What happens at a psych ward?

[mjlondon88]

I am thinking of telling my gp that I have ordered SN. What will happen? Will they check me into a psych ward? Does it help going there?

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

I've never personally been to one but from what I can tell, it's basically like an extended "time out" or detention punishment where you're not allowed to do anything fun since many of them don't let you bring in any phones, games, or other electronics and you're just supposed to sit quietly until they're convinced you're not going to harm yourself anymore. Worse than that, if you tell about your SN you might get it taken away and why would you want that unless you seriously want to fully recover (more power to you if you do though).

 

[bed]

You're basically telling them you have an active plan to harm yourself. You will be put on a 72hr hold there and then evaluated to see if you need to stay there longer. They'll probably change/increase your meds. Usually, you will also get placed higher in waiting lists for therapy.

If you're trying to get help this may be beneficial for you to go.

 

[mjlondon88]

You're basically telling them you have an active plan to harm yourself. You will be put on a 72hr hold there and then evaluated to see if you need to stay there longer. They'll probably change/increase your meds. Usually, you will also get placed higher in waiting lists for therapy.

If you're trying to get help this may be beneficial for you to go.

Will the stronger meds help?

 

[bed]

Will the stronger meds help?

it's all subjective, meds can help. You won't know unless you try. If you're considering mentioning it to your psych though it seems like you still have a will to live. It's probably a good idea to open up to them if you haven't already exhausted all your resources in getting better.

 

[mjlondon88]

it's all subjective, meds can help. You won't know unless you try. If you're considering mentioning it to your psych though it seems like you still have a will to live. It's probably a good idea to open up to them if you haven't already exhausted all your resources in getting better.

I just wish I was normal. Could go to work, not be depressed, not catastrophise and be so anxious all the time

 

[bed]

I just wish I was normal. Could go to work, not be depressed, not catastrophise and be so anxious all the time

I relate man, I feel like I'm far from normal. it's hard to deal with everything. I get panic attacks a lot, it's exhausting.

 

[existtosuffer]

It's really shit. I've been 3 times involuntary. All drug related. The medication they prescribed me with made me suicidal & gain loads of weight. I've changed them since but I still have suicidal thoughts.

Still annoys me that the drugs I used to self medicate on eventually made me psychotic because they were actually making life bearable beforehand.

If you tell them about your plans. They will probably hold you under a section of the Mental Health Act until they think you're no longer a threat to yourself.

If you're not on medication it might be worth a try to get help in that respect.

 

[mjlondon88]

I relate man, I feel like I'm far from normal. it's hard to deal with everything. I get panic attacks a lot, it's exhausting.

Yeah. I wish I was just wired like normal people and got on with it and stopped worrying about everything

 

[noaccount]

Lots of state sanctioned sexual violence happens.

Stronger drugs might help, is there a way you can seek those out / be prescribed those without getting yourself locked up?

 

[mjlondon88]

Lots of state sanctioned sexual violence happens.

Stronger drugs might help, is there a way you can seek those out / be prescribed those without getting yourself locked up?

What do you mean? Other people in there could rape me? The doctor doesn't seem to think I'm psychotic just severely depressed. So I'm not getting stronger stuff

 

[brutalus]

depends on the country i think. whats a gp btw?

 

[bed]

depends on the country i think. whats a gp btw?

General Practioner

 

[brutalus]

i dont think a psych wards purpose is to help you become "normal". their purpose is to protect "normal" people from us.

 

[Apricity]

If you go make sure you check in voluntarily. I got placed on an involuntary psych hold and now I have thousands of dollars in medical bills for something I never asked for.

 

[lyles]

It depends on the place and the people, unfortunately, I'm not sure there's much of a better answer to give than that. There are a lot of mixed experiences I've found that come with them. Sometimes they really can help you get the resources you need to make a path towards recovery. I like to think that it's worth it to reach out if you are able to. But it's important to be aware of what you are getting into, so maybe look up some reviews for the different hospitals around your area and call the one that looks like it would work best for you? Regardless, my best wishes are with you!

 

[Dot]

I am thinking of telling my gp that I have ordered SN. What will happen? Will they check me into a psych ward? Does it help going there?

Saying gp, assume are in uk.

Can request voluntary admission to be in place where are kept safe - can also request crisis team who visit every day whilst trying different meds etc and monitoring reaction to them. If crisis team not helping can still request voluntary admission.

 

[author]

I'm in the USA and I went to an in-patient in middleschool for something stupid (skipped school and my mom sent me there as punishment by telling them I was way more depressed than I was at the time) - and I think in-patient is different from a psych ward, like less severe or something, but honestly the worst thing about it was boredom.

I didn't get any meds, and other kids bullied me in front of the staff (which nothing really got done about), but above all I just had nothing to do. Most of my time was spent sitting around waiting for the next group therapy session.

They wouldn't let us outside even chaperoned, no open windows, they wouldn't let us sleep in at all, we couldn't have video games of any sort (they wouldn't let me have my old GameBoy, so I assume it was none allowed at all). Only thing I had was a tiny, tiny stubby pencil with no eraser and a journal where I was expected to write between group therapy. There was literally nothing else to do but wait for the next scheduled thing. You can imagine how boring that is. You could ask to call someone using the phone at the front desk (and you'd be listened to by the person at the desk), but for me it was a list of phone numbers given by my family - and it was only my immediate family, no friends on the list. I didn't really want to talk to my family in that situation, you know?

