Lived Experience Forum

[Bow]

I heard the term ‘therapeutic psych ward’ yesterday. Something I’ve neither heard of nor experience before. Just wondering what others might think of this? What it would look like? Is it more a private thing?

[Question]

My apologies for my humour but it sounds like a escort agency as sometimes we only need that therapeutic touch to improve our mental well being if we do not have a close friend for comfort.

In all seriousness though this is what I found that should answer your question.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/psychiatric-ward-a...

[wellwellwellnez]

I'm imagining a lot of water features and meditation/elevator music. It also sounds like it might be what a lot of wards are going for these days.

[Eden1919]

well i have never seen one or been to one private or public in my experience they are all very traumatic, as for what one might look like, empathetic nurses and doctors who listen and actually care about your outcomes, continuity of care, private spaces that are cleaned regularly good options for food and drink that are healthy and tasty, actual therapy programs run by qualified professionals, activities for some level of fun and enjoyment, options to charge your phone by yourself so it doesnt get lost, not being kept long or not long enough but simply being able to heal at your own pace not determined by how many beds are available, having a separate option for people with violent behaviours and non violent behaviours so as not to traumatise people who are in the non violent category. hmmm i can think of much more but then this post may get way too long.   

[TuxedoCat]

Thank you everyone for sharing thoughts on this! 

For anyone reading at home, I thought I'd also share this post on "What to expect from inpatient treatment" which also had a really fruitful discussion on inpatient treatment ❤️ 

[Bow]

I very much agree @Eden1919  i find the majority of my inpatient stays to be traumatic and not that helpful. Yes they have kept me safe, but that is all. No therapy has occurred. No therapeutic relationships exist in them- they are for the outside, with your psychologist that is developed over time and effort put in. 

what this dr said to me yesterday just really puzzled me. He obviously has had no contact with people in a psych ward. Not in the public system at least. Maybe a private inpatient stay would be different. 

having a psych nurse sing and dance to try and get you to eat is not therapeutic. It’s humiliating. 

[Eden1919]

@Bow  Private is slightly better in that is has therapy programs and activities to do but the staff treatment is usually about the same not very nice. And yes I can imagine having someone do that would be more than uncomfortable. 

[tyme]

For me, inpatient stays have never been helpful either - it has been too clinical for me @Bow - however, that's not to say that it is not helpful for others.

I hope you find the support you need @Bow . As you've said in the past, this is probably more a circuit breaker rather than for 'treatment'.

[Question]

My daughter has spent time at one of these facilities.

It had single rooms for the patients, arts room, music room, gym amongst other features to make life as comfortable as possible.

The idea is to assess the patient in a relaxed environment to remove any fears or unnecessary responsibilities to discover what the problem is that needs addressing.

Still it is a government facility so there was one fridge for everybody's food and the clothes dryer took three hours to not dry clothes and there were maintenance issues that needed to be addressed.

Regardless we were thankful for the assistance we were given which has helped our daughter.