I was wondering how nice, or not, the hospitals we’re for other people who have experienced a psych hospital stay. When I was disabled as a young adult, the hospitals were always nice until the good insurance ran out, and then they got really seedy. Also, in Alaska, a low population, “rich” state, the hospitals are much nicer than in Florida, so I was wondering what other people’s experiences were like where they live.
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In georgia, my hospital was very nice i felt safe there for the first time in a long time…except the older people with dementia there, they were neglected and possibly abused…and i heard the staff sometimes making uncouth remarks…but overall, for me, it was a positive experience compared to what i had been experiencing…
Yes, in FL, I saw them keep the elderly dementia patients tied in chairs. It was sad.
One woman was lying in the same position for hours and the entire left side of her face was bruised when we saw the nurses wheel her out
I live in the province of Québec in Canada and here the health system is public. Everything is paid by the government. So when you stay at the hospital, you pay nothing and you don’t have to have an insurance. But the problems that we have is that there are not enough doctors and very often, you have to be on a waiting list to see a specialist. Also, usually, the quality of the care you get from the health system here is not as good as what you get in most of other rich countries. I would have many complaints to make about how I have been treated by the doctors while I was sick but when I had to stay at the hospital for psychiatric care, it was not so bad and my psychiatrist is really brilliant and kind.
I’ve been in at least half a dozen hospitals. The private hospital that I stayed in a year fed us a lot. They were always shoving food at us. It was good. They also had a pool. I was kind of underwhelmed by it, as far as therapy went. We had all these well conceived classes, but no one was really involved in therapy. Everyone was just going through the motions. For what they charged I expected them to work miracles. A few of the public hospitals I’ve been in were pretty nice. The food was pretty good, and they had different forms of group therapy. The rest of the public hospitals I’ve been in were kind of seedy. We had almost no group. The surroundings were drab. The food was just tolerable. There is one facility in Muskogee, OK which has a different approach. Instead of a lengthy stay in a hospital. A person just stays there two or three days. You don’t do much but rest. The surroundings are comfortable. I’ve been there a couple of times, and they straightened me out just as good as any hospital ever has. This place is a good alternative to a long term hospitalization.
The first one was ■■■■■■. Second and third were ok, good food and sense of community.
Most of my hospitals were so nice that they would have been great places to take a vacation and relax if you weren’t mentally ill. Unfortunately my state of mind was terrible any time I was in any hospital and as a whole I NEVER enjoyed my stays. There were few good times in my 9 or 10 hospitalizations. I was in some very physically nice psyche wards and I was in a few that were a little older and not as nice. I preferred the nice ones.
My first psyche ward when I was 19 in 1980 was outside a city in an unincorporated area. It was not exactly out in the country but it felt like it because there wasn’t much around it. It was near a big city but the land around it was not built on. I hit it off with a counselor and hr picked me to go jogging in the hills. I got up early one morning and went to a nearby park by myself.
The ward was relatively new and very clean. They had a pool table and a ping-pong table. I got my first kiss there by a 27 year old blonde. It was nice. It was late at night when no one was around but then someone walked by and we had to stop. Later that night I was in a common room by myself listening to Simon & Garfunkel on a record player and she walked in and asked if I wanted to fool around. So we started and I was literally 5 seconds away from losing my virginity with both of us half undressed and the damn nurse walking in on us.
She gasped and then told us sternly to stop and get dressed. To be honest, I wasn’t even embarrassed. I got dressed and walked out to go to my room and I had to walk past the nurses station and the female nurse said, “Nick I’m very disappointed in you”. But I didn’t share that opinion, I thought I was pretty cool.
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That’s hilarious! When I was in Florida State Hospital the women’s ward was on the first floor and the men were on the second floor, but for the Christmas party they let us go upstairs and have punch and cake…so, some of us were “paid” in cigarettes by other patients to watch for staff as female patients would go into the bathroom with male patients and get laid! That was the only time we ever saw male patients. That place was a snake pit.
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Which one? 
