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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by pretty_paints on March 14, 2006, at 10:58:33
Hi there,
I just wanted to ask about people's experiences of being in hospital. I have been to two different places and I think the first was the best. They were quite different. The first was more modern; nurses came to check on you a lot. The second was like an old manor house. You could go downstairs, and get attention, or dissapear upstairs and NOBODY would come see how you are or check on you. I think it is important that nurses and docs keep an eye on you - especially when you disappear by yourself. Food was good at both, better at first. Nurses were probably better at the second, but the buidling was a joke. It's getting closed down in April just because it was so run-down. At both hospitals I had NO continuity at all, had to start with a new doctor both times. Which really sucked.
Anyway, just so dr bob doesn't move this post, let me update about my meds.
I'm on Clozapine, Efexor and Remeron. I might be coming off Remeron because i) i don't have depression as bad (touch wood) and ii) it's made me put on lots of weight. On it's own it was ok, but added to the Clozapine, it's turned me into a big fat elephant.
Anyway, any experiences you want to tell me about, that would be cool!
love kate x
Posted by James K on March 14, 2006, at 12:13:56
In reply to Hospital experiences, posted by pretty_paints on March 14, 2006, at 10:58:33
Hi, I've been in several over the years. I'm in the states, Texas. It seems that the only way to get in right now is for detox, danger to self or others, or need for massive medication experimentation,(so they can moniter side-effects). I guess all I can say about the experiences is they vary from tiny windowless hallways full of crackheads fighting to something out of a Sandra Bulluck movie. It's a gamble everytime, but I've made wonderful friends in the short term, and met my wife. The follow up is so important, and most hospitals around here are hospital only doctors, so if you don't have on going in (pdoc) you have to somehow find one when you get out.
I'd be happy to answer any specific questions you or anyone else has, on this board or one of the others. I really have been in at least 6 different facilities some multiple times. (I'm poor at follow up and compliance - want the quick fix - learning as I go)
James K
Posted by med_empowered on March 14, 2006, at 16:23:58
In reply to Re: Hospital experiences » pretty_paints, posted by James K on March 14, 2006, at 12:13:56
im not really a big fan of standard issue mental hospitals. I think they're degrading, dehumanizing, and I think they focus so much on the "mental illness" that the person's sick role overwhelms anything else that may be going on in their life and becomes their primary identification. Plus, I think they're basically prisons with therapy.
That said..my experience was OK. I didn't get along with my shrink, but I did get along with the other patients...I had to do some bargaining on the meds (I refused neuroleptics), but other than that it was OK, I mean...as OK as being hospitalized possibly can be.
I'd recommend less dramatic forms of treatment though.
Good luck!
Posted by Phillipa on March 14, 2006, at 20:52:08
In reply to hospitals..., posted by med_empowered on March 14, 2006, at 16:23:58
Hi Katie glad to see you're home and well do you still have the crisis team? Love Phillipa
Posted by Maxime on March 14, 2006, at 21:07:04
In reply to Hospital experiences, posted by pretty_paints on March 14, 2006, at 10:58:33
Hospitals are good for one thing only ... keeping you safe. And some of them aren't even good at that.
I just spent 2 months in a psych hospital. The patients were more helpful than anyone else.
You go to the hospital expecting to get fixed, but you are still broken when you come out.
I will never go again unless there is a court order.
Maxime
Posted by CareBear04 on March 15, 2006, at 15:40:09
In reply to Hospital experiences, posted by pretty_paints on March 14, 2006, at 10:58:33
Hi--
this is an interesting post because it seems like different people have different hospital experiences, especially depending on where they go. i think i've been on a psych unit six times in a little over three years and at four different hospitals.the first hospital stay wasn't too bad. i was on an adolescent/young adult unit, and they had lots of activities like art and ping pong, and the other patients were good support. it made me sad, though, becuase there were kids as young as 15 who were there for months, and i didn't think they had much wrong with them other than f----d up families. we were allowed hospital privileges, meaning we could leave the unit either accompanied or alone, depending on the trust factor, and wander around the hospital, which was cool.
the second stay was pretty bad. it was after a suicide attempt, and the doctors and nurses kept trying to drill into me how bad a thing i had done and, by extension, how bad a person i was. i was luckily only there for six days before my parents came to bail me out. at both the first and second hospital, cell phones weren't allowed, and we had to use the common unit phone to talk to anyone.
the third hospital was the best, amenities-wise, but it was a traumatic experience altogether. every young woman who came onto the floor got a book about borderline personality disorder, and for me personally, they tried to bully me into admitting an eating disorder when i didn't have one. my attending left during the middle of my stay, and a new witch of a woman doctor took over my case and kicked me out when i was still as suicidal as when i was admitted. then, they got all nervous and stuff because they thought i was going to sue them when i refused to sign out AMA (when they were kicking me out). i can laugh about it now becuase they were just so stupid and incompetent and because i had a great outpatient pdoc, but if i had reacted differently, it could have been a really tragic situation.
the rest of my hospital experiences have been overall quite helpful. they've ranged in length from two days to four weeks, and they've all been at the same hospital, which is ranked #1 in psychiatry by US news. the residents have been competent, the attendings have been attentive, and the nurses are the best. they would remember the names of my friends who visited and what kind of juice i like with my meds, and they even played games with me and chatted with me like i was a normal person.
after the first few stays, i swore i would never go back to the hospital, and i cried when i was admitted for the first time to the last place. since then, i've come to think of it as a safe place, and if worst came to worst, there are worse places to go and to be than this psych unit.
i would love to hear other peoples' experiences.
CB
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