Mental Hospitals

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Let me ask everyone here: Whom here has spent some time at a mental hospital? How was it? What was it like? Did you come out better because of it?
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Me, I have not been in one. No offense to those who have done so, but I have done NOTHING to warrant me being there. I've seen some horror stories about it, and they make me shudder.

Go on, everyone, share your stories here.

I spent a few days in the hospital but not long term care, I didn't like it at all and I didn't come out better for it, I learned to avoid ever being put there again. I could see how it might benefit other people, but not me.

Agree.

I was put in one a few years ago for 2 weeks and everything about it was disgraceful. However it was an NHS run one in the UK so it could be different in the US. I'm still angry about it.

Why are you asking by the way?

I was there twice and it did not help me at all. I don't even know why I was there. I was never diagnosed or medicated. I was not a danger to myself or others.

A family court judge sent me for a 30 day evaluation for truancy, then I went to school at their day treatment program for a while, then I started skipping a lot so they put me back in for 2 weeks (and said it was because I weighed less than 110 pounds, I was 14 and not anorexic). Then I never went back and when I had to go back to family court they didn't want to take me back and I got sent to a different school for messed up kids.

I suppose it could have been worse. I was never medicated or restrained. One time they restrained my roommate who was 11 or 12 and broke her finger. It was pretty awful because that was the first time I was ever away from home and my mother. I had never even slept over a friend or relative's house.

I did like it better than when I was later in reform school because in the mental hospital there was more access to the phone and more unstructured free time to do what interests you had that were allowed. In reform school there was very limited phone access and a very strict schedule with no free time. My mother was allowed to visit me every day in the mental hospital too although I don't think they liked here coming every single day. The reform school only had visiting days twice a month.

It really depends on the circumstances that lead to your admission as to the kind of experience you are going to have.
Countless studies have shown that in all but severe cases of mental illness, community care is by far the best option.
If it is available you should go for and take advantage of any community care available to you, whether that is attending a clinic, workshops, community health centre, or home visits.

In my case I have previously been hospitalised - sectioned - when I was 17. If it had bee a few months later I would have been 18, and would not have been sectioned, but my parents decided they could not cope with my episode, and agreed to have me stay in hospital against my will.
I was traumatised, frightened, and medicated so strongly I was a zombie for the time I was there; it may have been 2 - 3 weeks, but it felt like a lifetime.
What's more when I was discharged I was still strongly medicated, and it took me quite some time to recover; the drugs were worse than the episode of ill health, as I was out of touch with reality more from the meds than the illness.

If you can avoid hospital, and seek assistance outside that environment do so; better to act soon and avoid a traumatic experience, than to feel you have had your liberty taken away.
By the same token, if hospital is the only available option for treatment, go, but don't wait to be sent there, go voluntarily so at least you will feel some sense of control of your situation.

I spent two months in a psych hospital for a suicide attempt.

I've been 4 times:

1st time was for rages associated with Asperger syndrome when I was 13. I was there for a week to a week and a half. I don't remember much of that time.

2nd time was for a psychotic episode--that we now know was psychotic--where I began engaging in very dangerous actions, which was attributed to schizotypal personality disorder, when I was 14. I was there in residential care for more than 6 months. I was restrained a couple times, placed in ICU (intensive care unit) where I was locked in my room by myself and had little opportunity to interact with others for about a month, and otherwise spent time in "bridges."

3rd time was last November, when I attempted suicide after escalating panic and rages over not having a clear path to sex reassignment surgery, which was attributed to bipolar disorder. I also experienced some psychotic symptoms. I was in there for 10 days.

4th time was last December, where after dealing with the traumatic experiences of severe akathisia (restless legs) due to medication, I had stopped the medication, and started becoming hyperreligious and according to my doctor my affect became constricted and my thoughts became loose/tangential; this was also attributed to bipolar disorder, though they did also consider schizoaffective disorder. I was there for 8 days.

Me, my memories are mostly positive. I guess it's because looking back I can see the why in each of my hospitalizations.

I've been in around 10 times since 13. They (most) were for psychotic episodes due to schizoaffective disorder. A few of the times were for depressive episodes with suicidal ideation. My autism is also getting worse. I hope I don't need to go in again. I'm wandering, hallucinating according to others and same with delusions but I don't believe them. Last time I was in which was April of this year when I first got in there I was depressed and I got out manic. So it didn't help. Getting up at 3 AM everyday wasn't good and one of those days I woke up everyone on the ward. That's mania for you. I was also psychotic and the hospital diagnosed me with something different than all my other doctors. Bipolar 1 with psychotic features. Most of the time the hospital doesn't do any good for me, in fact one of them made me more suicidal. That is when on my birthday when I was in there there were bullies targeting me. Nope not a delusion, they would call me names. Talk to their friends against me. I told the docs and instead of telling me that they will talk to the bullies, the doc said if I continue to act like this they will send me to the state hospital. It was because it was making me very suicidal and bringing flashbacks of how I was bullied in school and online. Last time I was in there for 2 weeks instead of my usual week because the doctor kept extending the stay and even wanted me to stay longer than the 2 weeks. He wanted to keep me forever.

