# So I spent the weekend in the psych ward (very long) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 5, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434 "2006-04-05T17:20:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/21 "2006-04-05T20:48:54Z")
My first post was actually submitted before your second post. If I’d had a chance to read your third post I would have had a different opinion of the folks who put you there. Memphis runs their psych wards much different than ours here. I’m shocked that there are such places right out of _One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest._ And worse. My experience when I thought I was suicidal was much different. It was much closer to a regular hospital stay. Rooms for two or four people, more freedom about where you could go, staff that took medical concerns such as diabetes seriously. It wasn’t wonderful but I had a much better experience than you. I guess it makes a difference in which state you get yourself committed. ((((((Still more hugs.))))))) ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/22 "2006-04-05T21:00:28Z")
This reminds me of the [Rosenhan experiment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Being_Sane_in_Insane_Places) - “On being sane in insane places” > [@](#): > > The study concluded “It is clear that we cannot distinguish the sane from the insane in psychiatric hospitals” and also illustrated the dangers of depersonalization and labelling in psychiatric institutions. > [@](#): > > For the purposes of the study, eight ‘pseudopatients’ (associates of Rosenhan selected to be a group of varied and healthy individuals) attempted to gain admission into psychiatric hospitals. During psychiatric assessment they claimed to be hearing voices that were often unclear, but noticeably said the words “empty”, “dull” and “thud”. No other psychiatric symptoms were claimed, and apart from giving false names and employment details, further biographical details were truthfully reported. If admitted, the pseudopatients were asked to ‘act normally’, report that they felt fine and no longer heard voices. > > The pseudopatients were a psychology graduate student in his twenties, three psychologists, a pediatrician, a psychiatrist, a painter and a housewife. None had a history of mental illness. After being admitted, the experimental subjects acted normally and did not display any obvious psychopathology. Subjects were to remain as inpatients until they were discharged by the staff at their hospitals, who were not privy to the experiment and believed the subjects to be real psychiatric patients. > > All eight were admitted, seven with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, the last with manic depression. None of the pseudopatients was detected during their admission by hospital staff, although other psychiatric patients seemed to be able to correctly identify them as impostors. While the staff failed to identify sanity, in the first three hospitalisations notes of patient responses were kept and 35 of the total of 118 patients did express a suspicion that the pseudopatients were sane. All were discharged with a diagnosis of schizophrenia “in remission”. Their stays ranged from 7 to 52 days and the average was 19 days. > > During their stay, hospital notes indicated that staff interpreted much of the pseudopatient’s behaviour in terms of mental illness. For example, the note-taking of one individual was listed as “writing behaviour” and considered pathological. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/23 "2006-04-05T21:05:59Z")
> [@Tikki](#): > > My first post was actually submitted before your second post. If I’d had a chance to read your third post I would have had a different opinion of the folks who put you there. Memphis runs their psych wards much different than ours here. I’m shocked that there are such places right out of _One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest._ And worse. In your first post you wrote that the staff was reasonably savvy to worry that I might be suicidal, and, in fact, I agree. Truth be told, I can’t argue with the decision to put me under surveillance; it’s the treatment during said observation that I have the issue with. I mean–no beds? No PILLOWS? Lights constantly on? Letting people stay in literally pissy rooms for hours? My god. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/24 "2006-04-05T21:07:49Z")
> [@Waenara](#): > > This reminds me of the [Rosenhan experiment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Being_Sane_in_Insane_Places) - “On being sane in insane places” I actually thought about Rosenhan during my stay. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/25 "2006-04-05T21:12:51Z")
I understand now why those crazy homeless people prefer to live on the street. Sorry about the use of the word crazy, but what do you call it, People With Mental Health Problems (PWMHPs)? I don’t think I can say that without it sounding like a fart. I’m cra-…funny that way. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/26 "2006-04-05T21:14:16Z")
Oh, and I’m terribly sorry about what happened, **Fabulous Creature**. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/27 "2006-04-05T21:20:07Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > [Been there](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7187553&postcount=75), done that. (Scroll to bottom of post for relevant portion) > > Are you “at large” and on your own recognizance again? 🙂 Nope. I am still in the ward, sending this message to the SMDB via my telekinetic powers. Unfortunately, according to my precognitive powerws, it won’t occur to me to use those powers to escape for another six hours. —Maxie, channeling Dr. Manhattan ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/28 "2006-04-05T21:26:33Z")
> [@An Arky](#): > > I understand now why those crazy homeless people prefer to live on the street. > > Sorry about the use of the word crazy, but what do you call it, People With Mental Health Problems (PWMHPs)? I don’t think I can say that without it sounding like a fart. I’m cra-…funny that way. Mentally ill is the usual term. It can be used as an adjective (“those mentally ill homeless people”) or a noun (“the mentally ill often face discrimination”). I’m not diabetic or a doctor, but isn’t a blood sugar level of 347 pretty bad? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/29 "2006-04-05T21:59:28Z")
:smack: Well, it was possible that you had been subjected to “outpatient commitment”. > [@](#): > > it’s the treatment during said observation that I have the issue with. I mean–no beds? No PILLOWS? Lights constantly on? Letting people stay in literally pissy rooms for hours? Yeah…not to mention the “go away, don’t bug me you freak” attitude/behavior of the staff when you came to them with genuine & immediate medical needs and questions. Great care regimen, huh? I suppose if one were astonishingly confident and secure in themselves and not in the least bit fragile, a psychiatric ward would not do them appreciable damage. But psych wards strike me as horribly inappropriate environments for the very people we tend to think belong in them. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/30 "2006-04-05T22:04:53Z")
