I really hope everyone is doing okay
I’m sorry I can’t make out words to say right now to everyone’s posts but I am so grateful for them. I’m currently hearing a different voice or similar voices in response to everything I think especially when I’m in a good mood it just gets taken right away by the thought responders… I’m strong because I’ve been enduring this suffering for so long . I’m considering taking the max dose of Latuda when my mom comes back with my car… I was on that dose a year ago anyway… if people don’t get it imagine being on the phone with someone and the volume is slightly low you’re ttying to make out what they’re saying and then others are like they’re just right outside my window talking to me and everything they say is a command or something negative or something for my self improvement…I can’t take it anymore I’m constantly talking out loud to hear my own voice and trust it and clear things up as I go on hearing myself when I’m judged. I can’t not talk out loud now… if I don’t I get judged so harshly and hear it from people all around town . I hope none of you are government officials or lawyers trying to sue me and worse like others are saying. Sometimes I’m also responding to the voices and on top of this I’m moving. I’m pregnant & know I must give the baby up for adoption at this point…barely getting along with my mom. My dads a veteran and I accompanied him to the VA hospital yesterday for peripheral neuropathy pain management counsult…him and I got upset with each other too …there’s no one I can trust… my previous leasing company is lying to me and don’t believe my hardships for moving out. They’re trying to make me pay them a whole month rent when they just emailed me saying someone rented my apt and I only owed a week… the rent is 75% of my income. My mom and I are getting into everyday silent battles concerning food and I encourage her to talk and I ask a lot of questions and assume, but it always seems like she just won’t be honest with me. I have to eat or I’ll get heartburn and the baby will be tumbling and kick all around my belly. I’m tired. I really can’t
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Tell that to the woman who I met in the hospital. She had been in since the hospital opened ten years earlier.
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I only went voluntarily when I was homeless. I’ve never been able to stand them longer than a couple weeks and snuck out, a couple times
I think the last time I was in a ward was six seven days ago. I wish they’d send me to Georgetown.
I’ve been in psych wards 3 times. Once forced and the other voluntary. First time I thought they we’re gonna kill me. The other times was better.
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I’ve been to mental health facility three times in my life
The first one was like one flew out of the cuckoo’s nest. So scary. I was there 7 weeks of solid hell but came out stable
The next two were at an awesome place. Both just over 4 weeks.
It is a place to heal and find helpful meds
Multiple visits, not all of them voluntary. I left in much better shape every time I was discharged, even if I wasn’t willing to admit it back then. I think the fact that most have WiFi now will alleviate a lot of the boredom I experienced back in the day.
I did PHP (partial hospitalization) willingly several years back. It’s like inpatient but you don’t sleep over you go home at the end of the day.
I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are concerned you are a danger to yourself or others. Yes it’s nice to be able to have this sort of retreat where you can focus on taking care of yourself mentally/emotionally but life moves on in the outside world and you can fall behind and work can build up quickly. I had to drop classes I was taking and did poorly in another because I had to miss lectures for example. I only did it 2 weeks and then left against medical advice because I didn’t want to have to drop all my classes and basically forfeit all the work I’d done that summer.
I would recommend IOP for those that feel they need something more than once a week therapy or once a month pdoc visits for a time. It’s intensive outpatient therapy. It meets for 3 hours a day 5 days a week and is much less invasive to outside life compared to inpatient or PHP. (I wanted to do this but they wouldn’t let me based on severity of my symptoms at the time-they wanted me to do inpatient but I outright refused and they couldn’t force me in the state I lived in then) I would recommend PHP to those needing serious routine in their lives that are lacking it and that don’t have other major obligations. (I feel the routine actually stabilized me more than the actual therapy sessions did) I would recommend inpatient to those who feel they are an immediate threat to themselves or others. That’s just my personal opinion based on experience and of the experience of close friends who have done inpatient and IOP.
If you go to a facility they evaluate which program you should be placed in. Just be aware if you make any mention of wanting to die, they’re gonna wanna stick you in inpatient because of liability reasons.
i admitted myself voluntary, became involuntarystatus. I regret seeking help in psychhospital. They just gave me a break. I would have been better of dead.
Been to the pych ward twice 3 months the first time and 2 weeks the second time
Between 2002-2008, hospitalized many times, way over a dozen times, each time over 4 weeks, months sometimes, lost track of time. I was in and out like a revolving door. Often forcibly, but several times towards the end when I realized I was gravely ill and it wasn’t real, I tried voluntary. Before obamacare, there was zero funding and they routinely sent very ill people (including myself) away from hospital because they had no beds. I think things have changed since 2008 in terms of funding, etc…(hopefully), so maybe that isn’t an issue nowadays.
Inside was bad, in general. Staff was insensitive in general, could be rude, and could be sinister and ignore abuse on the ward. While I was inside, there were many acts of violence and several acts of sexual abuse on the ward and it was all ignored by staff and doctors. On good days, it was just boring; sitting in silence and waiting for lunch call, but for me, I went in suicidal and psychotic and I left suicidal, psychotic, and with new trauma.
If you go in, they’ll probably put you on an up-to 78 hour hold (in California that’s what they do), and if you are deemed too ill they will put you on a 2-week, 5250 hold. After that 2 weeks, they will reassess you with a panel of like 3 who will ask you questions to determine if it’s okay to let you out. If it’s okay, they’ll send you on their way, if not it’s another 2-week hold.
I wouldn’t go back in ever again. Other people have decent experiences, though. If you feel you need intensive help, go, but just please be aware that there might be situations that are unpleasant inside. They usually have a pamphlet for “patient’s rights advocates” that you can ask the staff for. I used that pamphlet to complain. It didn’t help, but maybe you’ll get a better advocate than I did! Here’s a link to california’s webpage where you can find copies of the handout:
http://www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/Pages/Office-of-Patients-Rights.aspx
I’ve been hospitalized over twenty times. My longest stay was a year. It was a private hospital. Back during the early nineties they kept me hospitalized for around four months when I came in. That was in public mental hospitals. My hospitalizations were “voluntary”, but that was because I didn’t know I had recourse. My last hospitalization was about four or five years ago. Now it seems like they keep me twenty-eight days when I come in. I fought my commitment in court a few times after I learned that I could do that, but the six person jury at the hearing was unimpressed with my pleas that I was not mentally ill. I was always more stable when I came out of the mental hospital, but I was also very unhappy. They typical antipsychotics suck.
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I’ve been in and out of psych wards a million times. The longest I have ever stayed was a month. I usually stayed about two weeks. A lot of times, I was discharged too early. Still depressed and suicidal. So I always ended up coming back a week or two later. Those were the worst days of my life.
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I went through the crisis center 6-7 times end of last year and this year. I’m doing what I can to stay out of the wards. Longest I went two weeks and a day.
Ive been in the hospital maybe four times usually for about two weeks. I went voluntarily once and it ended up being involuntary. All the rest of the times Ive been there was by force. Dont test them or they will tie you up and give you an injection.
Psychiatric hospitals and their “human” approaches…
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