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Default Mar 13, 2019 at 07:50 PM
  #1
Are they really that bad? I just know them from TV and movies and according to those they are not places you want to be at. I’m just wondering if they are as awful as hollywood makes them out to be.

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Default Mar 13, 2019 at 07:54 PM
  #2
The state hospital in my city is not a good hospital compared to the other private hospitals we have. It's also where they house the criminally insane for the area. I've never been there tho. Just going off first hand information from someone who has been.

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Default Mar 13, 2019 at 10:11 PM
  #3
Years ago, I was in a state hospital. I was over medicated and treated like crap. The staff
was cruel. Other patients attacked staff. Some patents were born there and were severely disabled. I feared for my life. It took 3 months for me to be transferred. It was a nightmare.

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Default Mar 13, 2019 at 10:25 PM
  #4
I was in two, yes they are bad.

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Default Mar 14, 2019 at 10:12 PM
  #5
i think it depends on the state, the funding levels, and how the system is set up. where i live, the state hospital covers relatively short term stays (30 days or less) and then they have what remains of the old place, for long term people and also the forensics cases (I think it covers both the not guilty by reason of insanity and the people who mentally ill but still guilty....they go in the state hospital 1st, then prison...fun, huh?)

anyway...not fun. ive heard 2nd and 3rd hand tales of lots of elecroshock and high dose antipsychotics. staff could not possibly care less. when i was in a private hospital, the staff there kept saying "better be glad you're not in the state hospital," and when patients acted up, the staff would ask "hey, how long have you been here, again?" because back then the private hospitals could have "severe cases" transferred to the state hospital. but that was then. now...

most of the old state hospital was sold off to a development firm. it was on some prime real estate. a lot of the patients were put on long acting antipsychotic shots out in the community, and the people who were deemed to require ongoing treatment were moved to wherever the state hospital is, now (I honestly don't know where the main, scary one is).

the state mental health agencies in my state officially run on "the recovery model." so, even the ngri cases are usually put on high dose drugs and moved out into the community after 4-6 months, unless its a high profile case or they really need to -not- be in society, for whatever reason. oh, and...there was a court case, where a dude who wanted to be let out wasn't let out, because his shrink @ the state hospital said he had a severe personality disorder that could not be effectively treated. i guess he pissed the shrinks off?

sorry to ramble. ive never been in one, personally. but...i go to an outpatient clinic, and when i ask the shrinks there about the state hospital, they get all vague and change the subject. hmmmm....
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Default Mar 14, 2019 at 11:24 PM
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If someone was only there for 3 days then I’m guessing what they experienced was pretty horrific and a family member signed them out ASAP? This is someone I know. She’s usually in the hospital much longer then 3 days.

I know I was in the hospital in 2015 and the soonest someone or myself could sign me out was in 3 days.

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Default Mar 16, 2019 at 09:52 AM
  #7
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mountaindewed View Post
If someone was only there for 3 days then I’m guessing what they experienced was pretty horrific and a family member signed them out ASAP? This is someone I know. She’s usually in the hospital much longer then 3 days.

I know I was in the hospital in 2015 and the soonest someone or myself could sign me out was in 3 days.
here in NY people being released after three days doesnt say whether a mental hospital is good or bad.

when a person is released after only three days here it means they were only in the hospital for a 72 hour observation for what ever mental or physical problem that they were having.

example...

I was in a hospital for 3 days (72 hours) so that I could be observed while on a certain medication, the medication could be adjusted and then when the meds were at the correct dosage without causing me the symptom they needed to observe and fix for me, I was released.

I was in the hospital for 3 days (72 hours) due to my arm feeling foreign to me. the three day observation gave the hospital time to do tests and discover I was not psychotic or having a dissociative problem, that the problem was a physical one.

I was in the hospital for 3 days (72 hours) for a sleep study. since I had mental issues it was decided I would be on the mental unit during the sleep study instead of the medical ward.

I was in the hospital for 3 days (72 hours) because there were no beds on the medical unit when my heart was giving me problems.

there are all kinds of reasons why a person would be in a mental ward / mental facility for only 3 days. those three days are called 72 hour observations. all it means is the person is having a problem and treatment providers want to watch, do tests if needed and diagnose what the problem is.

Directly related to state mental hospitals many across the USA are now closed down or are being closed down.

those that are still in use are primarily for people who have committed crimes (murder, rape....) and as part of their defense for doing the crime they use the insanity plea... (my mental disorder made me do it.) the court has them do a psych evaluation and decides whether their mental disorder still can cause them to commit crimes and if the crime they did commit was because of their mental disorder. if so they are court ordered to a state mental hospital or other mental facility that handles criminals who have committed crimes because of their mental disorder.

here in NY we no longer have a "state mental hospital" we have many local hospitals that have locked mental health units. We have many mental health facilities, but none are "state mental hospitals" all our mental facilities and hospital mental health units handle patients of all levels of mental problems including those who have committed crimes.
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Default Mar 19, 2019 at 04:09 PM
  #8
There is a state hospital by me that everyone believes is closed and has been for many years. I have been there and know people who were in there though. Pretty creepy and very few people know it is still open. My old Pdoc worked there a while and I knew another Pdoc from there. Lots of over use of medication and very little therapy. The building was old and creepy and is on a haunted sites tour in our city. Just recently the state opened a new state hospital and someone goofed and said patients from the “closed” hospital would be transferring to the new facility... now lots of questions. When I was there it was like stepping into One Flew Over the Cocos Nest but the mean nurse was a Pdoc.

