Discussion To those who been to a psychiatric hospital how was it like?

[Die.A.Ria]

What was if like the first time you went?
Did it even help?

 

[Lost in a Dream]

Honestly I was lucky to have stayed at a good one, but I know so many people have horrible experiences at these types of places. What I remember about being at the psych unit was that it was really helpful to me when I was there, but after leaving, real life got hold of me again and I was back to being miserable again.

When I was staying there I didn't have to worry about anything from the outside world. I could read books, work on word searches, and play board games to my heart's content. It almost felt like a vacation when I was there. Also, the food was surprisingly amazing. I wish everyone's experience could be like mine was.

 

[Surek]

It was boring there. Gadgets were banned, so all people could do was play cards, watch TV, or read books. And since I got admitted in the winter, they didn't take us out for walks. Because of that, most of the folks (myself included) would just pace up and down the hallways in circles to get at least some physical exercise

Of course, there wasn't much privacy to speak of, but I didn't really stress about it. Oh, and they only took us to the showers once a week, but you could make a deal with them to let you take an "extra" one on any other day

I also remembered that cigarettes were used as currency there. I didn't smoke myself, but I thought about asking my relatives to bring me some so I could "buy" stuff

---

As for the pros, I guess the only thing I can mention is that while you're there, you're kind of "disconnected" from the world, and you don't have to worry about anything. Sort of like a vacation. Plus, when everyone around you is just as crazy as you are, you feel more relaxed. Like, you're in a psych ward, lol, abnormality is normal here

---

But other than that, no, staying there didn't help me at all. I guess they are useful if you get admitted while in a state of psychosis or something like that

 

[Lucifer’s Son]

I've been in various ones 30 something times. They're mostly boring. People's outbursts and psychosis symptoms might disturb you if you're not used to it. I would encourage you to at least try. At least in my area, the psychiatrists in the hospitals are subpar, but you might get something beneficial out of the experience.

 

[ConstantPain]

I've been to two and hated them both. There was some good staff at both and I wasn't mistreated or anything like that. Other people may actually have been helped by them but all I focused on was getting out. My claustrophobic self couldn't stand being locked up so maybe if they were day programs or something like that it could have helped. I just did and said anything I could to get out so one was just 72 hours and one was a week. Both really just served to make damn sure I never end up in one again and it's been over 20 years.

 

[Aflame5926]

personally crap for me. it also depends on how open you are for help. i do believe for "some" people it can be life changing.

but its really not fun that for sure

 

[100memoryleaks]

Honestly I was lucky to have stayed at a good one, but I know so many people have horrible experiences at these types of places. What I remember about being at the psych unit was that it was really helpful to me when I was there, but after leaving, real life got hold of me again and I was back to being miserable again.

When I was staying there I didn't have to worry about anything from the outside world. I could read books, work on word searches, and play board games to my heart's content. It almost felt like a vacation when I was there. Also, the food was surprisingly amazing. I wish everyone's experience could be like mine was.

this is the experience i wish i could have if i went to a psych ward :( i've never been to one but i'm afraid if i did i would have a bad experience

 

[Spite]

It'a not very fun. I was in one for a week, about 4 years ago. Being on suicide watch, you have hardly any privacy. The only time I was allowed to leave my bay is if I had to use the bathroom, and even then I had to be accompanied by a staff member and I couldn't stay in the bathroom for long. A bunch of doctors will ask you various questions. I also found it scary being near other patients, some of them insane, some on hard drugs. For me I remember I kept hearing a woman a few bays away from me who wouldn't stop screaming and crying. Terrifying to have to listen to.

I wouldn't recommend it and I'd say I came out of the psych ward even worse off.

 

[Die.A.Ria]

It'a not very fun. I was in one for a week, about 4 years ago. Being on suicide watch, you have hardly any privacy. The only time I was allowed to leave my bay is if I had to use the bathroom, and even then I had to be accompanied by a staff member and I couldn't stay in the bathroom for long. A bunch of doctors will ask you various questions. I also found it scary being near other patients, some of them insane, some on hard drugs. For me I remember I kept hearing a woman a few bays away from me who wouldn't stop screaming and crying. Terrifying to have to listen to.

I wouldn't recommend it and I'd say I came out of the psych ward even worse off.

Did they have to stay outside while you went to the bathroom?

 

[ConstantPain]

It'a not very fun. I was in one for a week, about 4 years ago. Being on suicide watch, you have hardly any privacy. The only time I was allowed to leave my bay is if I had to use the bathroom, and even then I had to be accompanied by a staff member and I couldn't stay in the bathroom for long. A bunch of doctors will ask you various questions. I also found it scary being near other patients, some of them insane, some on hard drugs. For me I remember I kept hearing a woman a few bays away from me who wouldn't stop screaming and crying. Terrifying to have to listen to.

I wouldn't recommend it and I'd say I came out of the psych ward even worse off.

