Psych Wards (Trigger)

How many people have had good or bad experiences At a psych ward/hospital?

I have never been in one myself, but I am deathly afraid of them. I had a meltdown on chat tonight about how my girlfriend was treated and how I am deathly afraid of them. So I am very curious of how many good or bad experiences. I apologize if this triggers someone or is in the wrong category.

I have gone inpatient quite a few times, always at the same hospital, and it has always been a positive experience (if you can call having to go inpatient "positive"). My personal pdoc happens to be the director of mental health services at the hospital, so I continue under his care when I go inpatient which is an ideal situation for continuity of care for me.

This particular hospital is staffed by very caring nurses, social workers, and psychiatric techs. It is a safe and supportive environment. It was a place where I could stay safe, get stabilized medically and mentally, and I always left in a much better space that when I entered.

Is every hospital created equally? Absolutely not, but there ARE good hospitals out there.

lolagrace thanks for you input.

havent been to psych ward, only inpatient for a night at the general hospital a few times after panic attacks/su attempts. the nurses and doctors didnt really seem to know what to do, so i lied about being absolutely fine and they gratefully sent me home. i hate hospitals, really fking hate them - like i would literally rather move countries than go to a hospital again. staying out of them for the rest of my life.

I have been inpatient several times at a few different hospitals. I went voluntarily. They were mostly good experiences. My PrevT who is a Ph.D., had hospital privileges and admitted me the last three or four times. I was treated well there.

I have only been to a psych ward once. I guess you can say it was positive. They didn't do much for any of us in there though. I sat there and basically waited for the next meal because that was the most exciting part of the day. I also drew a lot of pictures too. There was one patient who should've been in a more intensive psych ward though. The staff did not treat him that well. Basically they treated him like an animal. It was sad to see.

I think a good hospital is invaluable for treating people who are going to harm themselves, or others, if not in an environment equipped to look after them and prevent them from doing so. But beyond that, from what I've seen (through friends being admitted, not myself) they can't do much. Just a holding ground to wait it out until meds kick in or an episode passes, really.

The two state run hospitals I visited gave me the creeps, they were absolutely awful. Grey, grim surroundings years out of date. Loads of patients, big group wards, people taking my friend's things and waking her up in the night with screaming. The private facility was slightly more cheerful because it was more like a hotel, and she had a semi private room which was much better. Though the friend who had been in both preferred the state place, perhaps simply because it was closer to home so we could all visit more often.

This is very true. I think some people don't realize that most psychiatric hospitals anymore are acute care stabilization units, and instead, expect them to be more than what they are really designed for. The average stay at the hospital where I go is 3-4 days only. Just long enough to evaluate the patient, be sure they will be safe when discharged, set up outpatient contact with a pdoc and therapist, and start meds. The long-term care is expected to happen outpatient. Many of the patients are there are dual-diagnosis patients, meaning they have chemical dependency issues, and have been admitted because they abused alcohol or a med and are being monitored for a quick detox before outpatient treatment. They are usually discharged pretty quickly. The straight psychiatric patients such as myself stay more in the range of 5-7 days.

That said, my hospital stays have always generally been 8-12 days as my own pdoc cares for me, knows quite intimately how I am doing and what I need, and is very cautious with his care for me. That hospital does have a schedule of classes and groups that you can attend: generally psychoeducational-type groups, skills groups -- not actual therapy groups. Some are really good; others not so much. Obviously, not every group will meet every patient's needs, so you learn to pick and choose what applies to you. It can be very boring; I spend a lot of time doing word puzzles or reading, and getting to know other patients who are generally pretty nice individuals. There are always a few patients who are in pretty severe condition; you just learn to stay clear. But most patients are just like me -- people who are struggling with depression or anxiety or bipolar, etc. who live pretty "normal" lives most of the time but are currently in a bad spot.

Don't go into an acute care psychiatric hospital expected much more than that. Actual therapy is unusual; they generally aren't set up for that. They are set up to keep you safe long enough to establish with an outpatient therapist and pdoc; they aren't going to do intensive individual therapy with you inpatient. There are long-term facilities out there, but they are much less common, highly expensive generally, and rarely covered by insurance. My pdoc wanted me to go to one that is a good long-term facility, but financially, there was just no way to manage it as insurance wouldn't have covered it.

Honestly, I had a terrible experience, primarily because I was treated so condescendingly. The first time I was in, the nurse kept giving me my night meds (at the time ativan for anxiety) during the day. I couldn't figure out why I was so tired. Then the nurse would come in and chastise me for not participating. Finally figured it out myself (because they don't give you the effing bottles so I'm looking at pills I'd only taken a short while trying to remember what they look like).

The second time I went in, the doctor was an idiot (totally judging that guy). I'd been switched to another med and it was dropping my blood pressure. Even the nurses noticed it in the morning. I told him this was happening. He upped it without even having a conversation with me. So I refused to take it (which then got me chastised for refusing medication).

Later when I got a good T, he said I probably didn't need to be put inpatient. My other T at the time convinced my husband and friends that I needed it. This was about six years ago.

It was just... humiliating. And, at the time, my first born was almost two and I missed him so much I spent the whole day sobbing. They'd be like, "Oh why are you sad?" and I was like, "Because I can't see my baby boy you morons." (except I was polite about it, but that's how I was thinking it).

