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Doglover
Senior Contributor

To hospital or not to hospital

Hi all,

This is from part of a conversation i was having with @BryanaCamp on another thread and it was suggested that this might be a more appropriate place for it as more ppl wld see it. So here it is....

Things r ridiculously tough here. I think im close to hospital but absolutely petrified at the thought. Im jusst not getting better. They keep telling me to up meds but it doesnt help. I might b better for 1 night then the next day and beyond, things just get worse. Im at my wits end and just dont know what to do. Im so scared if i do go into hospital i wont get ne better neway due to my concerns about the fact that im sensitive to excipients in the medications, so whatever they giv me is going to make me worse and i may never get out of there. Just so scared and dont know what to do. Things cant keep going on like this.

Has anyone bn hospitalised and If so wld u say it was beneficial for u and resulted in an improvement in ur condition and/or the treatment of ur condition, or not? I am interested in ppl's experiences and whether a stint in hospital was successful in their illness being better managed.

Thanks all.

Thanks too @TAB 

 

183 REPLIES 183

Re: To hospital or not to hospital

Hi @Doglover 

I have only been out of hospital for a few weeks. I was in a private mental health hospital for 3 weeks. I have had 5 admissions in the last 2 years.

Every admission was different and some more useful than others. My last visit was helpful. I was very suicidal before I went in and had had a few unsucceful attempts.

I was able to reset my brain in there. It gave the pdoc a chance to change my meds too and enough time for them to start being effective. It also gave me a break from the pressures of everyday life. I had been struggling for awhile trying to cope and I found it helpful to give my brain and body a rest.

I did not come 100% but I came out significally better than I went in. My mental illness will always be there and of course I still have some daily struggles but I am now able to cope with everything better than I was before I went in.

Speak to your professional supports and make a decision with them would be my advice. 

However I do know that people have different experiences of hospital and I guess it also depends on the hospital and what typr of care you receive in there.

I hope this helps

 

Re: To hospital or not to hospital

Hi @Snowie , its nice to 'meet' you. Thank u so much for your reply and for sharing ur experience. 

I am so sorry for the many challenges u hav faced but am glad ur latest hospital admission was beneficial for u and that u r in a better place now than u were before. I am currently in the public system and the public hospital here leaves a lot to b desired. I am absolutely petrified at the thought of being admitted there. I hav recently taken out hospital cover for the express purpose of going into a private hospital shld i need to b admitted but unfortunately thrs still another 6 wks of the waiting period and im not sure i can last that long. Certainly not the way things are. I wld much prefer to go private tho. 

3 weeks is a fairly short space of time to accomplish the positive things that were accomplished while u were in thr. Hav each of ur stays bn around that amount of time or hav they differed? Were u seeing a private psych prior to ur admission who continued ur treatment in hospital? Or was the psych u saw in hospital new to u? Did they sedate u in the earlier part of the stay when u were in a bad way before change of meds had opportunity to work? Sorry for all the questions - i hope u dont mind, i hope im not being too prying.

Thanks again @Snowie  for ur candid response. My thoughts r with u and i hope things continue to improve for u. 

Best wishes

Doglover

Re: To hospital or not to hospital

Don't be sorry for the questions @Doglover !!

I have only ever gone into the private system so cannot comment on how the public system works.

Most of my stays have been around 2-3 weeks. I have never stayed longer then 3 weeks in there. I was seeing a private psychiatrist before I went in who put in the referral to the hospital. I did not see him in the hospital however. I saw a different psychiatrist in hospital. Lucky the one I saw last time I had seen before in the hospital so did not have to tell him my "story" again. They did not sedate me at all. They increased my PRN when I first went in but it was still my decision to want to take the prn. I did however rely on the prn's to help.

At the start of my admission I had no leave so the temptation to self harm was taken from me as I had no means to do it. I also didn't have any means to take my own life so it was beneficial in helping me when those thoughts were strong.

I know you might be petrified of going in but I am in the belief that if you go into hospital voluntry then you can also discharge yourself too. I may be mistaken in this however.

Re: To hospital or not to hospital

Thanks @Snowie  ☺

Wow, i find it amazing that the stays r usually 2-3 weeks (in ur case anyway), wld hav thought they wld b longer. I think the public mental health unit whr i am wld generally b longer than that.