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Bathroom seems like a nasty location to get off in. After all, it smells like piss and 
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That’s cuz they didn’t have bedrooms there…it was like a barracks with a big room of all of the beds in one room, and they locked the dorm after breakfast so that we couldn’t sleep in the beds all day. Also, the only chairs were in the tv room and they only had like 10 total for 25 people (each floor). So mostly people sat against the walls or slept next to them. The only “single” room was the seclusion/restraint room and nobody would screw there! That was the worst place I ever was…the best place had a pool, cooking classes, and stuff to do like ceramics and volleyball. I made ceramic piggy bank for all of my relatives for THAT Christmas! Ha ha.
i stayed 2 months in a private clinic focused on people with scizophrenia.
there were 3 floors the 1 with people with light symptoms the 2 with people with more serious problems (i was in the 2)
and the 3 d floor with heavy cases.
in 2 floor women with men where all together .
hospital was near the area i do live 5 minutes with car and i remenber they had amazing food,personel also treat me nice.
The first psychiatric hospital I stayed in had different wings.
At first I was restrained in a tiny room that stank of piss,vomit and poo.
They held me to the ground and it hurt me and I had difficulties breathing and was afraid.
They injected me with medication and left me I. The room with out anything soft in it.
Everything in the isolation room was hard and it was a tiny room with awful lighting.
After I had gotten out of that room I was in the tightest strictest wing there.
They even watched me shower.
It was small area.
Then when they thought I was better I was released to another wing of the hospital which was less strict.
It was rooms with two or four beds I think.
There was ping pong table and tv room.
They had nice strawberry milk.
I met some people there and two guys took me to hospital cafe and bought me pineapple juice.
I had my eyebrows waxed with a woman at nearby shop cause we were both aloud to go out then.
After this wing they had houses where patients get their own room.
This was like group living.
Here they had pottery,cooking etc but because I had family I got to go home instead.
That was in Australia.
Next psychiatric hospital I was in was in Sweden.
That’s where I met Anders who became my best friend and boyfriend.he was.we have no contact now.
It was shared rooms and two tv rooms and a smoke room.
A small kitchen where one person could help bake.
They had easy gymnastics twice a week and the food was lovely.
I was aloud out and could be gone all day.
The third psychiatric hospital I was in was in Australia again but another state.
At this hospital the isolation room was better than at other hospital.
The lighting was gentle and that is relevant.
There was even a soft mattress.
I begged them not to lock me in it and praise be to them they listened.
They gave me injection with medication and then walked me to a normal room with bathroom.
Most rooms were shared.
I rather not share room but all the hospitals I’ve been in have had shared rooms.
It was also pretty small.
Two small tv rooms and a outside yard with ping pong table and chairs and table.
The food was lovely just pretty great even many days.
I was not allowed out by myself for quiet some time here and I really wanted to go out.
They let me crewchette but I had to ask for needles that were locked in my locker.
Eventually they let me out but at first only on hospital grounds.
Swimming pool sounds nice.
I had private insurance for a few months but I can not afford it at moment unfortunately so public hospital it seems.
They had craft once a week and exercise once a week and relaxation.
The first hospital I was at seriously hope they made improvements with lighting etc
But the housing seemed good and supported.
There is room for improvement but am still pleased we got such nice food and we’re not over medicated it seemed.
They were nice I think too.
My hospital was a safe, secure environment. I didn’t have insurance and I didn’t notice any difference in treatment. We had art therapy, creative writing, meditation, seminars on the therapy program. We had nice meals, free wifi, ensuite bedrooms, and I met some nice people. Of course, at the time, I was in crisis so that wasn’t good. And I was nervous about the knives and forks in the cafeteria amidst a group of unstable people. And for a time I thought the hospital had laced the soup with sedatives or poison or antipsychotics. That mushroom soup had a funny flavor. But I think it was all in my head. I was there for five months.
I’ve been in a hospital 4 or 5 times for a week all involuntary. Some were nicer than others but I hated them all, felt like a prison to me. Couldn’t wait to get out