Psych wards -- Have they ever REALLY helped you?

[zombiesarepeaceful]

I'm considering admitting myself. I've been in a psych ward 4 times before, but it never helped me. Why? Cause my underlying problem isn't a mental disorder, its a lack of thousands of dollars to make me feel alive for once in my fucking life....but that's another story that I'd rather not go into.

I have suicidal thoughts multiple times a day, almost constantly. Occasionally, such as now, they get severe enough to where I almost act on them. I wonder why I haven't yet, honestly. Yes, I'm severely depressed. I also struggle with anxiety and slight OCD, paranoia, and I have ADHD, which I'm being treated for. But I'm afraid if I go into the psych ward, they'll take my off my add meds which DO help that aspect of my mind, and it'll be bye bye all hopes of not feeling ADD. I go through phases every few years where I'll become OCD over shit, then I start worrying excessively about my health, leading to hypochondria...been like that since I was a kid.

I guess my question is, have you ever been in a psych ward where they actually helped you...instead of throwing pills at you that were completely unrelated to your condition and didn't help, and didn't treat you like an animal, etc....have they ever put you on the right meds and saved you from killing yourself, or did it just make you feel more suicidal?

When you got out, was your whole life ruined? I mean, behind on bills, etc? I've had to take off work for reasons before, but I always had a doctor's excuse and I know I'd get one if I was in a psych ward. But I don't want my employer to let me go cause I take time off. If I lost this job, I lose everything. But I also need my sanity.

 

[love2party]

What do you take for your adhd? Chronic ingestion of stimulants that are used to treat adhd can cause alot of the symptoms you are experiencing. I have never been to a psych ward. I suffer from depression and anxiety but I have rarely ever felt suicidal. If you feel you might hurt yourself you should check into the psych ward. I think your life should be your first priority and not your adhd.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Psych wards have helped me in that they are a safe place geared to helping a person stabilize. When very manic, suicidal, or psychotic I think a psych ward is the place to be.

I don't think psych wards are profoundly curative. You don't come out as good as new or without any problems. Hopefully adequate follow-up care is planned for when one is a patient but that sort of thing is going to vary a lot from system to system. Many mental health systems are broken and underfunded.

I have not been in a psych ward for almost 12 years. I wouldn't go again unless I really had to have a stable environment to prevent me from acting out in a way that would create grief for myself or others.

I think detox, rehab, treatment are different sorts of situations. If someone needs to be off drugs or alcohol and will not succeed without an inpatient setting or are more likely to succeed via inpatient treatment that it is very worth doing.

I hate group in mental hospitals I've been in. They throw to many people with very different problems all together. The ones I've been to were at minimum a waist of time some of them were very degrading and borderline abusive. Having adults in pajamas state a goal and then having everybody clap for them like they just won the special Olympics is counter-therapeutic in my opinion.

Bottom line when you really need to be in a psych ward it is the place to be. Unless one is entering a specialized program for a specific sort of problem I wouldn't expect much good to come other than possibly finding a med regimen or a good aftercare situation.

My whole life has never been ruined by a hospitalization but I've been seriously setback by being sick. If you need a safe stable place don't let the bills or other things hold you back from getting help. Most psych stays these days in the US are very short, usually days rather than weeks.

 

[theartofwar]

I've been section 12'd twice and without the psych wards who knows if I would be here - I was not held too too long so I cannot comment on whether or not the longer term will be - but they got me medicated / with a doctor before releasing me and I didn't end up seeing shit / hearing things again for years. So YEA they are def a help - but do research, know the place the reason you are going in and the reputation. Best of luck to ya.

 

[zombiesarepeaceful]

What do you take for your adhd? Chronic ingestion of stimulants that are used to treat adhd can cause alot of the symptoms you are experiencing. I have never been to a psych ward. I suffer from depression and anxiety but I have rarely ever felt suicidal. If you feel you might hurt yourself you should check into the psych ward. I think your life should be your first priority and not your adhd.

