Ask Ben Young about being in a mental hospital/Being bipolar

[BiPolar_Nut]

Almost forgot...did you assume the phone was bugged and try to use that to your advantage to get our sooner?

[Ben Young]

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How long on average did people have to be in and behave themselves before they got their shoelaces back?


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probably a week.
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What kinds of other characters were there during your stay?


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One guys cousin came in, that was interesting. My room mate for the majority of the time was big on lsd, but I don't know why he was in.
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Did they remove all staples and paper clips from anything in the ward? If so, did you find any ways to acquire them?


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Yes, they got rid of all of them. I had no reason to get any.
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Did you find the shrinks didn't give a squat about your personal condition and were simply there to stay distant/removed and go on the power trip of being the one to clear you to leave?


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Pretty much
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Did you find that "checking yourself in voluntarily" was a complete load of crap and you were in fact locked up unless you played the "professionals" game?


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yes
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Almost forgot...did you assume the phone was bugged and try to use that to your advantage to get our sooner?



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no, how would I use that to my advantage?

[d10]

Is it uncomfortable being around other people who you know are mentally ill but you don't know exactly how? If mental hospitals are anything like they're depicted on TV, I think I would develop some issues just spending time there. Is it not that bad, or do you get used to it?

[mmbt0ne]

Do you ever think about not having children to prevent predisposing your kid to a similar condition?

[Ben Young]

"Is it uncomfortable being around other people who you know are mentally ill but you don't know exactly how? If mental hospitals are anything like they're depicted on TV, I think I would develop some issues just spending time there. Is it not that bad, or do you get used to it? "
Sometimes when things get violent it's uncomfortable, otherwise it seems ok to me. I think it depends on the person though.

"Do you ever think about not having children to prevent predisposing your kid to a similar condition? "
Yes

[BiPolar_Nut]

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Almost forgot...did you assume the phone was bugged and try to use that to your advantage to get our sooner?


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w would I use that to my advantage?

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Dunno...I was just mindful of that every time I was on the phone, explaining logically to my family how it was doing more harm than good to stay in there past the point of "danger" (of killing myself) form the shrinks' perspective....I tried to make sure my phone conversations sounded sane and logical and how staying there was making things worse....and each day on the phone I made myself sound a little worse when complaining about the confinement...

I'm not claiming it worked...for all I know I was playing with fire risking being committed longer and just got lucky.

At the time, tho, it seemed a very real, planned, and articulated play. *shrug* mibbie I took it all too seriously. who knows...my only focus once I found out "voluntary" wans't anywhere near voluntary, I became obsessed w/ getting out ASAP and pretty much viewed everyone else as a threat (hence the mind games and "anything that could be used as a weapon"...staple/paper clip questions. I'm just trying to compare experiences but we were evidently in different mindsets while behind the door. I had specific instances feeling threatened by a dude that thought he was part of MIB, and found a paperclip on the floor and immediately bent it into a 2-pronged potential weapon cause of the MIB guy (who wasn't someone I messed with)...bah, never mind, man.....I think I was assuming everyone's experience inside somehow would be roughly the same but that's just not the case. I don't think I'm adding to this thread at all.....I'll back out and just read [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I still think it's a good topic tho!

I do have to respond to this tho:

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Do you ever think about not having children to prevent predisposing your kid to a similar condition?

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Hands down....YES! I feel it is my moral responsibility not to pass my fkd up mental state onto an impressionable child. That's just me tho...I'm all for someone else taking on the challenge if they think they can succeed. I've been a step-daddy and feel I have no business raising a child, even though they may have a 50-50 chance of turning out okay.

ReEdit: wow....what a crappy 1,000th post for me [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[Shadowrun]

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Do you take anything besides Zoloft? Have you tried anything else? If so, how did it affect you?

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The current medications I take are:
Concerta (ADHD)
Abilify(Bipolar)

ever xanex?
Zoloft(depression)
Depakote(Bipolar)
Clonidine(Dystonia)
Baclofen(Dystonia)
Lidocaine(Dystonia)

I've taken other stuff but not for bipolar, except some thing they gave me in the hospital, but that was temporary and I forgot what it was.

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[JJNJustin]

I was hospitalized once for bipolar disorder. I made friends with a girl who was suicidal/eating disorder. We were eating lunch together and this old fart who lived there I guess sat down with us. At first he was cute and said "Do you like her?" "Do you think she's pretty?" "Are you going to marry her?" he said with these freaky eyes. Then out of the blue he says, "Are you going to eat her pussy and [censored] her brains out?" and he puts his fingers on his mouth in a v-shape and sticks his tongue out.

inpatient sucks because they put you on strong anti-psychotic drugs to stabilize and calm you down.

If you have mental health issues, you really have to get with a kind, caring, knowledgable, empathic, patient doctor who will work with you.

Most of the doctors I have seen have been against 'cocktails'. I have been taking lithium for a year now. It is a true miracle for me. I'm not on a therapeudic dose, but I can already see a huge difference.

Mania isnt always 'euphoric' and 'grandiose', although sometimes it is. It can also be paranoid, irratable, and dysphoric. Mania at first feels nice but it quickly escalates into anger, inpatience, dyphoria, and even violence. Sometimes even schizophrenic-like behavior based on delusions.

-J

[EYEWHITES]

at what point does it get to be too much for you...im bipolar type 2 and have GAD generlized anxeity disorder, and i quit taking the meds

i generally sleep 3 to 4 hours, im up 3 days at a time, the most has been 6 hours sleep in 5 days. Im becoming more and more ocd. and i have gotten to where i hate leaving my house. but i hate taking the meds because in my experince they never work great, and i always feel like i have a terrible hangover?

[Toe-Knee]

When I took antidepressants I become hypomanic. I've been thinking about getting a prescription again because I really felt amazing and I want to see if that could happen again.

Would you do something like this? Be able to consciously make yourself manic.

Can you describe your hypomanic stages a little more in depth?

You didn't have any delusions during your hypomanic state?

Why did these states become irritating?