Well, it’s been 2 weeks and we are now home from Rye’s inpatient hospitalization. What a ride this has all been. In fact, we got home yesterday and my head is still spinning and I’m not even sure I can write a decent post. But here goes…
What was good about the hospital?
- It seems to have gotten Rye out of the manic state that he was in. He now takes 1000 mg of Depakote a day and can take Seroquel 25 mg at night as needed and from this his mind and body seem to function at a regular speed. He is slower now and his mind seems to function with more purpose. He now seems to want to do the right thing and make healthy choices vs. being drawn like a magnet to dangerous things and dangerous choices. He seems to be able to think things through better and can regroup faster when he gets off course. He is no longer on self destruct.
- It gave us all a break from the chaotic lifestyle and pressured speed we were all starting to function at to accommodate Rye. It made Don and I realize how much we were enabling Rye to stay in a manic state and were enabling his bad choices.
- It gave us a chance to realize Rye needs a weekly therapist in addition to the psychiatrist he sees for medicines. That he needs talk therapy once a week and med checks about once a month. And he needs a male therapist that is pretty tough. Someone he can’t manipulate and someone he feels comfortable talking to and whose suggestions he will listen to.
- It made Don and I realize that Rye needs much more structured time. He is going to need to be kept very busy with structured activities.
What was bad about the hospital?
- The hospital Rye was in was exactly like a children’s version of ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’. It was all about control at any cost and there was a Nurse Ratched on every shift. Honest to God. A couple of these women even looked like her and had that same cold, calculated, sadistic type personality and demeanor. Super creepy.
- Rye was never allowed outside or off the unit (which was very small to being with). He went 2 weeks with no real exercise or outside air or any healthy, physical way for his body to move the meds through his system or to release tension and anxiety except deep breathing.
- The staff did not do any of the testing they said they were going to do. They had him there for 10 days and the only test they did was an IQ test, which said his IQ was normal. That was the extent of the educational testing.
- The hospital (University teaching hospital that claims to be very ‘up’ on the recent research) claims to have a behavioral based program. This translated into the minimization of the effects of medication, no matter what the diagnosis, and blaming the child and/or parents for all behaviors the child exhibited even if the child was psychotic. They felt a good behavior plan at home could fix everything. And the social worker and nurses made that very clear.
- The behavior plan they utilized on the unit, however, consisted of making the child stay in their room for most of the day and punishing them if they came out when not ‘authorized’ to. Overuse of two padded, locked rooms on the unit in which they would lock the child when they did not follow directions. They did this to my son at least 3 different times and I saw them put a tiny 4 year old girl in there for an hour one evening and let her scream and cry the whole time simply because she would not eat her dinner – and then they were super nice to the mom the next night when she was there to visit and my guess is never told the mom about the previous evening.
- The other part of their behavior program is they PRN medicate the children whenever they don’t follow directions. My son was almost held at the hospital an additional 3 days to monitor what they called an adverse reaction to a medication (Seroquel). It turned out they had actually overdosed him and given him 3 times the dose they were supposed to in addtion to large doses of benadryl. So, it wasn’t an adverse reaction. It was an overdose. By their staff. And they overdosed him again the next day after the ‘adverse reaction’ as well and even added Ativan on top of it all then and kept him in his room all day so they didn’t notice that he was basically incoherant until I got there and demanded they discharge him immediately. When I took him home on Friday it took him until Saturday to be able to form a coherant thought or conversation and until Sunday to calm down enough to resemble his real self (we stopped the Seroquel for a couple of days to let the overdose work it’s way out of his system).
- The doctors have no idea what really goes on on the unit. Or if they do they lie when they talk to you.
- It is not a place of healing. And the children do not receive therapy there. It is a place of power, punishment, confinement, control, and would make any person crazy if they stayed there long enough. In fact, I think this may be the problem with the staff. They are a product of the environment they have created.
- I will never, ever forget the sounds of my son screaming and crying in those padded rooms (they always made sure to call me when he was in there I guess just so I could hear him in the backgound). And I will never, ever forget the image of that tiny 4 year old girl being dragged into that room and then being left in there to cry and scream and plead for nearly an hour. Those sounds and images are permanently burned into my brain. And I’m sure they are burned into the brains of all of the children on the unit as well as they all had to listen to the other kids that were in those padded rooms as the cries and pleads resounded through the whole unit when a child was in there.