I take adderall. I know the signs of burning out from it, and I've stopped taking it before when I knew it was the cause of my depression, lethargy, etc. Sort of a "drug holiday". I haven't even taken my addys for weeks now, and my head is spinning like a fucking meth head...3 cars are trying to drive down a 1 lane street, all side by side. that's how my brain is without my adderall. I can't focus on reading. I can barely form a coherant sentence to type this.

 

[Ds]

hey zombie,
yeah I've been to them before. mostly they were fallowing a drug overdose/attempt suicide.
They are good place to go to get your meds straight, and to be in a ''safe place'' for a few days.
each takes their own i guess,. don't know how the psych wards are out there, around here they are not so bad.. there's therapy, gym/exercise. plus pretty good food.
and you can read, so most the times they have books or some puzzles you can work.

eh, i notice they will help me like 30 days after i leave the hospital. then i'll start to fall back .. they are helpful when you don't feel like a lab specimen in there.

 

[Sweet P]

Psych wards have stopped me killing myself or somebody else.

Being committed wasn't fun, but it gave me some time to get my head sorted out.

 

[villian]

Psych wards have helped me in that they are a safe place geared to helping a person stabilize. When very manic, suicidal, or psychotic I think a psych ward is the place to be.

yup. for someone in the middle of a crisis the psych ward is invaluable. I had a bunch of pure diazepam once and ended up eating almost a gram of it over a couple of days.. if I hadn't been admitted to the psych ward by family I most certainly would of woken up in jail not remembering a thing and possibly after hurting myself or someone else.

I guess my question is, have you ever been in a psych ward where they actually helped you...instead of throwing pills at you that were completely unrelated to your condition and didn't help, and didn't treat you like an animal, etc....have they ever put you on the right meds and saved you from killing yourself, or did it just make you feel more suicidal?

from my limited experience the treatment was mostly medication based. they did have a psychologist who came in once a week who you had limited time with, but you could also see him after leaving the psych ward for full sessions or he could refer you to a colleague.

 

[alwaysblazed]

I never been to one but we had to admit my sister (she wanted to be) after her suicide attempt. Ugh the site of her puking up her stomach lining still remains in my head. Anyways she said the group sessions did work but I believe the main thing that she learnt was she never wants to be in their again. She had to sit in a room with nothing and then stay with all the random people in the ward. One guy was a older jewish guy and played cards with her and said his sister and brother sent him there....and they were trying to kill him. He then tried to play footsies with my sister and asked if she wanted to take a shower with him. Now let me say my sister was only fifteen and this guy was I don't even know how old... Also another girl had all these cuts all over and it was really bad. My sister was a cutter but was even shocked. Although some people in there were different she did get sometime to think what she did and what she could do to help herself.

Well one day it ended up I wanted to kill myself and I talked to my sister. She was trying to tell me not to go and just to stay with her. I guess she really didn't like the place... Yet all I can say if you're a danger to yourself do whatever you can to save yourself...even if it means putting yourself in a mental hospital. It won't be fun but it will be worth it. Just be prepared on what may happen/who you will encounter.

Also about the people above my sister met....they did help her because they could relate (the girl who was a cutter) and she met other younger people in there. They all talked and it did help in the process. It also helps to talk to people who are going through some of the same things you're facing.

 

[SideOrderOfOpiates]

IMHO, psychiatric hospitals are a double-edged sword.

I have been admitted four times—all of which were involuntary. Three out of the four times I was a teenager. The fourth time I was simply behaving like one! Haha! Anyway, I have not once found that a psychiatric hospital provided me with any type of valid coping material. I have also only felt as though I was being treated in a 'humane' fashion one out of the four times, and that was as an adult via acquired charm/manipulation techniques. I have found that with myself, every time I have been truly suicidal, no one has found out about my suicidal ideations. Needless to say, I have never been admitted for being truly suicidal. In my personal experience, when I have really wanted to die, the last thing I would even contemplate doing would be to tell a third party. I am by no means saying this to pass any sort of judgement on your case, but merely to state that the motives behind your potential psychiatric visit should be considered. Are you crying for help, or are you really thinking of offing yourself? Granted, if you know you are seriously considering suicide and handle it differently than I, by all means, get whatever help necessary. Hell, get whatever help necessary even if you are not suicidal. We all need a bit of help in life at times.

