What's it like in a group home/institution?

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I was in a psychiatric hospital for a week, shortly after my 20th birthday.

It basically consisted of a support group, a dining room, and beds/bathrooms.

I was in a mental hospital for a few days, and it wasn't that bad since there was a lounge with couches, a TV, and a table. Most of the time was spent in group therapy, often in a different room, but the lounge was also used. They did have smoking breaks outside, as several people were smokers.

The follow-up thing where they had therapy sessions during the day was easier because you could go outside for lunch, or even go to a nearby restaurant if you wanted to, but the food wasn't too bad at all.

That sounded like my hospital.

Fnord, you write beautifully.

I never was in psychiatry, but in a stationary psychotherapy.

The rooms, we had were 2 living rooms a kitchen, a terrace in front of the kitchen (we always seemed to spend time there in the evening) and of course our rooms, which had one or two beds. There was a special order by which you are expected to occupy them: the newcomers got rooms with 2 beds on the first floor, those non-newbs one-bed-rooms on the 1st floor and those, who will leave in the next 2 weeks get rooms on the ground floor. Yes, this means that you have to change rooms 2 times during your stay.

The worst thing is not being able to set your own time schedules, not being able to get away. How you spend your time is strictly scheduled, but the trouble was that I'm not the quickest person out there. I always had time issues, never got things done quick enough. The rhythm was too unpredictable however to set up routines for me. Also, I never was a morning person and had serious issues adapting to their time plan, Actually, I never really made it.

The colors were neutral, much white and gray and brown. Except for in the kitchen. It had yellow walls. The smell was always that of cleaning agents and the nature outside. Except before dinner time, then it smelled of the food we prepared. (We prepared breakfast and dinner ourselves and had to go shopping for these things).

The people were very understanding. WE all were 'strange' but none of us was medicated so much that he was completely out of touch with reality. I often got in trouble for my metaphors. I remember that I once called my panic attacks my demons and people thought that I really was possessed.

You guys are describing some childhood night terrors. I lived in fear for years that someone was going to come and turf me out of my room and lock me up, pump pills into me. I am thankful that I grew up and learnt to adapt in the most part. I could not sleep before reading this, and I certainly think a walk is in order now. I am going to the park swings. Goodnight and I hope you are all living happily at the moment. Appologies if I am choosing the wrong words, the sentement is there, just not translating efficiently at the moment.

I think there is a need for mental hospitals. If you are desperate to kill yourself or you are convinced somebody is trying to kill you (when they aren't) or you're so anxious you can't move... there has to be someplace where you can go and people can make sure you don't get hurt. But why do they have to be such condescending, imprisoning places? Can't you just be a person with a problem, instead of some kind of annoying thing that gets in the way of the staff's salaries? How come, if you have a problem with your liver, everybody sends you flowers; but if you have a problem with your brain, they treat you like a kid? Granted, the doctors will pretty much assume you know nothing even if it's just your liver; but it's way worse when it's psychiatric or neurological. It's like you're not even the same kind of human that they are.

At least I never had the feeling that I was treated as an annoying thing. The staff genuinely cared. They would sometimes sit with the patients in the evening and just chat. Or tell stories of their years at the station. My family and friends were fortunately very helpful as well. My BF called me every evening and we spent the 15 minutes we had together (he could not come because he lives in another country and yes, there was a 15 minute limit for calls because there was just one phone for the patients).

I forgot to mention one odd fact: you lose your name as soon as you leave, at least for those remaining. A completely fictional example A Stefan Ling from Munich would become S.L. (and if you wanted to be exact S.L. from M.) in the conversations of the station.

Yes, there are actually places like that, but few and far between. One thing they often have in common is not being as medicalized, imprisoning, or punitive, and very different than usual power structures. Plus there's the odd actual mental hospital that somehow manages to escape being too awful. But one thing that doesn't work is essentially recreating the same structure and expecting any but a minority of cases to turn out different.

