# Have you ever been in the psych ward?



## Witan (Jun 13, 2009)

I want to know how many people have been in the hospital for mental health related problems. If the answer is yes, by all means explain here! Let's swap stories.

I'll go first: yes, twice. Once in April of this year, again at the end of May/beginning of June.

The first time I just hit a really rough patch on the day I went to see my therapist. The second time I had a bad reaction to Prozac.


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## Kennnie (Oct 21, 2010)

No i have never been to the psych ward
almost......


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## shadowmask (Jun 22, 2009)

Yes, twice. My stepmother had begun to notice signs of my severe depression and SA shortly after my dad and I moved in with her. She suggested I see a psychologist, and it was after three or four sessions that he decided I'd do good with a stint in the nuthouse. It was...bad? lol. Really boring. I hated the other kids. Most of them were just ****ups and troublemakers. I got made fun of quite a bit, which didn't help my self-esteem. The meds did, though. I was in for two or three weeks, I can't remember exactly. 

Second time was after I tried to kill myself. This was like three months after the first stay. Over some stupid girl. Same thing again. I knew what to expect, so I just read newspapers while ignoring everyone and bid my time.


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## zookeeper (Jun 3, 2009)

Seems to be a theme of two visits, one shortly after the other.


1st time: was found passed out with bottles of liquor and sleeping pills (but I was too busy drinking to take any). Terrified mother takes me to the hospital where I tell the doctor I wanted to kill myself, which earns me a month in the mental hospital (i learned a valuable lesson that day).


A few months later...


2nd time: downed my bottle of TCA and did a week (after a few days spent in the regular hospital recovering from the OD).


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## Tangerine (Feb 16, 2010)

No, only to visit someone.


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## CopadoMexicano (Aug 21, 2004)

Hospitalized in 2006 June because I couldn't take what I was feeling so they gave me pills for psychosis depression and panic attacks


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## rainbowOne (Sep 26, 2010)

Yeah, about 5 years ago now. I was depressed and starving myself cos of anxiety, so got shut away for 4 months. 
Worst time of my life, I've said it before, but putting a vulnerable teen in with a load of other vulnerable teens isn't gonna help at all. I got taught to self harm there, learnt to despise myself, blah blah. Sucked.


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## Losm (Jan 23, 2011)

Haven't been myself but visited someone who was. They hated it there.


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## Monroee (Aug 26, 2009)

Yes.

My first time was in November 2010. I spent about a week there after an attempted overdose in a mixed state. The second time was in May 2011. Yeah - last month. For a severe manic episode that I couldn't control.

Nothing SA-related.


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## Devdas (Mar 17, 2011)

Once...but it was a short stay. And there is high chance that they would admit me again


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## Elleire (Jul 24, 2011)

Twice, fairly close together in '05, once in '06 (longest), taken but fortunately not admitted in '07, brief stint in '08, and a few short overnights in '09 and '10. 

This is actually the longest I haven't been since I was 15.


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## lyssado707 (Oct 29, 2004)

No, but i wonder if that would help me. I doubt it, tho. I've just heard bad things.


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## Witan (Jun 13, 2009)

lyssado707 said:


> No, but i wonder if that would help me. I doubt it, tho. I've just heard bad things.


It might help a little for a few days, but nothing permanent. I remember when I got out the first time, my social anxiety was literally zero for several days, and my mind was as sharp as a razor regarding what I wanted to do.

But, of course, I eventually lost that.

The second time I didn't get close to that.


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## Monroee (Aug 26, 2009)

lyssado707 said:


> No, but i wonder if that would help me. I doubt it, tho. I've just heard bad things.


Psych Wards are not there to help you, they are there to keep you alive during suicide watch. There is no therapy offered except the bare minimum.


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## lyssado707 (Oct 29, 2004)

EarlGreyDregs said:


> Psych Wards are not there to help you, they are there to keep you alive during suicide watch. There is no therapy offered except the bare minimum.


Yea, figured.


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## Monroee (Aug 26, 2009)

Yeah - they suck.


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## estse (Nov 18, 2003)

Yeah, it was the addicts ward though. Man did my roommate snore.


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## Scrub-Zero (Feb 9, 2004)

Never been in there. They would have to use force, law or sedation to get me in there.


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## JustKittenRightMeow (Jul 25, 2011)

Yes I have.

As a kid, I was sent to the psych. hospital like two or three times. When I was seventeen [or sixteen] I was sent to the psych. hospital when this social worker type guy found out I had anger problems, depression, anxiety and when my Mom told him I had wrecked the house in a rage and was hitting her....thankfully, they let my Mom drive me to the hospital to get evaluated but the sw had to follow us. After an hour or two at the hospital, we drove an hour or so away to the psych. ward.

The thing that sucked the most was that there were only..say... three other teenagers there and they were cool but one spent half her time in her room and the others liked to sleep a lot when there were no activities. The adults had a different schedule and were not exactly my crowd except for two of them, who were amazing.

I might actually voluntarily check myself back in soon..haha..



Mercurochrome said:


> Yeah, it was the addicts ward though. Man did my roommate snore.


Oh my god..mine did too..holy crap...She had sleep apnea and snored so loud it was horrible but funny. I was afraid the staff thought it was me snoring, so I would be scared to go to bed..haha.


