Story I kind of miss the psych ward.

[Anxieyote]

While I was there, I really thought I would hate every moment of it. But honestly, I got to socialize and have irl conversations with people who were struggling just like me and it felt kind of good.

I was fed, and all of my needs were taken care of. The rigid structure of each day provided much-needed consistency I haven't had in a long time. I got to do fun things like color, draw, and write. We even had "movie nights" and I think I will fondly remember debating over which movie to watch with my fellow inmates. I had never seen the movie Anchorman before, and everyone was like, "Really?? You have to watch it!" and we all gathered around the TV like a family.

I find myself spiraling out of control after about a month of leaving, and I kind of wish I could go back. There were bad aspects about it, but I got to see all these mentally-ill people gathered in one place. The types of people who would browse forums like these and weren't afraid to have open discussions about suicide.

Being there was the first time I ever got to openly discuss my parent's divorce and my suicidal thoughts casually; face-to-face with real life people.

I probably got very lucky, because I have read many horror stories on here about psych wards.

 

[Darkover]

if you've ever been in a psychiatric ward you know that it's an environment calculated to make you crazy and to keep you crazy, there a lot of nasty people in psychiatric wards
it's not a safe environment to be in, you're not allowed to have your laptop charger or phone chargers in room or dorm, the food is awful,
the internet service is slow, you have to ask someone to use the showers, the staff won't let anyone talk openly about suicide they tell you to shut up,
they force you to take medication with all kind of side effect, they force you to do drug test, they have cameras all around the ward just not in the dorms,
you're lock up on the ward 24/7 for the first couple weeks into you get privileges or level, you can't really masturbate, the wards are locked so people have to press a button to ring a loud bell to come back into the ward that is always going off, you have to watch your property from being stolen, you have to share a toilet with lots of people that is disgusting the toilets don't have toilet seats,
uk nhs
i've seen someone throw a table at another person causing them to have a black eye for no reason he was move to another hospital and then he was transfer back to us he was very nasty all the time threatening people with violence, someone got their laptop robbed, a lady use to go into the washing machine room and steal people's clothes and take them to her room many times, i had my ipod and headphones stolen, someone set a fire in there dorm with newspapers, i've seen some kick off by throwing chairs at the walls and windows, some of the people there have really bad body odor, the staff use force to restrain people causing them injuries, you've got staff checking in every room every 15 minutes 24/7 checking to see everyone is okay doing a person count, there is people who talk to themselves out loud, there's drugs in there like cocaine that's how i got started on it, don't get me wrong like 70 percent of the people are decent but only takes a few to make it a horrible place to be, i've been sectioned 3 times twice on a section 2 28 days and once on a section 3 6 months

 

[Anxieyote]

if you've ever been in a psychiatric ward you know that it's an environment calculated to make you crazy and to keep you crazy, there a lot of nasty people in psychiatric wards
it's not a safe environment to be in, you're not allowed to have your laptop charger or phone chargers in room or dorm, the food is awful,
the internet service is slow, you have to ask someone to use the showers, the staff won't let anyone talk openly about suicide they tell you to shut up,
they force you to take medication with all kind of side effect, they force you to do drug test, they have cameras all around the ward just not in the dorms,
you're lock up on the ward 24/7 for the first couple weeks into you get privileges or level, you can't really masturbate, the wards are locked so people have to press a button to ring a loud bell to come back into the ward that is always going off, you have to watch your property from being stolen, you have to share a toilet with lots of people that is disgusting the toilets don't have toilet seats,
uk nhs
i've seen someone throw a table at another person causing them to have a black eye for no reason he was move to another hospital and then he was transfer back to us he was very nasty all the time threatening people with violence, someone got their laptop robbed, a lady use to go into the washing machine room and steal people's clothes and take them to her room many times, i had my ipod and headphones stolen, someone set a fire in there dorm with newspapers, i've seen some kick off by throwing chairs at the walls and windows, some of the people there have really bad body odor, the staff use force to restrain people causing them injuries, you've got staff checking in every room every 15 minutes 24/7 checking to see everyone is okay doing a person count, there is people who talk to themselves out loud, there's drugs in there like cocaine that's how i got started on it, don't get me wrong like 70 percent of the people are decent but only takes a few to make it a horrible place to be, i've been sectioned 3 times twice on a section 2 28 days and once on a section 3 6 months

I'm sorry to hear that. I know I got lucky, because stories like these are so common in this community. I happened to be with a group of people who were warm and kind to each other. The stars aligned in this scenario, but I don't doubt for a second that the majority of psych wards are absolute hellholes.

 

[Kobusu]

While I was there, I really thought I would hate every moment of it. But honestly, I got to socialize and have irl conversations with people who were struggling just like me and it felt kind of good.

I was fed, and all of my needs were taken care of. The rigid structure of each day provided much-needed consistency I haven't had in a long time. I got to do fun things like color, draw, and write. We even had "movie nights" and I think I will fondly remember debating over which movie to watch with my fellow inmates. I had never seen the movie Anchorman before, and everyone was like, "Really?? You have to watch it!" and we all gathered around the TV like a family.

I find myself spiraling out of control after about a month of leaving, and I kind of wish I could go back. There were bad aspects about it, but I got to see all these mentally-ill people gathered in one place. The types of people who would browse forums like these and weren't afraid to have open discussions about suicide.

Being there was the first time I ever got to openly discuss my parent's divorce and my suicidal thoughts casually; face-to-face with real life people.

I probably got very lucky, because I have read many horror stories on here about psych wards.

No fucking way. I think we were in the ward together.

 

[Rayzieka]

Sounds very lucky. If you find yourself returning I hope you get the same psych ward.
I've witnessed fist fights and other outbursts along with being charged at by a screaming lady during my stays lol.

 

[healthrecovery]

Psychiatry absolutely ruined my life.. these hospitals are absolute shitholes
2nd time i went back is because i was having some sort of delusion... i believed i had to went back and fast in te hospital to release my karma...absolute bullshit of course but the thought was real to me. In the hospital i developed full blown psychosis because of all the abuse and stress...i never recovered from this.

Generally most people can deal with psychosis and can be functional its triggered by stress and this ismexactly what these hospitals do

 

[Anxieyote]

Psychiatry absolutely ruined my life.. these hospitals are absolute shitholes
2nd time i went back is because i was having some sort of delusion... i believed i had to went back and fast in te hospital to release my karma...absolute bullshit of course but the thought was real to me. In the hospital i developed full blown psychosis because of all the abuse and stress...i never recovered from this.

Generally most people can deal with psychosis and can be functional its triggered by stress and this ismexactly what these hospitals do

I can definitely see someone not reacting well at all to the experience…I knew inmates who were getting locked out of their rooms because they retreated back to them too often, and they were either forced to wander the halls or participate in group activities.

One guy just stayed in the little living room section the whole time, clutching his knees and crying. I don't think he was benefiting from it whatsoever.

There is also something psychologically fucked-up by being in an environment where it's like, "You will comply. Or else."

I know I struggled a lot with having all of my belongings and familiar items taken away. My only comfort was my wolf shirt that they let me have, and I hugged it the first night I was there and pretended it was a stuffed animal (they wouldn't let me have the actual stuffed animal I brought because they said people sneak drugs into the facility with them).

 

[FuneralCry]

I'm pleased for you that you did not have a bad experience. Being trapped in a psych ward is one of my worst nightmares, I see them as doing more harm than good personally from what I have heard.