Ravings from the loony bin

[sigh]

Last Friday morning, at the suggestion of my cousin (who's also my neigbor, best friend, supporter, benefactor, confidant, mentor, child care provider, etc., etc.), I voluntarily admitted myself to an inpatient psychiatric center for evaluation. Early on Sunday I walked out again, certain to never do it again but not exactly regretting my decision either.

It was an interesting ride, not without some truly horrifying moments that maybe I'll share a little later, but I'm wondering if I'm alone in this.

Anyone else ever sleep within the less-than-hallowed halls of a psyciatric unit?

Or are you close to anyone who has?

Or do you work with these folks?

This is a hugely overlooked sector of our society. We tend to look the other way (myself included right up until the end of last week) when confronted by the people who need this care. Along with the developmentally disabled, the mentally ill are among the most discriminated against in our society.

I'll never look at mental illness (or those who suffer from it) in the same way again. And I'll never again avert my eyes when confronting it, or them.

My world has changed.

 

[Guest]

Why not just see a shrink instead? A tad drastic, but hey...if you need the nuthouse..go for it.

lol

 

[Dhalgren]

That 72 hour period must have been quite a trip.


Hope you are doing well, sigh.






Editied to add:
The person above me must be a very insensitive, sad, mean spirited human who enjoys being glib for the sake of harming others.


Now, where is the place we send those kind of people for some analyzing of their sad soul?

 

[sigh]

That 72 hour period must have been quite a trip.


Hope you are doing well, sigh.

Well enough, thanks.

The food sucked and one of my fellow patients really (REALLY) wished that I did to, but I had to (repeatedly) disappoint him.

 

[sabbathstorm]

I worked in a psychiatric hospital for a while. It was one of the most interesting workplaces I've ever been in. I honestly miss it and wonder how a lot of the patients I met are doing now.

It was a very eye opening experience for me and helped me put a lot of things in life into perspective.

 

[Dhalgren]

Haha…even pervs in the loony bin need some lovin' too.

Food in any institution is really very horrid.
Gotta wonder why...

 

[sunstruck]

Well enough, thanks.

The food sucked and one of my fellow patients really (REALLY) wished that I did to, but I had to (repeatedly) disappoint him.

See, that's the last thing you should have to deal with while trying to get well. Don't they have women only floors or something?

 

[sigh]

I work in the very hospital where I was admitted. I used to crack jokes about the infamous "seventh floor" and how much the nurses there came to resemble their patients and all of that.

Now the hospital staff (all thirteen hundred of them) know that I'm one of "them" and it's amazing how they walk on tiptoes whenever mention of the psych unit comes up when I'm around. But I've only worked one shift since then so I'm not sure yet how that'll play out in the end. I hope they loosen up. I want to laugh my way through this.

 

[sigh]

See, that's the last thing you should have to deal with while trying to get well. Don't they have women only floors or something?

No, it's a single floor in a moderately sized hospital. We all shared the common areas. I honestly wasn't offended by the guy. I felt sorry for him, for all of us.

I gave him a hug when I left and the sonofabitch got a boner! I could feel it though his pants. He must live with eternal blue balls.

 

[CarolineOh]

Sigh,
You have my utmost admiration for having the courage to post of your experience with so much honesty and candor.
I seriously considered doing something similar in the early stages of my divorce, but decided against it. That was the right decision for me, but I can recognize very clearly how someone else would choose otherwise.
My very best wishes to you.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Years ago, my best friend spent several weeks in a psychiatric hospital. Along with the personal upsetment I had about her condition, the experience of visiting her there, and meeting the other patients, changed my life.

A rather funny thing happened during one of these visits. Three of us were sitting in my friend's rooms, when it was time for patient "checks". The attendant stood in the doorway, looked at the three of us, then asked "are you all patients here"? We all burst out laughing, and I answered "we could be!".

Those suffering with metal illness are definitely discriminated against in this society, and I have witnessed first-hand how other people's attitudes change when they hear you are either taking meds or going for treatment.

Hope things level out for you soon.

 

[Skibum]

Food in any institution is really very horrid.
Gotta wonder why...

I used to work in a prison. There was a garden that provided fresh vegetables, all run by the inmates. The kitchen was also run by the inmates. It was the best institutional food I have ever tasted.

 

[sigh]

Caroline and Jenny, thanks for your comments. They're much appreciated.

That leveling out thing is what my doctor kept alluding to (though he never said it in so many words). I yearn for the level and yet I fear it too. I WANT highs and lows. Life wouldn't be life without them. But the highest highs and the lowest lows take such a toll.

I don't really want to be level, but I'd like the extremes to be tempered, at least a little.

 

[Guest]

Why would you admit yourself to the psych ward of a hospital you worked in?

Never mind, I guess it's understandable considering. DOH

 

[freescorfr]

I admire your courage, sigh. Your words always speak to me so strongly of how close you are to life itself, in all its aspects, its beauty, pain, ugliness, joy and wonder - and in many dimensions.

I still attend the local hospital as a psychiatric outpatient - it's where alcoholics go here. What goes on behind the locked doors often escapes in horrific cries and groans - true bedlam.

