Author: Out of Darkness / Source: Bored Panda
Back at the start of January, I found myself in a situation I had not been in for 2 years. After a period of decline in my mental health, I became very unwell.
I noticed I was spiraling down and sought support from A&E and mental health teams. After a while, they assessed that I was unsafe to stay at home.
My partner and I waited for a little bit of time for the crisis team to find me a bed. Within a couple of hours, they rang to say they had found me a bed and I was admitted to the mental health assessment unit at our local hospital.I was lucky in this aspect. Many times it can be a real struggle to get a bed. I was also lucky that my stay was relatively short and I am now back at home, awaiting support from community mental health.
I thought I would share my experience with you so that maybe I can break some of the stigma and perhaps give people a bit more insight. Hospital is often not as bad as many films and hearsay make it out to be. I want to spread the message that it’s okay to need extra support at times.
My hope is that reading this will empower people to speak out about their circumstances.
This is the room I was given, which was actually pretty comfortable. It was a little bit hot because I couldn’t turn off the radiator and my window barely opened more than an inch, for obvious safety reasons.
It was a basic room with lots of space, probably a bit too much for me, but it was meant to be wheelchair-accessible. They’ve tried to put an inspirational quote there, but it sort of peeled off.
Notice the plug sockets? I thought they were a bit redundant since I was not allowed any wires, because of the ligature risk. They’re actually for the domestic team to clean. There’s not a lot of places to tie anything onto; even the toilets don’t have proper seats.
Here’s a little glance outside my room and into the corridor. You can sort of see a tiny courtyard you can go out into during the day.
To the left, there was the nurse’s office and beyond that, the door to the outside world. I was in a locked ward, so even though I was an informal patient I couldn’t leave without being seen by a doctor.
You had to be careful because if you tried to leave that way, I’ve heard stories people being sectioned. Which means you could be held there against your will, for your own safety. This shouldn’t happen to you if you can prove you’re safe enough to be discharged. You will have to wait to speak to a doctor though.
The other way down the corridor. Behind that plastic window covered in drawings is the dining room. It’s open most of the day. There are tables where I spent a lot of time coloring and talking to other patients.
Also, I don’t know if you can see it, but in the top right corner, there’s a little round mirror. That’s for the nurses so they can see what’s going on around the…
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