Posted by papillon2 on February 23, 2012, at 6:01:37
In reply to Re: how did you know when it was time for hospital?, posted by stargazer2 on February 22, 2012, at 20:25:56
The responses to this thread show the variety of experiences in psychiatric (and other) hospitals. The good, the bad, and the expensive child minding.
As a psych patient in a public hospital a couple of times as a teenager I was traumatized/abused and left in a worse state than when I arrived. The experience still poses considerable barriers to future treatment.
Since then I have also had a couple of short stays (2 days) as a psych patient in public hospitals (ER), and the majority of nurses are rude and insolent and waste no time in telling you -- directly and indirectly -- that you are a waste of space and time.
HOWEVER, I have also had very good experiences in a private psych hospital where I see my own psychiatrist and psychologist. There is a good inpatient group program and only a couple of bad nurses. They aren't perfect -- the nurses don't seem to understand severe psychomotor retardation, for example, and occasionally give you the wrong meds (!!!!!), but overall it's a good place where you DO get better.
I think it is important to recognize that not all hospitals are the same. There are some very, very bad hospitals out there where abuse is rife and health professionals know they can get away with it because no one will believe the mentally ill person. But there ARE good hospitals out there where you are safe (-ish, you can kill yourself anywhere if you really want to) and treated with compassion, and where you can be stabilized much more quickly than you can on the outside. Med changes can be implemented far more quickly in hospital than outside, which can be crucial when you are severely sick.
So baby, bath water, all that.
Ring the bells that still can ring
forget your perfect offering
there is a crack in everything
that's how the light gets in
~ Leonard Cohen
poster:papillon2
thread:1010926
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120221/msgs/1011265.html