Wow. And I guess that is enough. I never met with a doctor in person except the original intake which lasted about 30 minutes. We never got any positive anything from any staff member. Ever. [Edited to add: I take that back. The doctor on the unit the first week was wonderful but unfortunately she left after 2 days as her residency ended. The one the second week was bad.] When I pressed the doctor on the phone about their goal for Rye (the one from the second week), they did not have one. They did not do any tests to rule anything out physically or physiologically that could have contributed to his issues. I think they goal was just to keep him there as long as insurance allowed. And then when they overdosed him, they petitioned they insurance to keep him there longer to monitor the ‘adverse’ reaction, which ironically they did nothing to stop and just kept piling on the meds until he could not even think right. God knows how long that cycle could have gone on and how much they could have fried his brain if I had not have taken him out.
Amazingly, I don’t think the experience was a total loss. It broke us out of our unhealthy cycle at home and got Rye’s meds to a therapeutic level. I would not do it again, however, unless it was a complete and utter crisis as I think it can be very traumatizing for the child. And for the family if the family knows enough about what goes in in the hospital.
Inpatient psychiatric hospitalization for children or teens should really only be used as a complete and utter last resort.
11 Comments
Thank you for writing about all of this… Especially the bad stuff. I didn’t know. Of course from a therapeutic standpoint, none of that bad stuff makes sense. So you’re right, it is all about control and money…
HB
oh my god meg! that sounds terrible! i’m so sorry rye had to go through that and you hearing those terrible noises. i worked a therapeutic school for about 6 months and it was similar. punishment, control, restraint (no chemical though). and i remember children being antagonized to the point of restraint then the screaming and crying while 4 adults lay on top of them face down. how humiliating and scary. then there was no reparation after that. i only lasted 6 mo. cause it was traumatizing. and i can’t imagine if that was my child! i am already so protective of Taz. i don’t even like my extended family snapping at him or disciplining him in any way. of course, it’s okay for me to, but no one else
thank God rye is home and i’m glad you had a least a little good come out of it. just curious what you will change now that you recognize the enabling and everything. maybe you can write a post about that?
I’m really speechless, it all sounds so cruel. I’m angry that this is the system that our kids have to face. That we haven’t created a more respectful way of dealing with kids in crisis. This would be all over the news if a child with cancer was treated this way, but if we are a parent of a mentally ill child, we are helpless. I’m glad his meds are on track and I hope this transition is a success for your whole family.
Oh, wow. I’m gobsmacked. That’s absolutely horrifying. I’m feeling incredibly grateful that the children’s psych center here, imperfect as it is, is much, much better. That’s a strange thing to say as everything tends to be worse here in NM than anywhere else, but not in this case. The half dozen kids I know who have been patients there tell mostly good stories.
SO glad to hear that Rye is doing better and that you all got a break, and hoping for a long, long period of stability!
Meg,
I am so sorry for what has happened.
Have you considered reporting this hospital? I fear a kid is going to be killed by this type of abuse.
I know you have alot going on but when the time is right, I hope you will report them. I am not even sure how to go about it but I am really worried that someone is going to be killed by these practices.
I am glad that he is home. I too, am thinking along AA’s lines–the administration of an overdose is either a mistake or malpractice. In an inpatient setting, all meds given must be charted, this would mean that there is written record of what was given when, and how often. Wouldnt it be quite obvious that he was dangerously overmedicated? I mean, lawsuits are filed over less negligence than this!
I found you while trying to research a possible link between bipolar disorder and dyslexia. Reading through your blog has been very interesting for me though because I have experienced so many of the same things as you. My son could probably be your son in four years (he is 8 now).
I didn’t want to comment on your hospitalization post specifically though. My son has been hospitalized 4 times- three times after actual suicide attempts and once while in a manic state. The first experience while he was in the manic state was similar to your experience and I was very leary when I had to hospitalize him the second time around. But, I also had no choice because my then six-year-old was trying everything in his power to kill himself. I chose a different hospital the second round.
The hospital really does make a difference. I live in a rural area and small town also and all hospitals are a several hours drive in either direction. The first hospital was private and was actually chosen over the teaching hospital only because there were no beds available at the teaching hospital. The three stays he has had since then at the teaching hospital have been wonderful. My stepdaughter also had an inpatient stay there and she was 13 and said it was fine (actually kind of fun).
