I was on a 5150, which in California is a 72 hour involuntary hold as my daughter tracked me in the ER and got angry that I was there. I had 14 hours of severe anxiety at a 9.5/10, pure panic, while tapering from a medication that begins with 'A'.
It was quite interesting to say the least, and also quite relaxing to get a break from the regular hectic life.
The night nurse would shine lights in our room every 15 minutes. It was annoying and interrupted my sleep.
Luckily we had our own rooms and didn't have roommates.
They took away our cell phones which was a blessing and tough at times with cell phone withdrawal.
- 7-8am wakeup. There were puzzles out and board games around, as well as art supplies, so we would usually work on those. Some would journal and there was a TV with the news on--boring and I wanted a break from electronics.
One guy would put headphones and dance in our tiny space of being outside but whatever.
- 8:30am breakfast. It was usually the same group people who ate breakfast in the kitchen. I'd say about half of the people took the tray and ate alone in their rooms. They were nice people. Many of the men had breakdowns during divorces or both the women and men worked too much in Silicon Valley and had breakdowns. There were a few men over 50 who had never married. I remembered reading about the suicide rate going up in the US for men over 50.
There were ages from one guy who just turned 18 to people in their 70s.
- 10am group. A therapist would lead a group and we would have a positive topic like to write out our strengths on a tree. Another group was about coping strategies.
- 12pm lunch. Same group as before.
- 1:30pm occupational therapy group. This was a fun group where we would work on a art project that tied into the theme from that morning. For instance we painted the tree with our strengths on it.
- 2:45 daily wrap-up.
Various appointments with the social worker, psychiatrist or medical Dr.
Many times I'd take a nap.
- 6:30pm dinner. Same group of people but one lady in her 20s was definitely bipolar as she would look horrible and barely say hi during the day but at night she was manic at dinner and would try to come up with evening activities.
- 7:30pm night activity. They did Karaoke on Sat night. I missed it on Fri night. Another night was movie night and then cards night.
- 10pm bed time.
Some people couldn't sleep so I'd wake up and they'd be working on a puzzle. The nurses kept one anxiety medication from me unless I absolutely needed it so sometimes I would color in a traveling coloring book, which had my name written all over it!
I ordered crayons and paint so I can continue with the art therapy at home. Plus I found a travel coloring book on Amazon!
I paint off and on during the years so I want to do more of that.
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Thread: A Typical Day in the Psych Ward
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04-26-2024, 08:28 AM #1
A Typical Day in the Psych Ward
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04-26-2024, 10:10 AM #2
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04-26-2024, 10:14 AM #3
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04-26-2024, 11:14 AM #4
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04-26-2024, 11:15 AM #5
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04-26-2024, 11:16 AM #6
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04-26-2024, 11:26 AM #8
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04-26-2024, 11:44 AM #9
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04-26-2024, 11:46 AM #10
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04-26-2024, 11:47 AM #11
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04-26-2024, 01:49 PM #12
Yeah people walked around slowly. I think it’s also because there’s very little to do. You don’t have to cook meals, go grocery shopping, unload the dishwasher, pay bills, etc.
It was a nice break but I missed my other world, too.
I’m sorry she lived in one. Did she ever get out?
Lol. I bet the other patients loved your sense of humor. We only had one guy who was slightly funny.
The food was really good and I could order fruit and veggies for every meal. It was so much easier than at home when they go bad, you forget to bring them to work, you didn’t get to the grocery store, etc. I’m able to fit in my skinny jeans now.
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04-26-2024, 01:58 PM #13
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04-26-2024, 02:02 PM #14
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04-26-2024, 02:03 PM #15
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04-26-2024, 02:09 PM #16
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04-26-2024, 02:18 PM #17
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04-26-2024, 02:21 PM #18
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04-26-2024, 02:24 PM #19
Yeah I think most people are fine until they age
In my school we had a wing for the "special kids"
They would share in some of the normal classes as well
One kid was pretty functional during high school
I saw him recently and homeless and completely mentally ill
I have no mental illness outside of being a miscer
But I am surprised we lived through childhood and not ending up a story where the mother kills the children
She tried once and I won't tell that story but another story is she is driving us somewhere
She pulls into this park in the woods.
Doesn't say anything, gets out of the car, walks into the woods alone like a zombie
We are kids so we have no clue what is going on
She ended up cutting herself enough to almost die
I cant remember how we got home but we ended up getting home somehow to my father**Black out tape over all laptop/cell phone cameras so gov cant spy on me fapping crew**
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04-26-2024, 02:27 PM #20
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04-26-2024, 03:31 PM #21
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04-26-2024, 03:35 PM #22
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04-26-2024, 03:39 PM #23
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04-26-2024, 06:07 PM #24
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04-26-2024, 06:23 PM #25
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04-26-2024, 06:47 PM #26
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04-26-2024, 06:51 PM #27
There was a hot 18 year old but I was so gross. I was in an Alice In Chains t-shirt, shorts and I hadn’t shaved my legs in days as it’s been cold and they didn’t allow razors of course.
I had no makeup on, just a comb so my hair was a mess, and zero interest in sex.
Plus the nurses check the rooms every 15 minutes even at night that guy shining the light in my room gives me nightmares.
There was a younger girl and guy who seemed too friendly with each other and he was married he said, but then said he was divorcing so I don’t know. She was insanely bipolar so you never knew what was coming out of her door. She slept most of the day in extreme depression and wouldn’t talk in the kitchen and was either happy or crying at night.
Maybe they did something in the bathroom but we didn’t even have doors on the bathrooms?? but I didn’t really care. I wasn’t really into him.
I liked the 18 year old but we mostly traded stories about high school boys since I coached them.
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04-26-2024, 06:57 PM #28
The food was really good and I had some great Indian food for a couple of meals. I had pasta, garden burger, bean and cheese burrito, and veggies/salads with every meal. Usually eggs, toast and fruit for breakfast. The meat eaters liked their food.
I’m going to the grocery store tomorrow to load up on produce.
I think the 18 year old wanted another burrito and couldn’t get it but we had extra food in our fridge and fruit, baked chips and graham crackers for snacks.
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04-26-2024, 07:01 PM #29
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04-26-2024, 07:16 PM #30
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