Posted by Noa on February 22, 2000, at 7:20:59
In reply to Adam, are you still around?, posted by Janice on February 21, 2000, at 22:09:33
Harry, Janice is right, I was in the hospital once. I didn't post about it, because my hospitalization was a long time ago, and I thought it would be more relevant coming from those who have been in the hospital more recently.
In the early 80's I checked myself into the hospital when I got to a point I was sure I would act on my suicidal urges.
This wasn't reputed to be the best hospital around town, but it was no snakepit, either. It was a small private hospital. No sedation, no restraints, that I saw, although I am sure they might be used if needed.
The first 24 hours I was on a locked unit, which was staffed by one nurse and a bunch of mental health technicians, who seemed very ill-trained. However, occasionally, more capable staff would come in to lead groups, like an art group with an art therapist.
Then I was moved to an unlocked unit, which was much better. It was staffed by psychiatric nurses, one of whom was also trained as a clinical social worker. The nurses were more available for talking, and were helpful. There were also various meetings, discussions, etc. and you could go elsewhere on the grounds for different groups. I went to one that was a music jam session, and the therapist did a great job of blending musicians and non-musicians by color coding the keys, etc. There was one on relaxation techniques, one arts and crafts type thing, one on identifying aspects of your life you can or can't change and selecting a realistic goal to work on, one on identifying things that help you feel better about yourself, etc.
Some of these groups were well run by really competent people, others were just time fillers.
I met some very interesting people there, and still remember things about them. I remember sitting outside just relaxing with some folks, and one guy, Scott, who had been in the hospital a long while and was very close to leaving, said to me, "You know some people in this hospital are really crazy, they think they're God or something". Then he asked if I believed in Jesus Christ. When I said no, he said, "That's ok, I forgive you". I really got the feeling he was trying so hard to work through his delusions. He also made the joke, as we were watching the Boston Pops perform for July 4th, on TV, "What's Arthur Fiedler doing now?" Ans: "He's decomposing!"
I still feel a sort of affection/connection with my hospital compatriots.
The MDs at this particular hospital left a lot to be desired. I found mine to be arrogant and unavailable--he missed a scheduled appointment. And, since I was in the hospital over a holiday, my doctor forgot to give the nurses orders relaxing my restrictions (that he told me he would), and I had to wait an extra two days until he came back from being off, in order to get certain priveleges (like walking to therapy groups by myself without having to be escorted by a nurse).
This hospital did ECT, so there were a lot of patients who were there for that, including an entire unit of older folks. My roomate had ECT, and I remember being upset at her memory loss. Interestingly, we had infrequent visits from the doctors, but she (I think she was the only one on my unit getting ECT at the time) got regular visits from her neurologist to check up how she was functioning.
As a Harvard Community Health Plan patient, I had the benefit of a nurse who came to visit every day to check on my care, and meet with me about discharge planning. That helped. Between this, and help from one of the nurses, I decided to get into group therapy(and actually found one with their help), in addition to my individual, and to start some volunteer work. At the time, I was extremely lonely and shy, so these two things were good moves for me.
Anyway, I don't know if my story adds anything to your thinking. It was not considered to be a very good hospital, and some aspects made me angry, but it served a good purpose at the time.
poster:Noa
thread:22792
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000220/msgs/23053.html