Do you mind saying what country you're in? I'm sorry you went through what sounds like torture. My experiences in the US were very different. I either had my own room or was with a roommate and we were encouraged to get out of our rooms and attend groups and be around other people. Plus I was a smoker and there was a smoking room that opened once an hour. I took full advantage of that. Unfortunately that right may no longer exist. I suspect if someone was in the bathroom for a long time that staff would intervene but otherwise we could go whenever we wanted.

 

[goodgirlsgotosleep]

What was if like the first time you went?
Did it even help?

Lost my virginity to a staff member there when I was 13 ngl

 

[Live_Life55]

Worse than hell. I was only there a few hours watching people screaming while being aggressively strapped down and injected with meds.

Need to make sure the CTB method is 100% so you don't end up in a place worse than hell.

 

[LostZombie]

0/10

Most of them tell me to find god and only then I will be fixed. They were all in the beautiful state of Texas, where they terat everyone SoOooOoooOoOOo grEaT epically atheists, and trans people. Also for some reason ppl think that makes me stupid, so they talk down to me, and overall treat me like shit.

 

[ConstantPain]

0/10

Most of them tell me to find god and only then I will be fixed. They were all in the beautiful state of Texas, where they terat everyone SoOooOoooOoOOo grEaT epically atheists, and trans people. Also for some reason ppl think that makes me stupid, so they talk down to me, and overall treat me like shit.

Sorry, that's total BS. I'm sure Texas has some good people in it but in general I find it reprehensible.
Mine were in NY where no one cared about religion or the lack thereof, sexuality or trans people.

 

[thelostautistic]

It wasn't a nice place to be. Lots of patients displayed disturbing and scary behaviour at times. I saw things that still haunt me now. I had a man try to break into my room and on my first day I saw a naked women running around. I wish I was joking. It was chaotic but at the same time very boring. There wasn't a lot to do so I was just stuck with my thoughts watching time pass. There were some nice people there though which did help me through my stay. On the whole it didn't really help me with my issues. It kept me safer for a short period of time but eventually you have to go back to the outside world and create safety for yourself. Looking back I probably shouldn't have been hospitalised as it wasn't the best thing for me but at the time I just wanted to feel safer because I was so afraid of what I would do. But saying this hospitals do help some people. It just depends on your circumstances and what you need.

 

[nails]

it sucked but it could've been worse. i spent a lot of my time attempting to sleep, puking, making bracelets, and watching the tv. they let us watch whatever we wanted lol we watched Ghost in the Shell, Paul Blart, Hannibal, and some other random shit.
it was kinda weird because i was 18, so i was obviously placed in the adult ward; but nearly every other patient was over 35. the few people who were in my age range were these girls who i think were in their early 20s. they were all pretty difficult to talk to tho. at the end of my stay, three more people who were around the same age as me came in and i actually enjoyed talking to them. but ofc, i left the next day.
i was just kinda uncomfortable the whole time. it was lonely, some of the staff were kinda dismissive or just treated us like literal toddlers (a lot of them were very sweet tho), i felt sick the whole time, the food was abysmal, the shower was so hot it would literally leave painful red splotches on my skin, and a lot of the other patients were just very aggravating to be around. it was honestly hard to get some sleep because staff would check on everyone every ~10 minutes and i would be woken up in the middle of the night to answer some questions or do some blood tests.

it didn't really help me. a lot of the things that ended up helping me had nothing to do with the hospital stay. while i was there, i got put on different meds that ended up helping a lot—but the stay itself didn't really do anything. i engaged in all the activities, but it was pretty pointless. they made us watch a bunch of Ted Talks on depression lolol. there was an actual therapist who came in for some activities but it was all awkward.

i was obviously pretty distraught the whole time and terrified of how everything would be once i got out, so that affected my experience a lot. still, i never want to go back.

 

[ForeverLonely82]

The first time I went to a psychiatric ward was when I was 12 years old. I was going to blow my head off with my father's shotgun, and I couldn't find the ammo for it and was ratted out. I'll keep this short and simple. Mental hospitals are like jail, a light version of jail. You're treated like a fucking toddler. You have to watch your language and be polite and ask for things. And if you are out of line, they put you in what is called a quiet room. Now, that might be different depending on the mental facility, similar to a padded room, but you have to go in there for an hour or more depending on the severity of the problem you caused. And think about what you did like a fucking toddler. You have group therapy, which is stupid because it helps nothing. You see the psychiatrist maybe up to three times, depending on how long you are there, and they decide what medication to put you on. And after inpatient care, which results in bullshit therapy in bullshit pills. The only cool thing about a mental home is you can sleep as long as you want and not have to think about shit. However, if you smoke cigarettes, God help you. Or if you vape like I do, God help you. If you like to have a beer or two, God help you, you will not be allowed any of that. You also have to use payphones they turn on so you can call loved ones if you choose to. Every time I got out of a mental hospital, I was worse off than going in. Like when I was 12 years old, I was the nice, quiet kid. When I came out, I didn't take anyone's shit and I beat the fuck out of anyone that would give me an issue. It was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The last time I went in was back in 2021. That's when I started to not trust people anymore because I was having a bad day, and a friend of mine called the cops on me. They told me I needed to talk to a psychiatrist because I was saying some stupid shit. The thing is, when the cops showed up, I felt better. I was just having a bad couple hours. So they took me there. I didn't get a chance to talk to a psychiatrist. They just said, go ahead and patient him. This was in Midwest City, Oklahoma. The beds were full because it was filled with patients with COVID at the time. So I had to go out to Wagner, Oklahoma, which is two hours away from my home. And my wife, at the time when she was alive, only had one leg and had no idea I was being transported, and the entire time I'm in the back seat of the cop car crying because I was worried for my wife. Thankfully, I was able to call her the following day and tell her that I was in there. Thankfully, her mom allowed her to stay with her at her apartment until I returned. When I came out of there, I trusted no one. And to this day, I still don't trust one fucking person

