Being In A Mental Hospital Isn't That Bad, I Think
@MainerMikeBrown (1373)
Bridgton, Maine
March 18, 2018 1:13pm CST
When I was in my early teens, I started dealing with serious depression issues. However, I never got help for it until I was twenty one years of age.
There were a number of reasons why I waited so long. One major reason was that I was afraid that if I were to get help that I could get placed into a mental institution.
Well, sure enough, when I decided to get help for the first time, I was put into a mental institution not long afterwards.
However, I found that being a patient in a mental institution wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I found that the mental health professionals who work in those places were people who cared about me as well as the other patients in the hospital. And I found that the other patients weren't "crazy," but instead were just regular people who were fighting mental illness like I was.
Don't get me wrong: mental institutions aren't my favorite places to be. However, I didn't think they were bad places to be either.
So if you or anyone you know are dealing with mental illness and are thinking about getting help for it and may be fearing that mental institutions and psychiatric wards are bad places to be, think again. Maybe you'll find that it's not so bad to be a patient in one of those places.
7 people like this
7 responses
@Lolaze (5092)
• St. Louis, Missouri
20 Mar 18
I have been in 7 times. The actual one here that is solely for psychiatric issues isn’t too bad. You get taken to the hospital’s gym to run around or play sports and to the art room to do crafts. And therapists come to your unit and do groups. You also go to the cafeteria where they serve okay food and have a salad bar. As long as it’s not raining, staff takes you out to the courtyard4-5 times a day for 10 minutes, if it’s spring or summer sometimes everyone brings a chair out and just holds group out there.
The psychiatric unit on the regular hospital is not so good. Nothing to do but watch TV. Maybe one group a day. If you show any emotion the nurses yell at you to go to your room or they will call security and give you a shot. My doctor doesn’t want me inpatient anymore because the psychiatric hospital doesn’t accept my insurance now and the unit on the regular hospital always just makes a mess of my medication that she has to spend a couple months fixing.
Basically, it’s good if you need to be kept from harming yourself but therapy or a day treatment program is where you’re going to work on really changing your life and the things causing problems.
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
19 Mar 18
depends GREATLY on the hospital.
the ones my mom was in came straight from a horror movie.
but then that was the 70's too..
@allen0187 (59828)
• Philippines
19 Mar 18
Hope your post reaches its intended audience. Someone here in myLot might be needing professional help but is adamant to do so and reading your post might encourage that person to go ahead and seek the medical assistance he/she needs.
@marguicha (230349)
• Chile
18 Mar 18
Hospitals serve to gain back health. Even if they don´t always succeed they are good.
@Essjayd (1567)
•
18 Mar 18
A friend of ours is regularly in and
out of mental health wards! She admits
she's often happier there than at home.
Being in there she's surrounded by others
who understand what she's going through
whether they're fellow patients or staff.
She also doesn't need to deal with the day
to day pressures in life which are too much
for her to cope with when things are bad.
It's a shame there's still such a stigma attached
to mental health issues. It prevents many from
seeking help.
@Courage7 (19626)
• United States
18 Mar 18
Yes but now there are very few mental institutions and when there is there are very few beds. Trust me, I know this from my niece needing to be in one. It was so sad sometimes she was in jail instead and now there are no institutions where she is at all, they have cut down the funding so much.
Good you got help and that you are saying good about the place you went. Yes, may professionals care deeply.
I am tired of people stigmatizing the mentally ill too. It runs in our family, I am not immune.
Thanks too for posting this, it may help someone.
@anikoonline (3250)
• Hungary
18 Mar 18
Thanks for your honesty. Mental hospitals are needed and they can provide real help.
