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August 2, 2011 5:00 am at 5:00 am #598364bombmaniacParticipant
This one is going unpublished, so I figured id throw YWN a bone. This is part 2 of my mental health series. Apparently it was too impersonal and too educational for Ami magazine. Whatever…
There are grammatical errors, I know, but I can’t be bothered to edit something which will not be published. Enjoy.
In my previous article I outlined all the reasons why a person should seek care when they are diagnosed with or suspect they have a mental illness. In this article I will try and explain how the mental health system works so that you, unlike my family, can be better prepared for the mess that is the American mental health system.
As I said previously, it has really been the past 3 years that have been the most trying. For one simple reason. During all those other hospitalizations, my mother, once committed, acquiesced to treatment. In other words, at the time of admittance, her commission to the psychiatric ward was involuntary. Once treatment began, however, she realized that there was, in fact, cause for her commission. On the other hand, as I have explained, she, for the most part, saw no valid reason for her commission.
Perhaps it would be wise to explain the laws behind involuntary commission. A person may be involuntarily committed to a psychiatric ward if they present a danger to themselves or others. What that basically means, is that if you seem someone muttering on the street to no one in particular, no matter how annoying, they are well within their rights to mutter and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. If, however, you see a person either harming themselves or harming or intending to harm another person, you may call the police and have the person involuntarily committed.
By all accounts, both from personal experience and research I have done on this matter, voluntary commission is the ideal option. When a patient voluntarily commits herself the doctors are basically given a waiver to decide when the patient should be discharged. If a doctor feels that a patient needs more care, because the patient committed herself she effectively deferred completely to the opinion of the doctor. No hearings, no 72 hour sign outs. Moreover, a patient who commits herself is more receptive to treatment as they are not actively fighting the doctors’ every effort.
So al that was getting the patient to the hospital, but what happens once the patient is admitted? There are some very important things that the family of a psychiatric patient should know. The most important is to understand that your loved one has a disease. It may not manifest itself physically, but believe you me it is equally as real as a broken bone, heart attack, or cancer. you need to come to terms with the fact that your loved one has disease which must be treated, and much in the same way that you wouldn’t say to a cancer patient “they have no idea what they’re talking about, you’re fine,” do not ever say that to a psychiatric patient. Ever. Many psychiatric patients are already predisposed to paranoid as either a direct symptom of their specific illness or because of an affective disorder affiliated with their specific illness. All you accomplish by saying that is heightening their paranoia and denial.
The second thing you must understand is that your loved one will be hospitalized for a while. Anywhere from 2 weeks to two months. Expect it. Such is the nature of psychiatric treatment. The mind is a very delicate entity controlled by a very specific set of chemicals. The slightest imbalance in those chemicals can lead to catastrophe, so you will understand if the treatment is a little hit or miss. Certain medications will not work with others, others will induce side effects which require further medication to keep the side effects at bay, however while doing so, clash with the original medicines. Others, such as lithium, lose their effectiveness after q patient stops taking their medicine and never work again on that patient.
Taking all that into consideration you should now understand the prognoses you will be given. It takes between 6 and 8 weeks for a doctor to verify that a specific regiment is working. Letting a patient out after 2 weeks if the patient really required 8 seems, at first, like kindness, but infant tell you that it is utter cruelty. As a result of said “kindness” the patient will, in the long run, require up to 3 times the original prescribed hospitalization time if not more. Trust me; you don’t want the doctors getting the cocktail wrong. Let them do what they have to do. Ask all the questions you like, the more the better. But before questioning a doctor’s competence make sure you have a very good reason. You could be doing your loved one a great disservice. Which leads into my next essential nugget.
This next part has been a pet peeve of mine for quite a while, and I hope that those readers in the medical community can try and rectify this serious flaw in the mental health system. As I said above, no patient really wants to be in a psychiatric ward. Therefore, a patient will tell a doctor whatever he wants to hear, and it is up to the doctor to decide if the act was convincing enough. Sometimes it is, and a patient is released, prematurely, from the hospital.
We tried. We went down to his office at the hospital, we left messages on his answering machine, and we even spoke to the man once or twice. On every occasion we were rebuffed due, or so the doctor claimed, to doctor-patient confidentiality. To all the psychiatrists and psychologists out there, you are wrong. You are doing your patients and their families a great disservice by closing your ear to the feedback of those close to the patient. To those who are open to feedback, I commend you. Your progress is refreshing.
August 2, 2011 2:18 pm at 2:18 pm #796653popa_bar_abbaParticipantBomb:
Here is what I think about this article.
You provide a lot of background to the story, but almost don’t tell the story. If you want to tell a story about yourself, it needs to be about yourself, with the background added in as needed. Like your first one.
August 2, 2011 9:42 pm at 9:42 pm #796654bombmaniacParticipantright which is why this is unpublished…this was supposed to be purely educational
August 2, 2011 11:17 pm at 11:17 pm #796655HaLeiViParticipantEither that or make it controversial. Why don’t you rework it and send it in? Aren’t readers expecting the follow up?
August 3, 2011 12:10 am at 12:10 am #796656happiestMemberbomb- I don’t think you put this in but I could have missed this.
