i am heading for a psych hospital this saturday. i have gotten all the basic knowledge of what will happen from my doctor. but i am still a bit afraid of going there. does anyone of you have any stories you might wanna share?
i would really appreciate it 
Good luck with going to the psych Hospital.
I just came out of a Psych Hospital that is geared for low functioning patients.
I won’t share my experiences at the Hospital in detail but let’s just say that I was targeted by the Psychiatrist there and from the staff for being High Functioning and being aware of the abusive and criminal behavior that took place on a daily basis there.
They didn’t like the fact that I knew too much.
They tried to break me in every unimaginable way possible.
They did not succeed.
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I am from other country so my experience may not be relevant to you.
The main reason why I avoid psychiatric ward today is because they will put a needle into the vein of my hand upon hospital admission-- easier for them to do blood test and supplies dextrose.
They will only remove the needle when discharge.
The second reason is I afraid of aggressive patients who stay at the same psychiatric ward/hospital.
Other than that, the treatment team is generally OK and friendly.
i am from Denmark where we only have 3 Psych wards in the country… does that mean a higher risk of aggressive patients?
From what I know, there is ICU (Intensive Care unit), a room for specific patient. Patient who may harm him/herself is tied to a bed using ropes.
At the psychiatric ward where I stayed before, those aggressive patients will be given advice by nurse but sometimes chaos just happen.
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Hey anders, you’re only hearing horror stories here so I decided to chime in. I had a good experience in a mental hospital, was treated nice, the whole staff was very caring and the psychiatrists were good. Even took part of a study.
Let us know how your experience goes, and good luck
Yours is definitely a good experience, Minnii.
I was the other way round, I became the subject of study for medical students. Their lecturer asked me questions for his students to find out what was my diagnosis. I was given a hundred bucks for participating the interview.
i had a good stay the second time i went but thats mainly because the first time i went i was sectioned and was noncompliant, but the second time i went i met some really nice people including my friend i mention here all the time and we have been friends now about 12years, i didnt like the third or fourth times though but it was good for me anyway because i was in a bad way and it stabilised me a bit more until i was given my current med,
I actually had a very positive experience the first time I went to a psych ward.
I hope that I did not scare you off @anders.16
Not all psych Hospital experiences are Horror stories.
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I’ve never done a full hospitalization but I did partial. It was nice. Basically we just did group therapy all day everyday and each group had a different theme or topic. A lot of people there had done inpatient and the biggest complaint was that it was boring because there was nothing to do outside of group. Also they complained about waking up really early lol. That’s the worst I heard though.
Most psyche hospitals have many things in common but each hospital can vary in many ways as to cleanliness, safety, structure of your time, amount of help, general functioning of the patients, daytime activities, things to do for fun or recreation, temperament or friendliness of staff, food, and other things.
You’re doctor might have already filled you in on most of this information already. There might be people in there that are your age or close to your age. There’s a chance twat you might make a friend in there.
It’s is perfectly normal to be scared. And it’s normal to be a little wary of your fellow patients. But in the nicer hospitals I’ve been in violence was rare. There might be a little intimidation from the guys AND the girls but probably very little. I was in a hos[ital for 8 months in a large city. Some of the men and women came from the streets or shelters or even jail. It was kind of a seedy crowd but everybody let me alone. I was threatened a few times but nothing came of it.
After being in 6 or 7 different hospitals myself and hearing many other people talk about their experiences inside I would say that the thing they all have in common is boredom. They might have a ping-table or a pool table. They will probably have a TV. They might have a volleyball or basketball court but they may not. But it’s not enough to fill your day.
I don’t know what your doctor told you exactly about the one you’re going into, but most wards have groups of some kind and organized activities. They might take you on walks or hold exercise or stretching groups. Most of the staff in hospitals I was in were very friendly and if they were’nt busy they didn’t mind if you wanted to talk with them for a short time.
In hospitals, my number one activity was sleeping, lol. The hospital staff and policies were generally against this but they kind of overlooked it and didn’t make a big deal about it most of the time. If you start feeling really bad than don’t keep it to yourself, tell a nurse. You can’t be going up to the staff every ten minutes about every little problem but if things get bad then tell someone. You should be alright.
It sucks to be hospitalized but it’s like my therapist said to me, Quote: " You go in…and then you come out"…
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I had stayed at there where the all patient has mild pyschologic problems.apart from the place i had stayed with many person (3person) i get lot of food that get fatter me.but it was boring experience.good luck.just take a ebook reader or books with you.you will need it for boredom.
The one I went to had a schedule of times where we had counseling. Also they had meal time too. Every once in a while you would talk with a psychiatrist about changing your medications. There was an exercise period as well. The section I was in had a lot of people that were at risk for suicide (myself included technically) so they would constantly do checks to see if we were okay. The only somewhat bad thing that might’ve gone on was that if the people working there didn’t like you they might’ve woke you up doing their checks. Also at least for me it was very expensive still have debt from that.
Psychiatric hospitals are very, very helpful and necessary when you are in a crisis. The right to deny treatment is a complex issue in psychiatry that I’ll admit often gets thrown out the window, but I know that being in a hospital has saved my life and stabilized me many times. That does not change the intense emotional pain and sensation of paralysis and betrayal that comes with being involuntarily committed and the taxing experience of being in a hospital involuntarily. But since you know what you are in for and you are voluntarily making this choice, I think it will be a positive experience for you, @anders.16.
Exactly, it may feel like the longest 72 hours of your life, but it is only three days in the end.
EDIT: Unless you’re put on two 5250s like me. Longest 28 days of my life. Not to scare you, @anders.16 that was only because I was very unstable and medication non-compliant and was starting new meds and new diagnosis.
i think psych hospitals are great …theyre therapeutic and nice people who I relate to…enjoy the visit
I’ve been hospitalized over twenty times in a number of different mental hospitals in Oklahoma and Tennessee. I wouldn’t say I had a bad experience in any of them. A few were kind of drab, but other than that they weren’t bad. The one in Tennessee was mostly made up of black people, but there was no animosity towards those of us who were white. The food at a few of the places was a little skimpy, but it wasn’t bad. Like I said, a few of the places were drab and boring, but there was no real trouble in most of them. I did see a couple of fights in a couple of them, but they were pretty tame.
I’m kind of afraid of going to the Psych Hospital, Always think some people there might make your stay a little difficult. Had this one patient trying to attack me and always trying to steal my food. And I found the staff not very caring. Sometimes it is hard to make friends there. Some nurses were okay and listened while you talked to them.
psych hospitals are usually very pleasant unless you end up there against your will or go during a state of crisis. If you go voluntarily and actually know why it is that you are there you can almost consider it like a mini vacation.