Pardon my ignorance but what is a PRN?

I hav to come off short term anti anxiety meds (2 different ones) that iv now bn on long term bcoz they havnt found nething else that works. I am on an AP (for anxiety not phsychosis) but it doesnt do enough. I hav alrdy started the process and its sheer torture - and thats doing it slowly, so i cant imagine doing it quicker in hospital without some serious sedation. But of course our cases are different and wld therefore b treated differntly so mayb they wld sedatd me for a time.

I agree with u that its much better to go in voluntarily, and yes i  believe that is the case that u can also leave voluntarily. I wld hate to b in a situation whr that was not the case.

Thanks again for all ur help @Snowie , i really appreciate it. Btw, r u male or female, its nice to know that i think?

Take care and thank u. 

Re: To hospital or not to hospital

Hi @Snowie , i hope u get to see my  full response below and not the one that just said thanks that accidentally got posted. 

Re: To hospital or not to hospital

@Doglover  Hey Doglover go to private don't go to public ok. Privates are great but public no not for you. Love greenpeaxxxx

Re: To hospital or not to hospital

Hi @Doglover 

I’ve been admitted in private hospital once or twice d wry year fir the past 6 years. Like @Snowie my admissions were always different. Going in gives me a break from everyday life and stress. It gives my mind and body a rest and it does “reset “ me fir when I leave. 

My stats have never been longer than 3 weeks. I’m lucky as my psych sees me at this hospital. 

I was scared st the beginning but it’s ok. You’ll have staff that will help you. 

Perhaps having a chat with your psych will help and you can then decide. 

Take care ❤️

Re: To hospital or not to hospital

Hi @Doglover , I was involuntary admitted into the public system and it was pretty rough.  I think regardless of how you are admitted you won't be given leave for the first few days while they evaluate you and try to get your meds right.  I could be wrong on that. There are a few things you can do to prepare or make it a bit more comfortable for yourself, i wasn't given the opportunity.  I would get a cheap music player, one without a phone or internet access as they probably won't allow you to be on social networks or the like.

 

Maybe you could seek admission in another town or location where you think the level of care would be better?  Maybye try and take a time out (hotel) and get away so you can evaluate your own thoughts and feelings for a few days.  This might be a good idea before you make any decision in regard to being in hospital.  My experience in the public system wasn't all bad, you are given the chance to try and look after yourself.  Chances are you will be sharing room with somebody else.  The hard bit is when you are feeling better, there are often people in there that are in a very poor state and it can be depressing to see people that way.  Sometimes the staff just seem to go through the motions of providing care.  

 

Before going in, you could visit them and find out exactly what the rules are around when you can leave and so on.  It might give you a bit more confidence before deciding one way or the other.  Ideally private might be the better option, but, I think you are pretty desparate for help right now.  Will your partner be able to visit and support you through this time?  Without visits from friends or familly it's going to be tougher.

 

I was in there for about 3 or 4 weeks, though it felt like longer.  I sought to be released earlier but got rejected.  I think they knew I was at the end of my tether and let me out soon after my appeal.   A normal day is to get your meds in the morning and evening.  A psychiatrist will see you once every few days for evaluation, theres usually a bunch of nurses and other people in there with them as well.  It's far from a private consultation.  The food is fair to average.  The salmon was alright for dinner, but, the rest of it was ughgh.  I had to get other patients to help me get enough milk and dairy LOL 🙂

 

My thoughts are with you, take good care.  

Re: To hospital or not to hospital

Hi @Doglover 

Sorry feel asleep last night. 

PRN medication is medication that is "as needed". So it is on top of my normal medication. It is for when things get overwhelming for me. Some days I can go without taking it and some days I need that extra dose to help me cope.

Getting the right combination of meds is extremely hard. I have tried numerous ones over the years, some more helpful then others. The combination I am on at the moment is working well so hopefully it continues that way.

Hopefully your med change is not too bad for you and the hospital can help. I have in the past found it more helpful to do the med change in hospital rather than at home.

I am female.

Happy to answer any other questions you might have. Hope you have a good day

 

 

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