With that said, I will say (and with assurance) that psychiatric hospitals have helped give me a place to sober up. One trip to a psychiatric hospital actually landed me 8 and half months in a level 14 lockdown facility. Needless to say, I had plenty of time to get clean there. Now, here lies the problem. When I was released, I was fortunate enough to not have any financial burdens, but I was still left with all the mental. The time I had spent locked in freezing cold rooms with suicidal phrases and blood scrawled on the walls had left me with quite the urge to get loaded—so I did.

When I came back from the level 14 lockdown facility (which was basically a rehabilitation school for troubled youth), I fucked up tenfold. If you are looking for them to help keep you safe from yourself and others momentarily, you have yourself a winner. Just don't expect it to be a stay at The Four Seasons (most likely even the Motel 6 for that matter). On the other hand, if you are looking for them to 'save' you and provide you with the tools you need to live a better life, that isn't the place for you unless you are really, really struggling (severely psychotic, homeless, ect). I advise you to further evaluate what you feel you really need. Psych hospitals I could see as being very beneficial to people who are really mentally ill to the point where they cannot care for themselves. For most people who are simply going through a major 'funk', I have found that they are not successful in alleviating the problem, and instead actually make it more pronounced. Definitely choose at your own discretion, though. Best of luck!

PS. If you opt for it and get cold easily, BRING WARM CLOTHES! They tend to feel similar to a jail cell temperature wise—arrive prepared! Also, make sure the warm clothes have no strings or ties that you could harm yourself with. They will make you remove them.

 

[wooger]

I would never discourage anyone from seeking medical treatment if it could benefit them. However, I was considering whether I should seek treatment in one of these places... then my uncle got sectioned and I went to visit him....

It was pretty distressing, the locks on the doors etc. I know it may be for safety or necesary or whatever but the whole set up was very intimidating. Also, I don't think they helped him at all, I know he was taking shit loads of benzos everyday and i think they reduced his dosage down.

he was only in there for like 3 weeks and was very kinda manic when he went in and he is now extremely depressed, I don't think it had any positive effect on him whatsoever and it probably did more harm than good.

but who knows maybe you could benefit, especially if you feel you may pose a danger to yourself at some point. I'm sure your employer will be understanding if you need time off for medical reasons and I'm pretty sure my uncle had help from social services in terms of his outside life. I hope it all works out for you in any case if you do decide to go in for a while, I wouldn't worry about bills etc, like I said social services may be able to help out and the companies might be lenient if they know you have been in hospital or something....

 

[arctica]

Which part of the country are you in? There's some really good psych hospitals and some really bad ones. Try to find one that specializes in your diagnosis. If drugs or alcohol are in the picture, look for a Dual Diagnosis program that handles both mental illness and substance abuse. That way, you will see someone who understands your condition in greater depth. Also, you hopefully won't be lumped together in a ward full of people with totally different diagnoses than you.

When you say that you're considering admitting yourself, what are you hoping you will get out of it? Long term therapy doesn't really exist inpatient anymore (unless you have $$$), but it's great for quick medication adjustments, for example. They can titrate your dose much more quickly because they can keep a close eye on you for side effects.

Also, if you're feeling unsafe, that's a great reason to admit yourself. If you're depressed to the point where you can't go out to shop for basics like groceries and need someone else to handle food, meds, and shelter while you rest a little and sort things out, that's another good reason. I think the average stay now is 3-7 days, so there's not much they can do to help you on an ongoing treatment besides helping you set up some sort of aftercare plan with outpatient treatment.

 

[zombiesarepeaceful]

I never admit to past or present drug use when I talk to shrinks or doctors. Never have, never will.

Are you crying for help, or are you really thinking of offing yourself? Granted, if you know you are seriously considering suicide and handle it differently than I, by all means, get whatever help necessary. Hell, get whatever help necessary even if you are not suicidal. We all need a bit of help in life at times.