I spent three and a half weeks in a psychiatric hospital for a suicide attempt. It was a terrible experience. The doctors were so quick to judge me based on the circumstances that landed me in that position that I wound up with a "diagnosis" of Borderline Personality Disorder the same day I was court-ordered in there. I was forced to take medication that left me in a practically catatonic state every time I had sensory disturbances (which was almost daily with all of the yelling and banging around the other patients did.) No one ever really listened to me; abnormal psychology being a special interest of mine at the time, I was almost certain that I didn't have Borderline, but are a bunch of doctors with their own agendas really going to listen to a twenty year old female about her personal opinions?

Like other people have said, I quickly learned how to prevent myself from ever going back. I had to visit my sister there numerous times, and each time, I thought the fear and anxiety would kill me.

I've been in the psych ward twice for feeling suicidal...can't say either time made me any better, though the last time was preferable because it was a nice place and I was able to go outside. Basically I stayed both times till I wasn't having suicidal thoughts. To be honest I am thinking of going back to one because I still feel like therapy doesn't do any good and no one cares and all that stupid stuff.

I was in the mental ward at the UCLA Hospital in Caifornia for 7 months (8/16/77-3/3/78) for a misdiagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia by Dr. John Michaelman, a former counselor for the criminally insane youth. What a disaster, and they overmedicated me with all kind of drugs (Navane, Thorazine, Elevil, Lithium, and cocktails thereof with countless other drugs to counteract the side effects. It was a horrible experience as I look back on it now, but at the time, I believed people who told me it was a good thing. It was all a terrible mistake, and I think it caused me lifelong consequences. Subsequently, 6 doctors (100% of whom I have come in contact with since 1978), have told me that in no way, under no circumstances, was I ever even on the border of paranoid schizophrenia. The misdiagnosis was due to my always answering questions about peer interaction with "other kids are out to get me, and they hide behind trees to jump out and hit me, and they follow me home from school, etc". I am sure that some of that could be construed as paranoia or imagining things, but sadly and frustratingly for me, it was all 100% fact! If it had not been for witnesses (some known, some strangers) telling my mother that they had "saved me" from mobs of bullies hiding in trees, the wrong diagnosis might have gone on longer than it did.

Long story short, I am sure that mental hospitals are a good thing WHEN APPROPRIATE FOR THE SITUATION, AND WHEN A CORRECT DIAGNOSIS AND SUITABLE TREATMENT is the plan.

Charles

The sounds eerily familiar. I never ended up in a mental hospital but did have constant pain as a child and teen. I now realize it was due to the overwhelming stress causing severe pain but nobody could seem to figure that out. I used to tell about how literally half the class was out to get me, the 6'4" kid and they were around every corner (because they were) and I'm sure if an "expert" caught wind of that I don't know what would have happened. NOBODY could believe a group of "smart kids" from apparently good homes could be so sadistic and cruel both mentally and physically and the biggest geek in school gave me a major concussion. To this day, I STILL think nobody, not even the person who did it realizes what he did and that I'm making it up or exaggerating. Good thing I never talked about my memories in what I suspect is a past life. These experts would have thought I was delusional for sure even though I later found out it's surprisingly common amongst children.

My mother stopped trusting doctors a bit when a well respected "expert" pediatrician said in his report I was a class clown who refused to cooperate and was difficult to work with. This about an Aspie kid who followed rules to the letter of the law and was practically a mute unless a special interest came up (which it didn't at this checkup).

Being in hospital made things worse for me before I got better. I overdosed in an attempt to kill myself. The food was good though. I've never had such good hospital food. I got along with the other patients and I kind of liked it for that reason.

After my attempt I was very irritable and my emotions went haywire. I came home and I was extremely irritable even after my discharge. I screamed at my father over nothing. He said nothing wrong but it enraged me. Eventually my mood stabilized and now I'm fine. I'm not sure whether or not I would've become stable without being in the hospital. It may or may not have had any impact on my recovery.

I've been in various psychiatric wards in various hospitals, a total of 14 separate times.

Oddly enough I found the secure unit a nicer place to be than the general psych ward; probably because the staff in the secure unit were much better at their jobs.

I've seen people being treated badly in psych wards, and some staff clearly need to go back to training. However there were staff that really helped me.

I haven't been in a psych ward for two years now, after getting sectioned four times in one year.

I'll type more later if you want; I am really tired atm.

I agree with who said "i learn to never be put there again".

State hospitals are the worst.

The private sector isn't as bad as the state ones.

I spent a couple weeks in one, I was apparently a possible danger to myself and in severe depression although I don't completely agree with the former. I was 9 years old and did not enjoy it much mainly for all the typical aspie issues and made a hobby of trying to escape through the coded doors and almost did, darn slow elevator! I did gain a special intrest though in the Simpsons TV program thanks to the older kids, we grathered around during free time to watch. I never understood the idea of a payphone in a childrens ward however thats all they had.

I never got to read the report or sit in on the private interviews so I don't know if anything of substance came from the observations other then I know I had yet to be diagnosed Aspergers at the time of going in.