I'll speak of my stay some more, just to add a personal anecdote:

Meals were on time each day, and I could request the same meal each day (toasted sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner); I ate in my room (I was the only person who did, I was informed)
The nurses were...just there, and who brought the drugs around if one forgot to go to the handout station (which I did every day); I also got ear plugs and Valium from them at their station when needed
The psychos and psychics were of the standard fair (I'd like to see some of the notes they have on me, actually; this was all pre-ASD); you saw one every second day or so for 15 or so minutes after the initial hour long sessions to begin with
They had the usual group stuff and associated activities daily (group "therapy" for the social crowd, Tai Chi, card games, and whatnot); I avoided it all, obviously
As I said, they had some ok books
Most of the people there were for anxiety/mood/substance abuse disorders (ADD too), a few with dementia/schizophrenia were there long-term; most of them talked too much, so I usually went and found a tree to sit under when I felt like light
As I said, I could go out during the day whenever I wanted to (I wasn't a danger to myself or anyone else, after all), but like here, I chose not to

Ma came up every day to say hello and bring me stuff (lollies, bottled water, etcetera), and she also stayed with me for the first week for much of the day so I could sleep (I'm not good at sleeping in places I'm unfamiliar with); it wasn't needed for the other few weeks.

It was a private hospital, paid for by medical insurance; and as I said before, if it wasn't for my mother, I could have been a long-term "patient" of said place and it wouldn't have bothered me. I'd much rather just a small room than a home for myself, and there's no way in hell I could live in a group home.

Callista wrote:

To which anbuend replied: .
One place which I believe is like that is The Retreat, a mental hospital in York, England which is based on Quaker values: http://www.theretreatyork.org.uk . Here is its statement of purpose and values: http://www.theretreatyork.org.uk/aboutt ... php?ref=40 .

I've actually, from what I've read, been very wary of The Retreat. It's too close to my worst institution nightmares - where control is subtly hidden, and shifted, rather than eliminated. And hidden all the more for people believing they are not engaging in it, or possibly even not capable of engaging in it.

All reports I hear of it make it a point of extreme pride among Quakers, and I find that alarming as well, and potentially full of do-gooderism. When everything people say about a place is too good in a certain specific way, it often means the opposite.

I have also read reports of the way people are treated there, and it sounds again like transferring the locks and shackles from the doors and beds to inside of people's minds. The fact that they were heavily influenced by Pinel only enhances that suspicion. And very little that I can see differentiates them from a number of other mental institutions, aside from the fact they think they're different. Statements of values are not a good place to find out what an institution is actually like. It also has pretty much none of the qualities I've seen in places that actually seem to work the best.

In all, it reminds me of a video I saw that differentiated the story told by psychiatry as opposed to the stories told by ex-patients. And this place reminds me primarily of the stories told by psychiatry.

Thank you, although my "First, You Cry" post is actually a severely condensed version of an essay I wrote about a dozen years ago. It brought back a flood of memories...

Case in point:
www.pcci.edu

Clue: It's a cult.

yeah, ive had the same thing happen to me not only in the mental place, but also outside of it, except they more viewed me as a dangerous criminal ready to explode at any moment _-_ it got worse in 7th grade when i started making my own decisions on how i dressed and what i listened to. i looked like a 'goth', and still do in some ways, but i never try to follow a stereotype. i just happened to have developed a fascination with dark colors XD and i had always like the metal genre of music (cause it was what mom listened to) and so both the teacher and the police people who patrolled the school watched me closely o_o like they thought i was gonna busdt out with a knife and start shanking everyone suddenly with no reason or something. gets kind of annoying, but thats just because their facial expressions while looking at me irked me. im easily annoyed by peoples faces, regardless of my reasons or their reasons o_O i cant explain it. but anywas.

Oh, yeah, I think either one of my teachers or someone they knew had gone there a little bit, but then noticed how everyone was emphasizing a certain guy's book like it was the Bible itself, and started to notice that something was really not right, and got out.