> [@Anne Neville](#): > > Mentally ill is the usual term. It can be used as an adjective (“those mentally ill homeless people”) or a noun (“the mentally ill often face discrimination”). > > I’m not diabetic or a doctor, but isn’t a blood sugar level of 347 pretty bad? Quite bad. Not necessarily ketoacidosis, fall into a coma bad, but high enough to cause quite erratic behavior. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/31 "2006-04-05T22:04:57Z")
A story well told. Thanks for sharing. ---
**Author:** ![FireHazard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f6c823/32.png) [@FireHazard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FireHazard)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/32 "2006-04-05T22:56:24Z")
WOW :eek: The service in that hospital is horrible! can’t you see about sueing or pressing charges? but other than that it is good to hear that you are home and in your own custody. Best wishes ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/33 "2006-04-06T02:15:34Z")
Maybe some letters to city council, board of supervisors, or other elected officials are in order. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/34 "2006-04-06T05:13:24Z")
Wow, I was on the edge of my seat reading that. That shit is er, mentally ill. What are you going to do? ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/35 "2006-04-06T05:25:04Z")
Holy geez. Hope you’re all right now. Blood sugar was _118_?? Shit - correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t a normal blood sugar reading supposed to be between 5 and 7 or something like that? ---
**Author:** ![dbuzman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de0a6/32.png) [@dbuzman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dbuzman)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/36 "2006-04-06T05:37:23Z")
> [@Fabulous Creature](#): > > In your first post you wrote that the staff was reasonably savvy to worry that I might be suicidal, and, in fact, I agree. Truth be told, I can’t argue with the decision to put me under surveillance; it’s the treatment during said observation that I have the issue with. I mean–no beds? No PILLOWS? Lights constantly on? Letting people stay in literally pissy rooms for hours? > > My god. And having patients whose charts state are diabetic and not checking sugar levels? You should file a complaint about that if nothing else. I mean isn’t a level of 347 dangerous? I know that was the other guys level but still. ---
**Author:** ![Catfood\_Purrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Catfood\_Purrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catfood_Purrito)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/37 "2006-04-06T08:40:01Z")
> [@Amazon Floozy Goddess](#): > > Holy geez. Hope you’re all right now. > > Blood sugar was _118_?? Shit - correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t a normal blood sugar reading supposed to be between 5 and 7 or something like that? Nope, a normal random blood glucose (nonfasting, doesn’t take into account what or when you’ve eaten) is around the low to mid 100s. A normal fasting blood glucose (when you haven’t eaten for 8 hours) is less than 110 mg/dL. I’m not a doctor, but that’s what my reference materials say. Holy shit, though, **Fabulous** you should really report that to someone. That’s absolutely horrifying. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slip\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f475e1/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slip\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slip_1)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/38 "2006-04-06T11:54:43Z")
> [@Fabulous Creature](#): > > Hmm…I forgot to write THE END. Ah well, you guys are smart. > > Apropos of nothing, I’m pretty sure this is my first MPSIMS thread to start, and possibly only the first or second time I’ve posted in this form. It’s a pity; I’d always hoped I’d begin a thread in this forum that began “Well, this weekend I was kidnapped by amazons and told I would not be released until I had impregnated their queen, who happens to look exactly like Kristen Bell, and her two identical triplet sisters.” Ah well. :eek: It’s hard to believe that places such as this one still exist. It sounds more like a forensic psychiatric facility … and a pretty horrific one at that. I apologize for you having such a bad experience. Besides your having to undergo such a horrorshow, it’s places such as this that give the rest of my profession a bad rap and dissuade patients that really need help from accessing it. ☹ Although it may be cold comfort, your results are by no means the “standard” way patients are treated at psychiatric facilities. A good number of places work to provide responsive and compassionate care (at least the one in which I work and the ones I speak with in my state) - AND ask for formalized feedback from our clients about how the stay went to make SURE we’re doing our jobs right. I would certainly be writing some people (writing, not calling - writing establishes a paper trail). Find out of there what patient advocacy groups exist in TN. If this escapade was billed to your insurance, complain to your insurance company. If they’re JHACO-accredited, that’s another good organization to contact. And let’s not forget your elected officials. While it can’t undo what’s happened to you, it can help make changes so others aren’t mistreated. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/39 "2006-04-06T14:23:58Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Maybe some letters to city council, board of supervisors, or other elected officials are in order. I would send a few copies to reporters in the local media as well, myself. Let them start to ask questions of the officials. Refusing appropriate treatment to diabetics in a medical facility verges on criminal, in my book. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/40 "2006-04-06T14:32:34Z")
> [@Amazon Floozy Goddess](#): > > Holy geez. Hope you’re all right now. > > Blood sugar was _118_?? Shit - correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t a normal blood sugar reading supposed to be between 5 and 7 or something like that? Okay, I’ll correct you. 🙂 A normal blood sugar varies during the day, depending on how much you’ve eaten and how long its been since you’ve eaten. A good fasting blood sugar (that is, first thing in the morning, after about 12 hours with no food and a good night’s rest) is 90-110. For a diabetic, a good post-prandrial (post-meal–say about two hours later, after you’ve had time to digest your food) is under 180. Over two hundred is worrisome, over 300 is dangerous and likely to be mood-altering, which is why I think J’s increasingly wretched behavior during my first night was due to his highly elevated level. 118 isn’t particularly worrisome at 7 o’clock at night, unless you’ve just taken insulin or some pancreas-stimulating drug, like glyburide. Then, if you don’t eat, you’ll likely go hypoglycemic while you sleep, which is dangerous. (Last night my blood sugar was 94 two hours after dinner, so I made sure to eat a snack before bed.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434.md?page=3)