There is a difference between a cry for attention, and a cry for help. I have thought of offing myself for years. Lately I think about it more often, for reasons I don't wish to share in the thread...but...I keep holding out, trying to make the money I need in order to make my life worth living, but I'll never have or be able to fix the shit I never asked for, and because of this reason alone, I don't want to be alive half the fucking time. Suicidal thoughts are stronger at times than others, but over the past few months have been stronger than ever. I've come close to acting on them a few times recently. This is why I'm not sure if a psych ward would even help me, cause they can't hand me money to fix my problems, I have to keep gritting my teeth and working for that shit. So the question is, cave now..or hold out, be the world's laughing stock, and still never fully be alive in spite of busting ass to get somewhere in my life.

My life is a suffocating, degraded joke, but I don't ALWAYS want to honestly and truly die, only sometimes. But in the moment, whatever feeling you experience is overwhelming, and it seems like its the truth. Even when I'm not thinking of suicide, I'm reminded of how I'll never have the things that grate on my fucking mind like goddamn nails on a blackboard, and I want to die. Yet I don't want to die, cause I'm still afraid of death to an extent. I suppose if one fear overcomes the other at some point, where the pain becomes too great, I'll act on one something. Inevitably, I don't understand why what happened to me happened, but I could spend my whole life trying to fix it, and it never will be, and I just can't live with it like this. I wish I could make every goddamn person feel what I do, then they'd stop judging, laughing, mocking me.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

The last time I went to the ER, and this had nothing to do with any mental problems/issues/disease, I was totally dissatisfied. Sadly, I'm not sure that a psych ward could do any good for me.

Could it do good for you? I'm not sure - do you think it would benefit you? Have you asked some questions to local places you can go to in your area? I'm sure they'd be happy to answer your questions.

 

[Jabberwocky]

yes and it did help. tbh, i hated it, it was horrible, but i was completely unable to pull myself out of the hole i was in and knew if i continued i would kill myself or die. i was able to admit myself to a crisis ward voluntarily due to other stuff going on and was glad at the chance as i had been told that at my current rate of weight loss i would face mandatory hospitalisation in a week. i considered stopping going to the doctor but needed their drugs. the crisis ward was able to refer me to a specialised clinic, whereas the mandatory hospitalisation would have involved being locked in a room with no 'privileges,' eg visitors, phone, computer until you gained however many pounds.

it helped in 2 ways: i needed to see where my behaviour, particularly total apathy, was leading me and i had to get back into the habit of just eating 3 times a day. i actually lost weight in there which frankly helped as it proved food wasn't going to make me fat and though i objected to their blanket use of benzos for all 'misbehaviour,' including making legitimate objections to their treatment, even when backed up by my parents, the nurses did deal well with a lot of my intense distress.

i don't know if it will help you, your problems seem very different to mine and the 'kick up the arse' aspect that forced me to commit to recovery just to avoid that place didn't work for you in the past.

 

[AEB]

I was involuntarily in a psych ward for 3 weeks after a suicide attempt and it didn't help at all. If anything it made me paranoid, since every room other than bathroom were monitored with cameras and once I got out I had the feeling that cameras are monitoring me in my very home. During that time in p-ward I spoke to psychiatrist for a couple (perhaps 3-5, can't recall since it was 5 years ago) of times, took benzos and antidepressants daily and was bored out of my mind. I still experience issues after hospitalization, but now I am scared of failing again and doing unrecoverable damage to my brain and other invaluable organs. On the positive side: I saw people who were really fucked up and it made me feel somewhat more satisfied with myself.

I would really love if they would allow MDMA (or anything else, which opens you up and creates platonic love towards all people) to be used for psychotherapy in this country, so it would be possible for me to finally open up to the doctor and speak about my issues without hesitation and feelings of humiliation.

 

[effie]

There can be some really pleasant psych wards - no cameras, lock on the main ward door but thats it and you can go out on leave etc as long as you are not actively suicidal, garden, private bathrooms, artwork etc, all the group/psychology stuff is voluntary.. but I think they are mainly geared up to keeping you safe when you are not safe on the outside (suicidal, neglecting yourself, acutely manic/psychotic) and stabilising you. They don't really go into your underlying issues that much because they are acute wards, designed to look after you then discharge you back to the community for continuing care once you are safe again.

