What is it like going to the psych ward?

[Xephinar]

I'm seriously contemplating suicide,& I almost OD last night( I didn't cause I couldn't open it).

What happens if you go for a suicide attempt? Or being suicdal?
What happens?

[CosmicNoodle]

Dont worry, you may be able to avoid the ward. But if you cant dont worry, its a place designed to help you and thats what it will do, the nurses will be as kind as possible and the psychs will be as helpfull as possible.
In your current condition it may very well be the best place for you to be.

[Xephinar]

Dont worry, you may be able to avoid the ward. But if you cant dont worry, its a place designed to help you and thats what it will do, the nurses will be as kind as possible and the psychs will be as helpfull as possible.
In your current condition it may very well be the best place for you to be.

I feel weak & worthless going there:( I'm just so scared.

[ComfortableInChaos]

I guess I'll share my story and experience with that kind of situation with you. Every part of this happened to me in 2013. It's a lot so, sorry, but this is what it's like from a firsthand experience. The only reason why I'm posting this (I think I'll copy and paste this into a blog post, too) is for people who really wanna know what it's like from someone who actually went there.

Last year, I posted on FaceBook a status about suicide and someone saw it, showed my mom, and she took me to psych. Yes, I wanted to die. Yes, I wanted everything to end. Yeah, I was over how tragic certain things in my life had been and how certain situations had started being...

So when I got there, my parents both knew I'd be going, my dad also. My mom and my sister took me, my sister was the one who was worried the most out of anyone. They took me there and I walked through this self-locking door with my mom and sister and this woman had me take my shoe laces out (I could never wear those Vans I had on again, I can't figure out how to lace shoes.) I had to give her my belt, my shoelaces, my phone, my hoodie. So I was basically walking in there in a white Hanes tank and some jeans that were kind of sagging, basically showing my boxers, like I usually don't let happen much, making me uncomfortable.

So I walk in a small hallway-like pathway outside, connected to another building, both doors self-locking, also, like the first door. I'm holding my hoodie, belt, laces, phone, and whatever I wasn't allowed to have. I go into the second door in the pathway and my mom, sister, and I wait for hours. Eventually, around 7 PM (we went at 3 PM) or 8 PM, they both left me there. This woman, really really rude woman, took me to her office and asked me if I had a plan, a reason, everything about that and my situation. I told her everything, she sat me back out in the waiting room and around 2 AM, I was toted off to another mental facility in the same hospital.

The moment I got in the van to go there, I knew it was going to be hell... I walk up the steps to go into the place and this cop is walking me in. He takes me to the elevator and another cop was in there, so she took me to the floor I needed to go to. I went up to the Teen floor and I waited in there for about 30 minutes to an hour and this old guy, about 60-70 years old, asked me more questions about what happened and why I wanted to do what I wanted to do. After that, this woman (more rude, harsh, meaner) asked me about everything, also asking questions like "Did you get someone pregnant, did you have a break up, did someone you know die?" Really obvious questions that had nothing to do with my reasoning (very personal, don't feel like explaining why...) By this time, it's already about 4 AM and she tells me she's going on vacation (in my mind, I was glad to not deal with this woman any more than I needed to, since she was gonna be on vacation) so I leave her and wait again.

This male nurse, he was really, really nice, he took me to the guy's section (they were split, guys and girls. once you got out of the elevator, you walked straight into the waiting room/nurse's station and the girl's section was in front of you and the guy's section was around the corner to the left), he took me to my room (yes, I had to share it with someone... that person was really weird...) and he showed me where the bathroom was and where the shower was (we showered like, once a day whereas I have to shower once, maybe twice because I feel dirty) and she told me that there would be another nurse in the morning.

I was woken up on the first day by some small, old Asian lady poking my arm with a needle, trying to get blood for blood work, saying "This won't hurt, give me your arm." I let her do it and it hurt like hell. I had blood drawn before about 3 months before and that didn't hurt and I'm usually really good with needles and shots. I sit there and think "Goddamn, woman..." and I leave the room and head into the guy's rec room. We're having a meeting in there, all of us guys with a guy about who's who, why we're there, certain things like that. It was basically a group therapy thing.

When that was over, the cafeteria ladies brought up some breakfast for everyone. I didn't eat anything, I wasn't hungry (even though I hadn't eaten for hours). I was pissed more than anything so I decided to not eat to show my rebellion to them. I had felt betrayed, annoyed, pissed, angry, confused... I was so unsure how I felt about my sister showing my mom...

My mom and my dad came together to visit with me later in the first morning, around 9 or 10 AM and I was pissed and went off on them both. I remember crying and screaming "You don't fucking understand! It's a fucking living hell and I fucking hate this so much! I fucking hate you both. And you have no idea." I pointed to my dad, because he really didn't. My mom knows what it's like, she's bipolar herself... To this day, I don't remember controlling myself then, I was just blowing off steam. My dad didn't understand and he just sat there and let me go off and he didn't respond, he expected me to be this way, I guess... I remember looking through the glass window of the girl's rec room and seeing this girl wave at me and smile when I was starting to calm down. Maybe I knew her, but Idk... It was so confusing to me.

