28 Comments Posted by Althea

Lack of funding is no excuse for mistreatment, nor is ignorance. While it certainly isn't common, it did and does happen even today in psychiatric hospitals. The last time I went inpatient, I met a woman who was attacked (on camera) by a poorly-trained tech at the state hospital simply she kicked a wall -- after being medicated up to her eyeballs by disinterested doctors and uncaring nurses.

On another note, was this unit for treatment for those who were found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect or those were deemed unfit to assist in their own defense? There is a difference.

T.S. Eliot is indeed a great poet: http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/784.

"This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper."

They probably weren't for patients. All that metal is dangerous.

Sorry, I forgot I posted here. I doubt anyone's going to see this, but I'll answer anyway. During the night a staff member (usually tech) will sit in one of these chairs or at a desk and monitor the patients. They might do some charting, but they're largely there to make sure we're sleeping, or at least not roaming about.

So do I, ricanfromdabrox. Just from the other side.

The last place I was in had these brightly-colored, square plastic chairs like the ones you might see in preschool, only adult-size. They were always cold and uncomfortable.

Anyone want to know what the chairs in the hallways were for? Hint: They aren't for the patients.

Nothing has changed much. This is the same sort of schedule we had when I was in the hospital, though "recreation" often meant sitting around the courtyard or walking around the gym or just watching movies.

Anyone interested in why those chairs are there?

I don't know how things were done in the "bad old days," but in modern psych wards a chair or a school-type desk is usually placed in the middle of the hallway at night so the techs can monitor patients. I think they might do some charting, but I can't be positive because I've typically been asleep when they're out there.

I don't know what conditions were like in *this* place, but in modern psych hospitals/wards, you get bars of soap or tiny travel-sized bottles. You can also bring your own, and there are always plenty of clean linens. I was never in a place that hosed people down, but I can understand the temptation. Some people just refused to bathe, for one reason or another, and sitting next to them at meal times was not a pleasant experience.

Sometimes a bunny is just a bunny. Good Lord, do you all know how incredibly boring these places are? Whenever I wasn't writing I would draw cubes. Does that have some deep psychological meaning?

I've been in four different hospitals and the shower heads all look almost exactly the same as this. Some are even smaller, and yes, they're designed to prevent suicide attempts. The shower floors are mostly of the locker-room variety, though at least now people are given a modicum of privacy.