I would speak to a doctor, speak to the wards, speak to community teams and see what people say.. good luck!

 

[Bojangles69]

I have to say a psychward was the only place that actually stopped me from wanting to kill myself at one point of my life. I gave the drs a really hard time too often telling them they were full of shit and to please fuck off. It was going on for 2 months where all I could think about was how I was going to do it, how many pills I needed etc. So I swallowed 1200mg of phenobarbital and like 20mg of xanax.
I think the reason why it helped though was it was an expensive ass clinic. $1000 a day and I stayed for 14 days. Although I still had health insurance at that point (fortunately). I got more help in those 2 weeks for my panic disorder than I had got in 6 years of psychotherapy on the streets. I saw like 3-4 different drs a day + social workers who actually knew their shit. But it was one dr that helped me the most she was an older lady and I think she was the director or something.

They ran test after test, and actually got a thorough and complete history of my life (which had never really been done before even by my shrink or psychiatrist). I still think luck had a lot to do with it though as they just happened to find a combination of meds that eliminated my panic disorder 100%. It was likely the second most pivotal event I've ever gone through in my life aside from prison and if I had not gotten treatment at the carrier clinic (in north NJ) I'm pretty sure I would have tried again and likely succeeded.

So I do feel like a psychward actually saved my life. They definitely do help. But you need to be willing to fight, you need some degree of ambition, and like I said some people just get lucky and other people unfortunately don't. I was definitely one of the "lucky" ones. Just gotta kick this opiate addiction now lol.

 

[zombiesarepeaceful]

I have to say a psychward was the only place that actually stopped me from wanting to kill myself at one point of my life. I gave the drs a really hard time too often telling them they were full of shit and to please fuck off. It was going on for 2 months where all I could think about was how I was going to do it, how many pills I needed etc. So I swallowed 1200mg of phenobarbital and like 20mg of xanax.
I think the reason why it helped though was it was an expensive ass clinic. $1000 a day and I stayed for 14 days. Although I still had health insurance at that point (fortunately). I got more help in those 2 weeks for my panic disorder than I had got in 6 years of psychotherapy on the streets. I saw like 3-4 different drs a day + social workers who actually knew their shit. But it was one dr that helped me the most she was an older lady and I think she was the director or something.

They ran test after test, and actually got a thorough and complete history of my life (which had never really been done before even by my shrink or psychiatrist). I still think luck had a lot to do with it though as they just happened to find a combination of meds that eliminated my panic disorder 100%. It was likely the second most pivotal event I've ever gone through in my life aside from prison and if I had not gotten treatment at the carrier clinic (in north NJ) I'm pretty sure I would have tried again and likely succeeded.

So I do feel like a psychward actually saved my life. They definitely do help. But you need to be willing to fight, you need some degree of ambition, and like I said some people just get lucky and other people unfortunately don't. I was definitely one of the "lucky" ones. Just gotta kick this opiate addiction now lol.

Damn, I need a place like that.
Very intensive outpatient care would also work...but I don't have fucking insurance.

 

[Cloudburst]

They fucked me over so bad. My mother committed me basically every time and now she does everything she can to make sure I don't come back to those places - the negative effects were that obvious. Half the time I was there it was for complete BS; apparently if you're sick enough, something as petty as throwing a water bottle against the wall on your property could get you institutionalized. Sometimes mentally ill people get pissed off like everyone else on earth, but the label stays and has sickeningly unbalanced repercussions justified in the eyes of those that commit you. Doctors can always say I'm delusional and have lack of self-awareness about the situation around me, but that's because they simply would rather commit themselves to the easy task of talking for 5 minutes and prescribing medications, instead of actually listening to what the patients have to say about the situation.

I'd be pretty much catatonic every time I got out of the hospital. It never reduced suicidal ideation, in fact, it gave me time to further plan more detailed suicide attempts (twice for suicide attempts, four or five times for mania/psychosis). My legitimate episodes of mania/psychosis did cease, however, solely due to the ridiculous amounts of antipsychotics administered to me.

The mental healthcare system needs a SERIOUS overhaul.