Before my parents left, I asked them to get me a turkey sandwich from Subway (I don't eat red meat or fish, only turkey and chicken.) and for a book called It's Kind of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini, who recently killed himself. The book's about someone in a psych ward, I had read it before. When they left, my favorite nurse, this little woman about 25 wearing hipster glasses came to my room and sat on my bed with me and we talked for a little while, which made me feel like someone actually cared. She told me she noticed my anger and how she would act the same way, she really helped a lot. I, at the time, didn't wanna talk about it much but she helped.

We had another meeting before lunch in the rec room and we were forced to watch a video of drinking and accidents it caused with driving (I have no real idea why but whatever...?) and I was over that so I stopped watching and everyone else did, too. About noon, my parents brought the stuff I asked for and my clothes and shit. I got to go eat my stuff and we played cards for a while, BS was the game we played most of.

After lunch, someone had asked if we could go outside and this really big (I mean, heavy...) lady started trying to get us to do these weird ass yoga stretching and positions and I didn't want to, so she said if I wanted to go outside, I had to do it, but I didn't want to anyway, so I didn't do it. I thought it was ridiculous. I scoffed and walked back to my room, I didn't like being forced to do things I really was uncomfortable doing. Hell, I was in socks, a tank, and my still sagging jeans where my boxers were still out and shit. I couldn't do anything like that wearing those clothes. I didn't change clothes yet because they hadn't looked through my bag and given me my clothes yet.
When we were supposed to shower, which the only chance I was every given the entire time, was the first night when the water was too cold, I would freeze my balls off. I didn't shower for the rest of the time, I couldn't deal with the cold water, it was too cold for a shower.

After that, we went and played cards until dinner, which, of course, I didn't eat, but I got a plate of it so I could have it in case I DID want it. Hospital food is great, in my opinion... I didn't eat again until the next morning, from lunch the first day. The psychiatrist called me into his office after dinner and he asked me things, how I felt, if I felt any better, if I felt sad still... He gave me an antidepressant pill and I took that and it helped a lot.

I went home 3-4 days later, after my friends I met there had all gone home. I had more encounters with the same nurses and psychologists and people who were there for a while.

Post-ward time, I didn't go to school for about a week or two later. I just wasn't ready to go, I wasn't sure how people would react. My parents both let me start swearing in front of them, which, to this day, I still swear in front of my parents. They eventually divorced after that all happened with me, last year, for completely separate reasons, which kind of made me, mentally, depend more on the internet (more like YouTube/Tumblr).

That's my personal experience at a mental hospital, if you end up going, it isn't as bad as you think it is after a day or so. The first day, I didn't like it because I liked my personal space at home, but after a day or so, it felt nice having friends who lived there with you for a short period of time.

If yo go, just remember they're there to help you and however you look at it, they most likely will help you, more than anything.

[CosmicNoodle]

I feel weak & worthless going there:( I'm just so scared.

Dont worry, I've been there and its OK, your not week at all, everyone breaks down now and then, all part of being human, and your not worthless,

[elaina9189]

It isn't horrible but sometimes it's nice to get away. Away from all the things that make you feel sad, mad, ect.

[Princess Ariel]

I've been to the psych ward multiple times. The nurses and Psychiatrists are there to help you, they do not mean harm. They are only looking for your best interest and nothing less.

What's important to remember is that everyone breaks down; if we didn't have lows, how could we notice our highs. You're not worthless, there is so much in you that you have yet to share with the world. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Every hardship we've gone through, are going through, and will go through are all temporary. You get to choose what you make permanent.

If I was in your position, I would go to the psych ward. It doesn't make you worthless, or pathetic, or anything like that. It just means that you need some extra help coping with things. There isn't any thing bad with that, not even in the slightest.

Just remember, you're stronger than you think.
and if you ever want to PM me, please do.

[Svan]

It's absolutely awful.
It's scary, to say the least. The people don't treat you with warmth. You feel like a caged animal when you're in high security.

[Charleigh]

Psych ward as in a normal psych ward, or a welfare secure unit?

[Pulp501]

Well mine wasn't a ward but a separate hospital but I'm sure it's the same thing, in fact some people still called it the psych ward. It wasn't too awful, the people were pretty nice and the other kids all have problems so you won't feel like an outcast. I wouldn't wanna go back, I got very homesick and couldn't talk to any of my friends. I hated the therapy because they basically just made me explain why I attempted suicide over and over and one nurse kept pressuring me to reveal some fucked up secret reason I was there. He asked me if I fucked a horse.