 

[punyama]

horrible, they were rude, locked up all my shit made me change clothes and took those too, then basically just left me there for 7 hours, nobody around, didn't tell me what was happening until the doctor saw me and said "are you gonna hurt yourself tonight" i said no he said "you wanna go home?" i said yes and then that was it.
there were scratches and scrawled messages all over the walls too like "FUCK YOU" "THIS IS HELL" "HELP"
also the bathroom door didn't close.

 

[ForeverLonely82]

horrible, they were rude, locked up all my shit made me change clothes and took those too, then basically just left me there for 7 hours, nobody around, didn't tell me what was happening until the doctor saw me and said "are you gonna hurt yourself tonight" i said no he said "you wanna go home?" i said yes and then that was it.
there were scratches and scrawled messages all over the walls too like "FUCK YOU" "THIS IS HELL" "HELP"
also the bathroom door didn't close.

Yeah, they might as well say, Welcome to hell, dickhead.

 

[tsykoais]

the total loss of autonomy was terrible

 

[bagel12]

i haven't gone to one, but two of my friends did after separate ctb attempts a few years ago.

their experience was neutral/positive. overall it helped both of them. the nice thing for both of them is that the psych ward took care of finding a therapist and psychiatrist for them. they both got diagnosed and on the right medication (after a little trial and error). neither of them have attempted since, or expressed any ideation, and they generally seem much much happier.

the important thing is that they looked at reviews ahead of time or looked on local facebook groups/subreddits for recommendations. they avoided the psych wards with awful reviews and chose the ones that people recommended. i think this made a HUGE difference.

they both complained of feeling bored and not comfy. bring comfy items from home, along with earplugs, books, puzzles/games, coloring books with crayons, etc. the loss of autonomy was also hard for them, but it felt better because they had chosen the particular psych ward.

if your situation isn't urgent, you might prefer partial hospitalization or an intensive outpatient program for more autonomy. if it's urgent, find a psych ward with mostly positive/neutral reviews

 

[deadanddecomposing]

Pretty miserable, especially if you're culturally or religiously different. Food is pretty limited and they flash a flashlight in your face every ten minutes at night, making sleep hard to get. For me, the nurses were the worst part, mocking me and other patients pretty relentlessly.

 

[limenlux]

My personal experience wasn't helpful, but I'm thankful that it wasn't harmful either.

The ward itself was clean, the food was much better than I expected, and the staff were very courteous and polite as long as you were cooperative.

I spent a lot of time speaking with another patient who coincidentally had the same job as me, which was amusing.

 

[Spite]

Did they have to stay outside while you went to the bathroom?

They did always wait outside but they didn't want me staying in there unsupervised for too long.

Do you mind saying what country you're in? I'm sorry you went through what sounds like torture. My experiences in the US were very different. I either had my own room or was with a roommate and we were encouraged to get out of our rooms and attend groups and be around other people. Plus I was a smoker and there was a smoking room that opened once an hour. I took full advantage of that. Unfortunately that right may no longer exist. I suspect if someone was in the bathroom for a long time that staff would intervene but otherwise we could go whenever we wanted.

I don't mind saying. I'm in Australia. And for added context, I was involuntarily committed to a psych ward in 2022 because I publicly threatened a violent suicide. Ending up being detained shortly after and I was whisked away to the mental hospital and placed on suicide watch. It was pretty terrible... but I think it could be worse. I'm glad I was only there for a week and not longer. The place you stayed at sounds better and I'm glad you were able to make use of the things available to you there.

 

[here_for_now]

its pretty ass. the docs and nurses are burnt out beyond belief, and theres a 50/50 chance you get a provider who a asshole for no reason. the food is shit, the people vary but theres always the person that makes you realize that you dont want to be here. and they check up on your room every 15 mins so no privacy at all and its boring

 

[ipmanwc0]

was very traumatized, and so were most of the people who were there too. -10/10 would not recommend