Posted by iris2 on September 27, 2004, at 11:58:03
In reply to Re: Did anyone *like* being in hospital psych ward?, posted by trouble on September 5, 2002, at 12:35:15
Trouble,I have been in many hospitals, on many psch wards. I was in one psychiatric hospital for a year. My usual experience in a psych ward in a general hospital is that no one really knows what they are doing including the docs. You will usually give everyone the newest med on the market regardless of past history or dx. Generally I felt a sense of relief for about a week even though most of the staff treated me like an animal. To be sure usually one they could boss around a bit but sometimes pet if they so desired. My relief was being out of my own messed up environment. After about a week I usually could not stand the treatment of the staff or some of the worst personalities and acting out of them on the unit and high tailed it out of there. I also spent several stays in a psychiatric hospital "Western Psychiatric Hospital and Clinic' in Pittsburgh. It was the worst. Here the docs thought they knew it all and they did not. Everyone was extremely controlling and basically you had to suffer through your stay. If you did not follow all their rules they would constantly threaten to commit you. I actually had it happen once and even my therapist, who worked sometimes at the hospital, filed a complaint. So it was not all my illness and me.
One experience I had there that I never told anyone for many years is when I was rather young one of the aids took a liking to me. He would ask permission to take me outside the grounds to get prescriptions for other patients. One time after a while he tried to kiss me in the elevator. I was like 17 and scared to death. That day or the next he locked me in an office and told me that I was a nymphomaniac and so was he and that all I needed was for us to get together. All I could do was quiver and cry. He finally just let me out. I guess he knew me enough to think I would not tell anyone and I was too afraid to.
When I stayed in the long-term hospital it was like a feeding frenzy at meal times. It was family style. It was gross. Some patients would pick their nose all day and then get to the food before you for instance. Some of the patients ate so gross I cannot even explain it. It was even more disturbing to me as I have an eating disorder. They did not help me much at that hospital. The doc I had was great though. I saw him every day and sometimes on the weekend. He was very dedicated to his work. He was in charge of the unit I was on in that hospital. After a year or so he decided that it was not helping me. At least he was honest about what his abilities were which is much more than I can say for most of the pdocs I have seen in clinics and hospitals.
Obviously I have little good to say about in hospital or outpatient clinics. You wanted to know a woman’s point of view. Here is one.
Irene
poster:iris2
thread:29525
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20040923/msgs/395751.html