We had "gym" a couple times, every few days I think, but that just meant going to a gym-like room and playing with basketballs under heavy supervision. A few times, they pulled me in for "individual therapy" which was kind of just questioning, trying to figure out where I was at and how much longer they wanted to keep me, and I was able to get out quickly because I'm good at masking my depression.

Talking with the kids who didn't bully me (and protected me when the staff ignored me) was nice though. Honestly, that was my highlight. I miss those guys so much. I don't think you're technically allowed to get their contact info to talk outside of in-patient though, and I lost contact...

From those kids, though, I heard that the place we were at was one of the better ones comparatively. As boring as it was, as much as staff ignored blatant bullying, there were worse places. As others have mentioned, SA can happen in these places from what I heard.

Like I said, I think in-patient is a bit different from a psych ward, especially since I went to a juvenile one, but I hope this gives you some kind of idea of what to expect. My best recommendation is to research your place beforehand. Try to find reviews from people who've gone there. Given that it's a psych ward, there will probably be bad ones all around as most people don't want to go there, but try to find ones that have less of that I guess.

 

[Shadowplay]

I just wish I was normal. Could go to work, not be depressed, not catastrophise and be so anxious all the time

>This

 

[callme]

Well, those are the places where buses don't go. Make your own conclusion.

 

[noaccount]

What do you mean? Other people in there could rape me? The doctor doesn't seem to think I'm psychotic just severely depressed. So I'm not getting stronger stuff

Forced nudity is sexual abuse. Forced drugging often is as well. Forced catheterization is sexual abuse.

 

[Pallf]

What happens at a mental health facility is dependent on where you are in the world. I'm in America so for me they put me under a 72 hour hold, plus add an extra two days because the weekends don't count for some dumbass reason. Keep that in mind if you don't want to say an hour longer than 72.

 

[forgotten15]

I think it depends on the place, each has different rules, different doctors, different pacients. So what we tell you it may not be aplicable to the place you would be admitted.
I was in the psychiatric hospital quite a few times between 15-16 years old and it was depressing.
Our focus was always on our problems and we were given all sorts of pills. Plus there were other people there that were having mental breakdowns and became quite aggressive so at some point it can became dangerous.
We were allowed visits very rarely, they controlled all our personal belongings, the controlled our mouths after they gave us the pills so they were sure we took them.
I felt lonely, troubled and empty. Was miserable because of were my suffering has gotten me.

 

[noaccount]

This is worth reading:

Us, Too: Sexual Violence Against People Labeled Mentally Ill

As psychiatric survivors, we wanted to share some of the sexual violations and abuses we experienced in the name of “medical treatment.”

www.madinamerica.com

 

[mjlondon88]

I am in the Uk. Is the experience more helpful here. Seems like nobody feels better or gets help when they go.

 

[Brokensaddle]

I am in the Uk. Is the experience more helpful here. Seems like nobody feels better or gets help when they go.

I have been 136 twice so I had to forcibly spend 24 hours on two separate occasions inside and it was really shitty. Some staff members were nice others threatened me. Also I've heard of other people who have spend too her periods in psych hospital that's it's always noise. Also you have absolutely no privacy at all.

 

[Rustysoupcan]

Ive been in 5 times, my longest stay being 1 month. This is in America BTW. As someone else said, MAKE SURE YOU GO IN VOLUNTARILY!! Going involuntarily will just make things much harder and drag things out a lot more. Since you want to tell your therapist about it, you should have no problem going voluntarily. What happened to me once is that I would promise my therapist I wouldn't kill myself, so he call a crisis line, who then called the police, and a cop showed up at the therapist's office and took me to the hospital. They will either put you on meds if youre not on some already, or they will change the ones you are on. There are usually groups to teach you coping skills and stuff. But in general, the hospital is very very boring. I hope you like reading or drawing because thats about all you can do. Since you know you'll be going in, I suggest packing some comfy clothes and other things you might want in there, but be aware they will take things that are deemed potentially unsafe. If you have any questions lemme know. I also used to work in a psych ward so I know both sides.

 

[UseItOrLoseIt]

The quality of care is better when you are younger. As soon as you hit 30 you are registered in the "hopeless" list. Then, you become a prisoner. Care is not in the medical repertoire anymore. Control takes it place.

 

[Manaaja]

The quality of care is better when you are younger. As soon as you hit 30 you are registered in the "hopeless" list. Then, you become a prisoner. Care is not in the medical repertoire anymore. Control takes it place.

I remember when I was a teen and "young adult" (wait, are they saying I'm old?! WTF?! Any person younger than their parents is young in my opinion) I got real psychologists who were nice and professional. Then I turned (I don't remember what) and all I got were some stupid leftovers, old psychiatric nurses who were really unprofessional.

 

[yoyogirl]

To be honest, it can be quite a scary place to be at first, but the hospital can be very welcoming and resssuring once they understand your needs and circumstances, they can put you at ease and you will get time on the ward to truly figure out whats wrong and work forward with your life.