The only reason I'm terrified of inpatient now though is because of the bill :P That being said, I will avoid inpatient at all costs, not just because of the bill but because I hate being treated like I'm stupid. I felt patronized and honestly, it didn't do me a single bit of good. Even my T doesn't think a hospital could help me. He's told me he's only come close once to thinking he might have to and he really worked hard to talk me down.

The hospital I go to is pretty nice. There are lots of groups but when I have ECT I don't want to participate and they don't force me. My doctor has another doctor stand in for him and that doc is very nice. Like Lola said, it's just for short-term crisis stabilization. The only problem I had was when they tried to give me a blood pressure med for anxiety and it lowered my blood pressure so much that I actually fainted at the nurses' desk. They took that very seriously though and asked me to stay another day (it was my last day on the unit).

Thank you for all the info so far. Has anyone been over drugged or forced to do things that they did not want like taking medications, ECT, or group stuff?

I've never been forced to do anything while in the hospital. ECT can only be done with informed consent in my state, but I have had ECT voluntarily and it worked well for me. All groups were voluntary. They do try to persuade you to attend as isolating isn't terribly conducive to improved functioning, but they don't force you. Not at my hospital anyway. The only time I ever witnessed any type of restraint was on patients who lost control and became dangerous to themselves or others. Even then, they used the least restraint possible. There was a quiet room where they recovered, but they were never left alone, the door wasn't locked, nor were they kept in the quiet room more than an hour or so. That was a fairly rare occurrence.

The only time medications are forced is if the patient is an at that moment a danger to themselves or others (throwing things, causing self harm, etc) and the patient refuses any medications. In which case the doctor can declare a psych emergency. It is used as a last resort. In that case the patient is give the choice to take the psych medications orally or they are given an IM. Again it is used as a last resort and if we can't calm the patient down with seclusion, redirection, etc.

This one is a trigger for me
This is my own experience

They lock you up in a unit
Body search / room search ( whenever they feel like it )
Roommate dose sexual acts
If you have an outburst they throw you in the carpet room and tie you down on a bed

Nature1968 I am sorry this was a trigger for you I did use the trigger icon. I hope your doing okay and have recovered from what this thread had done to you. hugs and i hope your day is great.

lolagrace and nottrustin thanks for the information.

In my experience participation in groups can be "forced" because if you have insurance they can refuse to pay if they consider you to not be compliant. I have also seen medications forced on patients.

Yes I know you used a trigger icon and not upset with you I just have really bad flashbacks about it when I was there .
But I wanted to tell my story - Thank u

I personally never encountered insurance requiring me to attend groups. The only thing I ever was aware of with insurance is that if you choose to leave the hospital AMA (against medical advice) insurance might choose not to pay, but that goes for any medical admission, not just psychiatric. I've never "tested" it out though to know how insurance would handle such a thing. I certainly didn't attend all classes. In fact, I know my son refused to attend any classes the times he was admitted. Insurance never balked at that.

I've seen patients refuse to take meds. Meds were not forced on them. I do believe they were worked with to get them to take their meds and eventually they did, but not forced. After all, if you are in such poor condition that you require hospitalization for psychiatric illness, most likely you need to take some meds, at least temporarily, in order to get out of the state you are in. Generally the people who were refusing meds were quite honestly the most severe patients on the floor.

You know, it wasn't a bad place to be really because I could be professionally watched while trying meds and I was having delusions. It was safer for me and my family to be there. That said, I was paranoid, so for the first several days it seemed like a bad place. Being around other people who are so unstable is not helpful when you're paranoid. Also, they judge eachother - for example, some of them would comment about "the schizophrenic woman" to me, not realizing I was having delusions and hallucinations as well and could've very well been schizophrenic. I just thought, that could've been me in a couple more days.

In the end though, I'm very lucky I was able to go in for a couple weeks twice now, although obviously I wish I didn't need that help in the first place.

In my state, clients of mine who don't take the drugs are then placed on involuntary holds and after a court hearing will be civilly committed for about a month (the statute gives the time frames) during which they are forced to take them. ECT can only be given with the person's consent or after an evidentiary hearing (where attys like me represent them) and court order. I have found it depends upon the hospital/staff as to how quickly the situation is escalated. The laws in terms of timing and extent vary from state to state and the treatment of my clients is very facility/staff variable.

Hospitals here can also apply with the courts to give medications against the patients will in extreme circumstances. However, it is not something our hospital does. I can take months for the court hearing. We are a short term acute hospital and it would take to long. We have on few occasions transferred patients to the state hospital that is more long term and will apply to the courts.

In my jurisdiction, the hearings happen very quickly- it is set by statute and must take place within a couple of days of someone being made involuntary or they must be released from the hospital unless they voluntarily agree to stay.

I was simply talking about MY personal experiences which is what the OP was asking for.

I have been in several different hospitals several different times and I have seen patients forced to take medications, not very often, but it has happened. I was also told by staff that if I didn't participate in groups insurance might refuse to pay. Maybe this is something they tell people to get them to go to the groups, but I didn't want to take the chance of insurance not paying because treatment is so expensive. I'm not saying my experiences were horrible, but I have seen these things.

If patients are involuntary does that mean they can automatically can give medications. Here we have the involuntary procedures to be admitted. Those hearing must be held within 2 weeks times unless there is a delay on the courts part. I am usually involved with the hearings as the recorder and they can be quite interesting.

The hearings for involuntary administering medications is something totally different and requires a much longer process.