I love your writing.

 

[Dhalgren]

There you go, Skibum.

It's all about allowing the people eating it...to contribute making it.


Good to know there are places actually like that.

 

[Dillinger]

Thanks for writing that, Sigh. I hope you're doing well. *hug*

 

[cymbidia]

My mother was the head nurse in a private psychiatric hospital for nutcase teenagers. Consequently, there was never anything i could do that would shock her.

When he was 17, my brother was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. He was in and out of hospitals. After he turned 18 and hit the road, running away from his delusions, he was in and out of various jails for vagrancy and loitering and petty theft and other such charges, too. Well, before he killed himself, anyway, when he was 19.

Modern society has a very schizophrenic view of mentally ill people. We treat some of them, the high profile crazy people, with compassion and concern but sweep most of them into corners and undeer the rug, ashamed of them, frightened by them, not willing to do right by them.

If they kill themselves, well, that's just one more crazy kid out of the way, right?

Remember, please, that the crazy panhandler at the door of the store is someone's brother, someone's son. Be kind to them, at the very least. No one asks for an inability to process the world like the rest of us. It's not thier fault they're nuts.



sigh, you're an inspiration to me.

 

[sigh]

I admire your courage, sigh. Your words always speak to me so strongly of how close you are to life itself, in all its aspects, its beauty, pain, ugliness, joy and wonder - and in many dimensions.

I still attend the local hospital as a psychiatric outpatient - it's where alcoholics go here. What goes on behind the locked doors often escapes in horrific cries and groans - true bedlam.

I love your writing.

free, there are times when I wish there was no ocean between us. I'd like to see your eyes just once.

 

[sigh]

My mother was the head nurse in a private psychiatric hospital for nutcase teenagers. Consequently, there was never anything i could do that would shock her.

When he was 17, my brother was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. He was in and out of hospitals. After he turned 18 and hit the road, running away from his delusions, he was in and out of various jails for vagrancy and loitering and petty theft and other such charges, too. Well, before he killed himself, anyway, when he was 19.

Modern society has a very schizophrenic view of mentally ill people. We treat some of them, the high profile crazy people, with compassion and concern but sweep most of them into corners and undeer the rug, ashamed of them, frightened by them, not willing to do right by them.

If they kill themselves, well, that's just one more crazy kid out of the way, right?

Remember, please, that the crazy panhandler at the door of the store is someone's brother, someone's son. Be kind to them, at the very least. No one asks for an inability to process the world like the rest of us. It's not thier fault they're nuts.

cym, you make me cry.

Thanks

I'll never forget to be kind to them again. At the very least, I'll greet their most tortured gaze with a smile.

 

[InnesLane]

I work in a hospital with a psych floor too, where you access that floor from a separate elevator in a wing different from the one where the unit is located. Visitors and patients must wind their way off to this wing in the oldest part of the hospital, go to the fifth floor and then come back to the wing where they started before coming up against locked doors where they ring a doorbell to gain entrance.

Okay, that's fine, I suppose. Security is an issue.

But the staff of that floor all have a key that allows them to take the main elevators straight to the fifth floor, then disembark to a small antechamber where they too get into the unit through another locked door.

So if there's a secured door regardless of which elevator is taken to the floor, why do the patients, their families and friends get shuttled off to the dark, rickety areas of the building?

We hide the mentally ill away almost as a conditioned reflex. Thanks, sigh, for shining a light on them here.

 

[sabbathstorm]

I'm very lucky in that the institution where I worked at had a lot of open areas. Passes were granted according to various levels. Some patients were able to go to the next building for aerobics, swimming, or weight training. There was also an area in the back for picnics and walks. Certain afternoons were for crafts and games. Every second week or so there would be field trip somewhere in the community. The summer had two weeks for camping. All of these activities were up to the patient to decide if they wanted to participate.

Patients were definitely not hidden away here. Yes, security was tight but not too overbearing. There was one main door per acute care unit that had a camera on it to see who was coming and going.

 

[sexy-girl]

all i can say sigh is that you have an amazing amount of courage and soul to go through what you are with such grace and a wonderful outlook

 

[sigh]

I'm very lucky in that the institution where I worked at had a lot of open areas. Passes were granted according to various levels. Some patients were able to go to the next building for aerobics, swimming, or weight training. There was also an area in the back for picnics and walks. Certain afternoons were for crafts and games. Every second week or so there would be field trip somewhere in the community. The summer had two weeks for camping. All of these activities were up to the patient to decide if they wanted to participate.

Patients were definitely not hidden away here. Yes, security was tight but not too overbearing. There was one main door per acute care unit that had a camera on it to see who was coming and going.

sabbath, next time I think I'll come to your institution, okay? But only if Skibum runs the kitchen.

Not that I'm planning a "next time" mind you. There's one incident in particular that I'm trying hard to come to grips with. It'll pass with time, I'm sure, but it's frightening how much control of yourself you give up when you enter such a place.

 

[sabbathstorm]

Sure thing but I'll skip crafts You've done a very brave thing and should be commended for realizing when you need help. So many people bottle things up inside.