# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 5
**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 9, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/81 "2006-04-09T15:53:52Z")
> [@Operation Ripper](#): > > Again, what was your doctor’s name and what did he look like? What floor were you kept? The little you provided is easily googled via the internet, give us specifics that are not. the only doctor’s name I got was the person who assessed me, Rosaline; she was a black woman, mid-forties I’d estimate, slender and greying. The facility, which I thought I’d made clear was physically part of the Med, was the Lakeside Triage; it’s a service Lakeside performs on contract for the county. I apologize for not being able to provide better details; it’s not as if I was able to TAKE NOTES. ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/82 "2006-04-09T15:59:51Z")
Well, glad you are alive fellow, and please seek treatment. Don’t go all scientologist on us about mental health care when noone else can get it. As hard as it is to get treatment these days, you strike me as a fat man complaining about finger bowls. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/83 "2006-04-09T16:17:50Z")
Bloody hell, Kesey meets Kafka. The conditions sound absolutely horrifying: surely they’re an illegal denial of human rights? Glad you got out OK. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/84 "2006-04-09T16:22:13Z")
**Operation Ripper** , [a moment, please.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7280848#post7280848) ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/85 "2006-04-09T16:33:30Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Maybe some letters to city council, board of supervisors, or other elected officials are in order. Um yeah Fab send a letter to the Mayor and city council etc, cause you know they are all sane caring indivuals. Fabulous Creature, I am glad you are ok after all of that and if there is anything I can do to help let me know. What kind of job are you looking for? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/86 "2006-04-09T17:01:53Z")
> [@Operation Ripper](#): > > Don’t go all scientologist on us about mental health care when noone else can get it. Where did he “go all scientologist?” Nowhere I can see. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/87 "2006-04-09T17:11:30Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > In many states (suggests **Doug** ; I’d say all the damn states and most of the western hemisphere, myself), psych facilities are geared towards serving the average everyday person who is _freaked out by_ the allegedly mentally ill, the raving lunatics and depressed despairing folk and so forth. They are not, therefore, in existence primarily to serve the needs of the people who are locked up in them. They are there to remove disturbing people so that the average everyday person doesn’t have to cope with them and the messiness that their presence and behavior brings to the everyday public world. Spot on, **A.** **Slip,** if you are doing better with less in your corner of the world, more power to you. ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/88 "2006-04-09T18:37:55Z")
Basck when I worked as a psych tech in Texas, that kind of treatment would have landed us in jail. Find out who regulates care in your state and file a complaint. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/89 "2006-04-10T07:12:39Z")
What’s also disturbing about this is that a person with a head injury wasn’t given much attention for such, despite the fact that his behavior and symptoms are indicative of at least minor brain trauma. With no admitted history of depression, he would have been under closer observation than normal just because head injuries are so unpredictable and can sometimes lead to people _ **dying** _ from relatively minor impacts. The admission of some mental troubles seemed to short-circuit the medical assessment these people should have done. This story is yet another example of why I treat most institutions as if they were adversaries. They do not always have your well-being at heart, and even when they do they sometimes do more harm than good. I would never, ever voluntarily commit myself. I would never, ever sign anything that had to do with any kind of mental assessment. If anyone is going to take away on my freedom and attempt to infringe on my sense of self for any length of time, they are going to have to do so with no help from me. In addition, I think that it is a very bad idea to be honest or open with mental health personnel, especially those at an ER where they tend to be overworked, sometimes are under-trained, and often are under more pressure than normal. I had this opinion before hearing this story and this just reinforces it. If **Fabulous Creature** had not volunteered information about his mild depression and had not replied honestly and in detail about past thoughts of suicide, he would probably have gotten proper medical treatment and would not have had to spend 36 hours in pretty shitty conditions. **Fabulous Creature** , from the sound of it, it doesn’t seem that you would say that you feel worthless normally. It seems to me that you said what many people would say under similar circumstances, when things just had not seemed to be going right at all. While I’m definitely no doctor, my interpretation is that you are a pretty normal, adjusted person dealing with lots of bad things happening to you recently. If you really and truly need help, then you should get it. But from what you’ve written, any normal/sane/healthy individual would feel pretty bad about how life was going. Just remember that you don’t have control over what happens to you, but you do have control over how you deal with it. The bad stuff isn’t your fault. Feeling down about it isn’t your fault either. I’m almost certain that things will improve for you. For one thing, you seem to be a pretty smart guy, you’re obviously more literate than the average, and you managed to survive even this experience without too much trouble. I think you’re more capable than you give yourself credit for. Be even more careful of what you say if you are ever admitted to that hospital again. It is possible that you have flags on your medical file that would predispose them to put you on a psych hold if you say anything that might be interpreted as your being suicidal, homicidal, or depressed. If you can handle it, I also urge you to get the proper authorities involved. There will be other people who will be treated badly unless that place is made to reform. Hopefully, with increased scrutiny, no one else will have to go through what you did. ---
**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 10, 2006, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434/90 "2006-04-10T10:59:24Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > Well, I had my doubts, but after years of experience with this type of thing on message boards, I’ve come to feel that there is no margin in calling out someone who wants to rant about the failings of the mental health field. I don’t recall ranting, if I did, I certainly didn’t mean to. I don’t think mental health care is generally a bad thing; I have at least one friend whose life has been literally saved by psychiatry. My complaint was with the techs & nurses at the holding facility in which _I_ was kept on that particular weekend. No general indictment of the field was intended. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-spent-the-weekend-in-the-psych-ward-very-long/351434.md?page=4)