv's. That part wasn't safe at all. They fixed that soon after. Now their issue is ...God I don't know what their issue is, but the hospital is falling and falling fast. It's the only safe place I knew.

Chris, thank you. I know I was being perfectly obscure. It's fine to ask me anything.

I don't think there will be any complaint or lawsuit. I don't have the money or the stomach for it. It will be me against the" BIG hospital" and we all know how that works.
I knew some things had changed at that hospital;some for the better, some worse. I had no idea it was like it was, however. I hope it gets shut down, as sad as that is to me.

I know you asked about maybe reporting them. You can certainly do that, without pulling out a whole lawsuit. At the Office for Civil Rights. Health and human services. http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/

On the left hand side it says "how to file a complaint".

I'm very very happy to hear that you didn't have a problem with the question, once it clarified as one.

I'm so very sorry about your experience and hope you find healing from it, however, you decide to go about it.