Here is a post for me to explain the inner workings of Virginia Beach Psycharactic Center/Kempsville Center. Overall I had a very positive experience. This is an acute psychatric center for people with all sorts of problems.
*Meals were served 3 times a day regardless of behavior to all patients
*Less restrictive force was used with violent patients, restraints were used only in cases of severe self harm and reviewed every half hour by staff (I personally kept track of the one girl there who exhibited violent behavior and had to be restrained)
*Beds and blankets were provided in the time out room
*Voluntarily choosing to go to the time out room meant it was not locked
Any other questions about treatment there?
Welcome back! I have to ask whether or not it is better then standard injury wards, or if it is exactly the same white, boring misery. I've thought about doing what you did(I applaud you for doing it, by the way) a couple times, but I just hate hospitals so much I thought it would make things worse.
The Center is not like standard injury wards in that we each have a room with regular beds and a roommate. There's 3 community common areas, the Common Area, Adolenscent Lounge, and Children Lounge. The two lounges have couches and a tv with tapes, while the common area has tables with checkers on it. We are allowed to bring personal items except for things we could potentially hurt ourselves with or write with.
Still sounds like hospital rooms. And why nothing to write with?
well Cat it doesn't sound too bad at all! :smile: We're all hoping the best for you and look forward to hearing more of your adventures and experiences there when you have time to write,
very best wishes,
Stella
What about medications, did people have a choice to take it or not?
Still sounds like hospital rooms. And why nothing to write with?
Pointy, catffinated did say they didn't have anything around they could hurt themselves with, and most writing implements are pointy. That'd tick me right off though since art is both relaxing and my focused intresting.
Anyway, welcome back to the land of the free ;p
One of my former friends had checked herself into the psych ward in order to change her medication. I send her some flowers. The arrangement I picked had some very big and bright flowers in a really cute happy face mug. The florist phoned back and said "the hospital would not except the flower arrangement because the person you are sending it to is in the psych ward." with a smerk! (I can read some facial expressions) That was because the mug was ceramic and could be used as a weapon (not by my friend) so a suitable plastic container for the floral arrangement had to be substituted. She did really like the flowers.
I went to Virginia Beach, VA. They had "no swearing" signs everywhere. So they can throw people with Tourette's in jail.
I know medication is allowed to be refused along with any other treatment until a patient advocate can be reached to discuss it with the patient.
I went to Virginia Beach, VA. They had "no swearing" signs everywhere. So they can throw people with Tourette's in jail.
Actually, I've read on Wikipedia that very few people with Tourette's actually swear involuntarily like that. The media tries to 'sensationalize' things, and often ends up overexaggerating very rare things so that it looks like everyone with a certain diagnosis does that specific thing. I don't like it when they have people with Tourette's in movies saying objectionable things randomly. I have Tourette's, and my tics are just nonvocal, it's not anything serious, really.
Everyone with Tourette's has copralalia just as we are all like Rain Man.
One size fits all!
Stella