I feel bad for you that you had a horrible experience at the hospital. It puts a bad taste in your mouth and makes you never want to let go of your child again. I want to protect my son as much as I can and I know the first hospitalization I felt they did more damage than help- he came out of the hospital ten times worse than he went in.
Hi Lindsey: Welcome to the blog. This was actually my son’s second time to be hospitalized. His first time was at 6 years old. And that was a private hospital. And to this day he talks about how hard that experience was for him as well. Although that program was far less creepy than this one.
I think hospital experiences are precarious because rather than all good or all bad or private vs. public etc. I think so much has to do with the child him or herself at the time and where they are developmentally and otherwise and also, most importantly, who is running the program and who is working at the hospital at the time the child is there. We heard all good things about this hospital before he went and that is why we requested it (although in our state when your child is taken to the ER and is then deemed needing inpatient hospitalization (involuntary commitment) the state has the right to send them to any hospital in the state that has an open bed for them and who will take your insurance. So we felt lucky to get the one we got. And good to know for the future.) And my guess is that a lot of the parents whose child was there would say their time there was great. But people are different in their needs and expectations and staff act differently with different kids [and my son is bigger than most of the staff there and I think scared them at times] – that said, I never will understand what the deal was with the four year old and why they treated her that way. And my guess is her mom will never know she was treated that way.
Overall, my son is much better off now than before he went in but it was a mixed bag for sure. And I hear the same thing about all ‘therapeutic’ programs, whether they are hospitals, RTCs, boarding schools, therapeutic day schools, etc. Some are great. Some are terrible. And so much depends not on the actual location itself but rather who is running the program at the time your child is there and who is working on a day to day basis as staff while your child is there. And you never know ahead of time how or who that is going to be.
Meg,
This isn’t an issue of black and white, meds vs. anti-meds, etc.
The issue is that Rye could have been killed with the punishment dosing of Seroquel. Sorry to be so blunt but that is plain and simple torture.
That is worse than malpractice.
AA
Thank you for sharing your experience. I went through a similar experience almost a year ago with my son and was horrified at how the hospital he was in treated him and my husband and myself. My son felt like a virtual prisoner and we were only allowed to see him twice the whole week he was there. Two phone calls, one from the Dr. and that was it. We never actually met with his doctor. My son sat in a room and watched TV practically the whole week. The bill? $8,000! I would never do it again and they really were not able to help him. His family doctor and counselor helped him more than anyone else. Thanks again, I am at least glad to know it is not just me. I was beginning to think I was the only one who saw something wrong with the way these places are run!
Woah!! I cant believe what i just read…
seriously what you said is sooo true… the way patient are treat.. and in this case it is bout children.. SO sad! I found out it was in a spychiatric center for adult… same damn shit. what you said here and I quote “■It is not a place of healing. And the children do not receive therapy there. It is a place of power, punishment, confinement, control, and would make any person crazy if they stayed there long enough. In fact, I think this may be the problem with the staff. They are a product of the environment they have created.” So real! Plus you’re last line “Inpatient psychiatric hospitalization for children or teens should really only be used as a complete and utter last resort.” It should definitly be use only in realll last resort! But badly and sadly it is use in first choice… Patients that goes out of there seriously are way more hurt then before to get in… they dont need to stay months to have that bad treatment burn in there mind. just one day is enough to hurt real bad a person.. They all say that those places are for the “better”, that is BULLSHIT! It make everything worse… and proof.. you have way more negative point then positive…! Nurse are bad! Iso is bad! lock a kid or adult is bad! Stay inside almost 24/7, never go outside for air or a walk, barely see the sun is bad! all staff is bad, from nurse to Appoint beneficiary (if its the way we calm ‘em) or you can call em security guard if you want too… they’re bad! Doctors for the most of em dont know shit bout what is going on… is bad! Anyway i’ll stop or i’ll never stop… Psychiatric Hospitals = REAL BAD TREATMENT
peace out, and to everyone who wants to make that change, hit me up. I’m working on ideas to be able to change this real bad treatment, any comment on it, or ideas suggestion of change is well welcome.
Keep your head up to everyone lock, one day it will stop… i’ll make it stop, with all the powe i have, and no matter how it will be.. but i will make it stop!