If you are in the hospital voluntarily and want to get out before the Dr lets, you can write a letter to the judge and petition to get out earlier. I’m not exactly sure how it works but I know some people did that (not very many) when I was in the hospital! It is very hard to get the judge to side with the patient because the judges assume that if the Dr is keeping the patient, then there is a reason for it.
August 3, 2011 12:53 am at 12:53 am #796657bombmaniacParticipanti actually did not know that! it never came up in anything i read and i read quite a few first person accounts 🙂
the problem is that ive never experienced the mental health system firsthand, i was just a spectator if you will. so i cant make this a personal article unless i lie about who the subject of teh article is, and i dont want to do that. i think im going to shelve this disaster of an article for now and focus on part 3 which is “how to cope.” basically how you will feel, how you should feel, what to expect…stuff like that. btw happiest its good to see you posting again 🙂
August 3, 2011 12:57 am at 12:57 am #796658happiestMember@bomb- thanks for noticing that I’m back around a little bit:)
Secondly, it is not the type of info that most people would know. I just know from firsthand experience (well I never did the letter) but there were one or two people who tried when I was hospitalized.
Good luck with part3!
August 3, 2011 1:05 am at 1:05 am #796659bombmaniacParticipanthow did that go for them? did it work?
and yeah part 3…i should have written it yesterday…a friend of mine calls me and tells me that shes had to deal with her sister who is depressed and anorexic and a whole mess of other problems…and i basically told her what im gonna put in my article…but im probably gonna get to it this weekend
August 3, 2011 1:06 am at 1:06 am #796660Another nameParticipantbombmaniac, really interesting and insightful work! Thank you for sharing your knowledge (and struggles) once more. It would be chaval not to have it published. Perhaps, like some other posters suggested, you should personalize it a bit more to make it more “appealing” to the readers.
If publishing this does not work out, be assured that many many cr members will help spread your message (I have some connections 😉 )
August 3, 2011 1:07 am at 1:07 am #796661Sister BearMemberHey bomb thanks for this, it’s really informative and eye-opening.
Quick question (please excuse my ignorance) if someone is suicidal does that fall under this catergory?
Thanks again bomb!!!!
August 3, 2011 1:12 am at 1:12 am #796662happiestMemberI know it worked for one person because the staff wanted to get rid of her. She was making everyones lives miserable. Not sure about the other.
But also, here’s another fact. A patient does not have to take their medication that the hospital is giving you BUT the Dr can take you to court and you can be forced to take it by the judge. If this happens, chances are that your hospital stay will be a lot longer because of your non compliance. Also, in this situation, the Dr almost always wins. Like I said before, the judge trusts the Dr and if the Dr is prescribing something then it is being done for a reason.
Also, (and then I’ll shutup) if anyone has to go inpatient or to visit someone who is inpatient this happens pretty often. The nurses/Drs/mental health workers have to call security in order to get someone under control. A lot of the time just knowing that security was called, gets the patient under control without any force. But if a tranquilizer is given (through a shot) security will ALWAYS be there in order to hold down the patient since this is obviously against the patients will. If the patient willingly takes a tranquilizer, he will take it orally.
bomb- you da bomb:))
August 3, 2011 1:19 am at 1:19 am #796663HachamMemberI’m so sorry what you went through happiest.
August 3, 2011 1:23 am at 1:23 am #796664happiestMember@hacham- thanks. It was definitely definitely something that was soooo hard for me and my family to go through but it was also such a growing experience for me too. I hope to never have to go back but I know that if I do have to go back, I would be really upset but I know that it would be for the best. (Btw- when I went I did not think like this, it was only after coming out did I think about it this way!)
August 3, 2011 1:32 am at 1:32 am #796665bombmaniacParticipantinteresting! welp im pretty sure nurses and doctors restrain patients anyway for not taking their meds and just inject it…thats what happened to my mother…but i guess i have to look more into the legal aspects of all that. i once spoke to a lawyer about all thyis and itw as a very interesting conversation
@sister bear what do you mean?
August 10, 2011 11:27 pm at 11:27 pm #796666Sister BearMemberSorry just say this now…how do I phrase this…if someone is suicidal, is that a mental illness as well, like bipolar, depression…and then your original post would apply to them too? Or is that in a different category.
August 11, 2011 1:46 am at 1:46 am #796667bombmaniacParticipant“suicidal” is a symptom, not a disorder. there are several reasons why a person might be suicidal. it may be a side effect of depression, which may be associated with the lows one experiences during a bipolar cycle, unipolar depression, or simply a person being very despondent about life. there is a different term for someone who is just depressed due to circumstance which by the way is not a mental illness, but must be treated as well. for example if a persons loses all their money, their job, and their home they may consider suicide, not because of any mental illness but because they see no more point in life.
several other mental illnesses would cause suicidal tendencies as well. also certain psychiatric medicines may cause suicidal thoughts or tendencies. there are so many different reasons why a person may be suicidal that i cant just answer that without knowing details.
that being said, if a person is suicidal it is iomperative that hey get help. preferrably a suicide watch at a competent psychiatric hospital.
August 11, 2011 4:07 am at 4:07 am #796668ronrsrMemberThanks for this, bomb.
August 11, 2011 5:08 am at 5:08 am #796669bombmaniacParticipantnp
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