Mental Hospital

[lola]

I've been thinking a lot lately about death and killing myself. I want to see a therapist, and I've told my mother that I want to - she's supportive, but she's really disorganized and busy, so she never really gets around to helping me figure it out. I'm in college in a different city than her.

So anyway, what I want it to go to a mental hospital.

I know that it might be really really difficult, and maybe even not a positive experience - the rigid schedule, the restrictions, the lock up...but I want more than anything to have a stable, controlled environment for a short time so I can sort my stuff out in a less chaotic environment.

Does anyone have experience in mental hospitals?

Is this a reasonable want?

Can you tell me what it's like to be in one?

Any advice or insight?

Any input you have is welcome.

[Guest]

Can you create your own stability? You choose how to live your life if college is too much take a break for a little while. Get back to it when you feel like you can handle it. I personally have never been in or around a mental hospital but I have been threatened to be committed to one. I didn't act too mature back then I ran away from it all (so to speak) and it's gotten way better ever since. I need to see a therapist but I don't feel ready I doubt I ever will though... Understand that you have the power to control your own environment, you shouldn't need to be locked up to have stability.

[Jeep]

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[ThePetPerson]

If you are looking for safety and stability, you're even less likely to find it in hospital. Some find hospital beneficial, some don't. Some stay a week and are so upset by the experience they use it as an incentive to get better. Others become so used to being looked after they stay in the system their whole lives. For some, it is a much needed place when they are very poorly and the others? It is exactly the opposite.

The experiences vary from person to person. You won't know if it's good for you unless you try. If I'm honest, you won't find what you say you are looking for there. Hospital is a world of it's own, it's chaotic, bitchy, hard, unstable and volatile. It can be lovely, it can be toxic. You get caught up in games if you aren't careful, you try to prove you are 'ill enough' to be there.

For me, it has been a necessary experience. I wouldn't be here now without it. But now, I'm ready to move on. Having spent nearly a year in hospital, I'm working very hard to get out.

Whatever happens, don't fall into the trap of believing you are in control. If you choose to go in, you lose the right to choose to leave. The word "informal" means nothing to these people.