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Default Mar 19, 2019 at 10:19 PM
  #9
After spending 8 months committed to a private psychiatric hospital, my treatment plan called for me to be transferred to a state mental hospital for "long term treatment". When you hear those words you know that the field of mental health has deemed you hopeless and you are now one of the walking dead. State hospitals are psychiatric Siberia.
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Default Mar 23, 2019 at 01:53 PM
  #10
I can only go by my own experience. The state hospital I went to nearly 20 years ago wasn't too bad at the time. The main thing, at that time, was poorly trained, apathetic staff... some of them downright mean. The prevailing attitude was that if you were there you'd done something "bad". If you were having a hard time the staff either told you to just go to your room or they'd threaten to lock you in an isolation room. I was there because of severe PTSD and suicide attempt. On admission you had to strip in the shower room and be visually examined, I kid you not. Essentially it was a human warehouse. Each unit was over 30 people, quite a few were violent, some I'm sure were sexual predators. I was thankful that I found 6 or 7 people who weren't too ill. We kept to our only little group and it felt safer that way.

The doctor at that time was pretty good, but she had do rounds for the entire hospital. Which meant rounds essentially involved her saying hi to each patient as we lined up for breakfast. One patient gave me advice that I'll always be thankful for. Seeing how passive I was, he said to pester the doctor and pretty much demand to see her, otherwise you get lost in the hospital system. I think that was one reason I only ended up staying a few weeks.

Occupational therapy was a bunch of people crammed into the craft room, but there weren't many supplies so most everyone just stood around for an hour. I remember the OT spending most of the time regaling us with stories about how staff was so poorly paid and treated. I thought, at least you can go home at the end of the day. Essentially it was long hours of tedium, no privacy, constant noise, hiding from violent outbursts. Not therapeutic at all.

I'm lucky though. Since then I've heard the place is holding nearly three times the number it's designed to hold. There was a sexual assault that made the news, which happened on the unit I'd been on. Some patients were telling a staff member to come help the woman but they didn't do anything. I can so see that happening. During my time there a few guys tried to corner me; it was horrifying, especially with me being an abuse survivor. The hospital has also been warned about it's over use of restraints and putting people in isolation for long periods of time, not checking on them, etc.

Oh, one more thing...sorry this is long, but patient transport to the hospital fell under prison transport. So patients were brought to the place wearing handcuffs with a waist chain and ankle shackles. I'll never forget how degrading and frightening that was.
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Default Aug 17, 2019 at 07:28 PM
  #11
I would not say all are bad with emphasis on all.
Yes, as someone has mentioned, it depends on the funding.

I will never forget exploring a big state (general) hospital once (a relative was being admitted for an operation) and walking through the lowest level, a dark and long hallway with hallways extending from that hallway. I kept walking despite being creeped out, and saw a sign of a ward (ABC... some letter of the alphabet) and asked a passerby what that ward is. To my horror, she told me that that is the psychiatry department.
I did not quite understand why the patients were tucked away so deeply in the hospital until I asked my doctor and she explained that the psychiatric ward had to be kept on the lowest level of the hospital (for obvious reasons). I was still terrified of the ward though, but there are thankfully nicer hospitals with better funding and that focus on mental health.

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Default Aug 18, 2019 at 06:55 AM
  #12
Yeah I remember when my dad was in rehab he was sent to a nursing home/rehab and I went down in the basement to get a soda from the vending machine and I saw a long dark hallway with a locked door and I saw some nurses come out and I asked my dad what it was and he said it was where they kept the patients with dementia.

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Grin Aug 28, 2019 at 02:14 PM
  #13
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mountaindewed View Post
Are they really that bad? I just know them from TV and movies and according to those they are not places you want to be at. I’m just wondering if they are as awful as hollywood makes them out to be.
AH, so great to see peoples' comments, if all of us are a bit screwed up occasionally, then the humor gives us all a great heart. And the mental health floor of the nearest hospital WAS a nightmare as far as pickup in front of any neighbors who were up, but cop passed out my info so it's not confidential anyway. IN the place, it was ignorance and rudeness mainly. I didn't do a thing they wanted, relaxed in room, read, had hubby bring proper food, clothes, bath cloths, etc. My military dad taught me there is nothing you need if you have to depend on someone else to get for you. I used bath wash cloths and washed hair in sink. Left with me 1, staff 0.
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