Essentially, a psych hospital is like a nursing home. Whatever our diagnoses, we were all in the same boat. But while those weeks in hospital rank as some of the worst of my life, a part of me is thankful I was admitted. I was also lucky in that it was a newly built hospital, with single occupancy en-suite bedrooms: more reminiscent of university halls of residence than the lunatic asylum I’d pictured. 4 a.m. Everyone hears stories about psychiatric hospitals and I fell for them too. Stacey is going to work in Springfield Hospital, one of the oldest mental health units in the UK, to see what life is really like on the front line of mental health services. It depends on whether you are going to a Private Psychiatric Hospital or one run by the State. Every half an hour, a nurse or healthcare assistant (HCA) would open my door to check I was safe. Depending on the profile and of the patients and the quality of the staff members, some wards can be peaceful therapeutic places. Yes, it was horrendous, lonely and frightening, but it kept me safe until the crisis had passed. I’ll admit I had my own irrational meltdown when, yet again, I went to get my dinner to discover all the vegetarian food had been eaten. I imagined padded cells, straightjackets and a prison-like culture. Without the security of the psych ward when I most needed it, I wouldn’t be here today. She had been suffering with psychosis. I wake up and it is still dark. I have been in inpatient full time before for an eating disorder but I am now beginning a six week course of intensive … The ward was staffed mainly by agency nurses, and their lack of commitment to and interest in their role – presumably linked to pitiful rates of pay – couldn’t have been more obvious. I’ve never been as scared as I was on the evening I was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Stacey is going to work in Springfield Hospital, one of the oldest mental health units in the UK, to see what life is really like on the front line of mental health services. On one occasion, all hell broke loose when a patient was banned from using the microwave to make chocolate crispy cakes: a trivial matter that ended with the police being called and the ward in lockdown. One thing was for certain: this was not a psychiatric ward - and as a doctor working on one, I found myself acutely aware of what my own patients’ bedside tables looked like. A doctor who works in psychiatry is called a psychiatrist. Nevertheless, the ward was explosive at times, something I found extremely intimidating. More than just observing, she will be working directly with staff, dealing with patients, and taking part in making incredibly tough decisions on what is best for patients. The facilities and clinical expertise there is very good. The first thing I see when I enter the psychiatric unit is a girl, Becca, mumbling to herself and shuffling up and down the hallway. The only difference is that the doors are locked and there are bars on the windows. Ovie Soko: People tend to forget that I’m an athlete first, but I can’t forget that, Being British East Asian: Sex, Beauty & Bodies, 'I found a lump in my breast when I was 28 weeks pregnant', Every question you ever had about female ejaculation, answered, The Rap Game UK winner Graft: 'The more rappers from the North, the better the scene will be', We Are Who We Are: 'I've moved 10 times and been to 11 different schools', Strictly Frocked Up! My mental image of what to expect was based mainly on films like One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and Girl, Interrupted; surely I wasn’t mad enough for that world of locked doors, maniacal nurses brandishing syringes and empty-eyed patients shuffling along the corridors in slippers? While I was fortunate to be in a modern, well-equipped psychiatric hospital, the strain that the NHS is under was all too evident in the staff and their attitude towards us patients. I’d obviously realised that my freedom would be restricted on the psych ward, but I, perhaps naively, hadn’t fathomed how much. Being isolated within a hospital psychiatric unit may seem contrary to what you need when you’re not in a stable frame of mind. if u were sectioned what is the place like where they take you?? That episode led to me being on 10-minute obs for the rest of the day and, believe me, there’s nothing fun about having an HCA following your every footstep and wedging your bedroom door open to keep tabs on you. 1 decade ago. The walls are white and bare, in stark contrast to the other hospital hallways, painted a muted, compassionate shade of beige and decorated with strategically placed art and various memorials to rich benefactors. The fear of the unknown consumed me. I'm a nurse and I worked at a psychiatric hospital for years and years. What it's like to be in a psychiatric hospital during Covid-19 'Being alone in a single room for that long is enough to send anyone crazy, let alone someone who is already psychotic.' Unlike many mental health inpatients, I was lucky enough to be given a bed in a hospital just a few miles from home. can u describe ur experiences.. Writer and mother, passionately outspoken about living with mental illness. Cheryl Hole tries the salsa, Watch Stacey Dooley: On the Psych Ward on iPlayer. No, this hall is the kind of bright white you feel like … One well-meaning friend commented, after my discharge, that it must have been nice to have a break. Lv 6. Time after time I was left waiting for my meds long after they were due and, with the exception of one or two lovely nurses, there was not a single staff member I felt I could talk to. A few weeks before her admission, her antipsychotic medication was changed. It's very important to me that I get the details of such an experience correct, like what psychiatric drugs would be administered, what the procedure for … Whats it like in a psychiatric hospital? She was first diagnosed with the condition in 2019, but had been suffering with recurrent episodes ever since. Answer Save. I think the thing that makes psych hospitals sound so scary is their history of being horrible places that systematically mistreated and … This was intrusive during the day, and even more so at night, when they’d switch the light on and, more often than not, leave without turning it off. I would like to make it clear that people do recover from mental illness. The windows were covered with a mesh grille to prevent any attempts to escape. What It Was Like for Me to Stay in the Mental Hospital In my case, as I was in a non-locked ward and I had signed myself in, I could sign myself out for short periods of time too so while I was “in” the mental hospital, I actually spent a lot of time in the park next door. The daily lifestyle email from Metro.co.uk. Surge in Covid vaccine misinformation ‘could cost lives’, Arsenal ready to speak to Manchester City misfit John Stones over January transfer move, Trainee church minister forced himself on mentally ill woman in hospital, Harry Styles mocks the ‘bring back manly men’ trolls as he eats banana in a frilly suit, Taylor Swift debuts re-recorded version of Love Story for Ryan Reynolds’ hilarious Match advert, What happened when I came out about my mental illness on Facebook, The truth about parenting with a mental illness, Why self-harm isn’t ‘something just teenagers do’. We inpatients had landed ourselves in hospital for a variety of reasons. Psychiatry is a medical field concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental health conditions.