Yeah, psych ward fucked me up too, besides that they first gave me up to 3mg/d of lorazepam for 3 months and then put me off cold turkey without warning, the isolation indeed is the fucking worst. It's plain torture when they let you in there for longer - thankfully I was never in more than a day but time just hangs there and doesn't pass. They should give you at least a book or have some television etc. to be left alone without nothing is so bad. We had screamers too, I was in different wards, never the psychotic one but it was next to that and every single hour was alarm and all the nurses and security guards ran in there. The ward above was for heavy withdrawals and I guess they just threw people in isolation because they were screaming all day and night ... also these shitty antipsychotics kill the brain's ability to heal itself if you ask me, I never took them for longer but was forced to take some while in wards and I'd say they contributed to PTSD. I couldn't sleep for months, always just with some TV on or lights on etc. it's soo worse when the place which is intended to "heal" you damages you further. I was scared shitless and always afraid of needing another stay. Altogether I was in for maybe 2 years, mostly on acceptable open wards but also like 4-5 months on acute, closed wards ... also mostly just waiting for a place in the open ward, I quickly learned how to behave for not to get tortured by them but it's bad enough to be there and watch how they treat you and others.. and on risperidone which they injected me I got a full on psychotic break, don't remember 9 complete days and got a diagnosis of antisocial disorder.
Oh, and psych wards are the same all over the world. Switzerland is quite modern in some aspects, they try to open the wards as much as possible and don't do cold turkey in most cases but you still find examples of the same bad old stuff.. I know from Mexico that it's the same and you say Australia too, fuck that. I know of a case where somebody is in isolation for months without any distraction.