First off, props where due to beentheredonethatagain, for his eeerily similar (and good) how to "survive" in jail.
Since a) addiction is seen as a mental illness, b) detoxes are usu. run--and often mixed in--with "psych ward/not otherwise specified," and c) the pharmological effects of many drugs can induce temporary mindstates that mimic pathologies, I felt that it would be useful to share lizard's experience here.
As background, lizard was hospitalized three times--the first involuntarily--in psych wards, for probably a cumulative 30 days. What made it more complicated (for lizard, anyway) is that he was--and still is--convinced that the diagnosis (delusional) was bunk and "there's nothing wrong w/ me!" (This is not to sway anyone yea or ney, but because it provided many difficulties that someone in agreement with the diagnosis will thankfully avoid.)
Here goes:
1. Sign in voluntarily if there's ANY chance that you can be committed!!! This a BIG (maybe the biggest) issue, and one that naive lizard muffed big time. At the time, he was told, "Sign in voluntarlily, or we'll do it against your will." At the time, and still holding hopes for a job requiring a clean mental record, he decided against it, assuming that a voluntary admission would be tantamount to admission of mental illness (which, as said, he denied). WRONG! The "commitment" means, among other things, that he can't (ever) own guns, can't hold a job requiring a background check, etc. More immediately, a committment means no off-ward priviledghes (since they KNOW SWIY wants to leave, they'd be daft to let you out of their sight), SWIY might HAVE to take meds, AND, to secure SWIYs freedom, SWIY will have to go before a Judge (at least in PA), while the hospital argues for your continued confinement.
Rules differ by state, but it's usually "if the patient has recently been a danger to self or others, or has engaged in 'self-harm'." Considering the dim view MDs take of meds their peers didn't assent to, consider "acting strangely on drugs" to equate to cause to committ and sign self in, if offered. Fight it out on the outside!
2. There's no defined "maximum." In jail, if you piss off the guards, you "max out" on your sentence: no "good time" reductions, etc. In the psych ward, there's no "maximum": SWIY's there 'till his/her benevolent doc says s/he's "better." (When lizard was making a PITA of himself about the ineffaciacy of meds, noises WERE made about the state hospital at Mayview, which ought to scare anyone shitless--the diff. between "psych ward" and "mental hospital" is like between "jail" and "prison," only MUCH more so.)
Don't kiss up (it won't work), but DO try to do something other than mope: even a smartass attitude is good, as it is generally inconsistent with pronounced mental illness. Also, good relations with the nurses (they, not the MDs, really run things--Kesey got that right) is imperative for "off ward priviledges," which, in today's era, is the only way to catch a smoke.
3. Don't hang with troublemakers Lizard's experience was that 90% or so of patients are essentially "sane" people who were just temporarily overwhelmed. The remaining 10% ARE truly crazy, and make trouble for themselves and those around, so STAY AWAY. This is generally easy, except that (ILO) manic/depressives can be deceptively normal most of the time. (Try to find fellow stoners and reminisce!)
4. The TV room is where you make friends+enemies No institutional setting is complete without cable TV, for crowd control purposes (Marx was premature, CATV is the opiate of the masses). In a psych ward, the TV isn't in the individual rooms, but in a group room, so that patients interact. The ultimate decision of "what gets watched" is often a ego contest, and switching the channel on someone is probably the closest psych ward equivalent of calling a fellow prisoner "bitch": not adviseable unless you know you can get away w/ it.
5. The model of the psych ward is "therapy" not "punishment." ILO, this generally gets muddied, but if some truly egregious stuff happens, you CAN complain about it: after all, you're a (possibly) paying customer, expecting professional treatment. Oh, just for the record, the "quiet room" is couched in therapuetic terms as "a low-stimulating environ where patients can comfortably de-escalate, etc." BULLS%#T!!! It's purely punishment, though it generally is only used on the truly crazy 10%, and those who hang w/ them.
That's all for now: lizard's getting tired, drunk, and will possibly update later. Love to hear feedback, more trip reports, etc, esp. as to any differences outside the US for this int'l forum. Also, lizard's experiences are outside of a dedicated subtance-abuse ward (generally, this only occurs in dedicated hospitals--the psych ward of a gen'l gospital is generally non-specific to nature of problem.)
Oh, and any words of wisdom form those WORKING on a ward?
21-09-2008, 04:05
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