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## rainbowOne (Sep 26, 2010)

JustKittenRightMeow said:


> Oh my god..mine did too..holy crap...She had sleep apnea and snored so loud it was horrible but funny. I was afraid the staff thought it was me snoring, so I would be scared to go to bed..haha.


my roommate was paranoid. she kept waking me up to check I was alive. asking me to check the cupboards. etc. :mum


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## MojoCrunch (Mar 25, 2011)

Yes.  Parents made me go a year or two ago. Most of it was due to all the drugs I did. Couldn't sleep for days which freaked my parents out, was depressed, just felt like I was going crazy. Was very very paranoid and actually had to leave the place where I lived 2 hours away. 

When I was there I remembered having to take a lot of sleeping pills b/c I just couldn't sleep. My roommate was a pretty nice lady and had a shaky voice. Quite a few bipolar people there as well. One lady there was a complete wreck b/c she suffered so much abuse especially at the hands of her husband. And the only person around my age there was a year younger and tried to escape and would have complete change of personality. Twas also a very nice schizo guy with interesting tattoos who I hung out with while there. 

Remember playing a lot of crossword puzzles for the few weeks b/c the doctor never really felt like coming. And playing Uno with the other people. It all just kind of went by in a blur. Was snowing a lot and I remember looking at the same window every day.

After being in that place and being around a lot of people whose lives that I felt sucked waaay more than mine I decided that I never wanted to feel this way again. Luckily the depression and sleep problems are gone, but anxiety is still there.


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## estse (Nov 18, 2003)

There was this one smack addict prick at my stay at Butler Hospital (see Lovecraft). That guy was a dick, but everyone else seemed nice. Even the homicidal woman who checked herself in to prevent herself from murdering people.

This guy nurse let me win at chess though, and I loathe him to this day for it.


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## nothing to fear (Mar 23, 2005)

A couple times - April 2007 for two weeks then again about a month later (I spent my 18th birthday there hahah).
For some reason in the past couple years I always cringe or feel embarrassed whenever I think about it, like you would when you think of really bad or awkward past SA moments.


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## papaSmurf (Jun 16, 2008)

I've been hospitalized at an inpatient treatment facility before, back in 2006, but it was voluntary and seems to have been a bit more structured than what y'all have been describing. 

The program I was admitted to was specifically aimed at the treatment of anxiety disorders in adolescents, and it was my first real experience with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Exposure Response Prevention (ERP). I learned a bunch of stuff there that's still useful today! My roommate was this awesome guy with Asperger's who taught me everything there is to know about cephalopods. The therapists and psychiatrists on staff knew their stuff and were super friendly. The cafeteria food was so terrible that I resorted to eating peanut butter and honey sandwiches for my entire three-month stay, but otherwise I count myself really lucky to have been able to spend time there. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be around today if I hadn't gone.

I also spent two months in an intensive outpatient program at the UCLA Anxiety Disorders Clinic in 2009, but that was considerably less helpful. The therapists there were ill-equipped to deal with much else besides OCD, and the whole thing felt like an enormous waste of time. I did discover the magic of sweet potato fries during that time though, so who knows.


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## Scrub-Zero (Feb 9, 2004)

No. Thankfully my mom did not believe in those kind of institutions. I definitely was a good candidate at one point in my life though.


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## britisharrow (Jun 18, 2009)

Yes, british NHS, twice.

Food is good, just get your head down and do the time.


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## zookeeper (Jun 3, 2009)

Logan X said:


> They would have to use force, law or sedation to get me in there.


I'd be interested in knowing whether people went of their own volition or not.

I went once in the back of a police cruiser, once in an ambulance, neither one particularly willingly. I'm not sure that I would ever go by choice.

Unfortunately, if you don't have access to mental health care (which can be hard to come by), usually the only way to bypass the 8-12 month waiting list is to do something stupid (or at least threaten to). I've thought about going for the mandated 72 hours, then out with a handy referral to psychiatrist and counsellor. Probably still not worth it, but still...


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## rainbowOne (Sep 26, 2010)

britisharrow said:


> Yes, british NHS, twice.
> 
> Food is good, just get your head down and do the time.


NHS food is awful!


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## straightarrows (Jun 18, 2010)

*is that place like on TV??? i mean people crying all night,, making strange sounds?? fighting like in movies?*

*Dr's make people do strange things in the front of a camera to make fun of or to show it to his/her students? *


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## britisharrow (Jun 18, 2009)

I only know about british state psychiatric wards. Sometimes there's trouble but usually you keep yourself to yourself, and you see your psychiatrist on Mon and Fri. The rest of time you try and fill the boredom all day.


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## Ballerina (Jul 14, 2011)

The adult wards are a lot more depressing than the children and adolescent wards. I anticipated everything but that from a lapse in judgment.



straightarrows said:


> *is that place like on TV??? i mean people crying all night,, making strange sounds?? fighting like in movies?*
> 
> *Dr's make people do strange things in the front of a camera to make fun of or to show it to his/her students? *


lol


zookeeper said:


> I'd be interested in knowing whether people went of their own volition or not.


Both.


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

6 times so far


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