Psych Ward Bingo Part One

Cheeking meds	Quiet Room	6 Am Vitals	Apple juice	1:1
Hardboiled eggs	Pet therapy	Group	Uno	Monopoly
Courtyard	Self-injury	Music Therapy	Doctor’s Meetings	Psychological Testing
Case studies	Christmas tree	Visiting Hours	Zombieland	Chocolate covered strawberries
Code Red	Six Am Coffee	Pay Phones	Email	Body Maps

Here is some of the stuff you need to know (or will learn) if you are ever placed (voluntarily or involuntarily) in a mental institution. I was first admitted over Thanksgiving break my sophomore year of college. It was actually a nice hospital but I couldn’t even appreciate that it was clean and safe. Not all hospitals are like that. I was readmitted again in February following my first big psychotic break. For a while, I stayed out of the hospital. I thought I might never return.Then in September I tried to commit suicide and that usually puts you back in the hospital. I was released but the next night the voices were back and I was readmitted.

 Then at Christmas I was admitted again for a total of five times at that hospital.. I stayed out of the hospital for five years until a crippling manic episode put me back in. Unfortunately beds are rare and I did not have the same connections I had so I was put into an institution that was dirty and felt unsafe to me.  It was a real lesson for me.

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Psych ward bingo row one:

• Cheeking meds. Alot of patients in hospitals don’t like taking medication so they try to get by by cheeking their meds (keeping them in their cheeks and spitting them out later instead of swallowing them). Many nurses (in psych wards and in general) now have their patients open their mouths to make sure they have swallowed.

• The quiet room is a place where the staff puts patients who need to be subdued or calmed down. I was in the quiet room after I started banging my head against the wall to get the voices out. They actually asked if I would prefer to be in the quiet room and I was genuinely scared I might hurt myself so they brought me to the quiet room and after that I don’t really remember what happened. I remember someone paged my doctor and I remembered a nurse asked if I wanted aromatherapy and I remember Haldol and that the quiet room was soft and then I think I woke up in my bed. But it’s so hazy. 

• Fear not! If you are not awake already at the crack of dawn they will wake you up for vitals. Vitals include temperature, blood pressure and sometimes urine tests or blood work. I had to get blood work often to see how my medication levels were doing.

• The second hospital was disgusting. There were blocked toilets all the time (with no doors) and trash littering the shower floor. And the tables in the dining room were coated with apple juice  making it really hard to play games with visitors.

• 1:1 means a person is assigned a tech or nurse to watch them because they might be a danger to themselves or others. They watch while you sleep (I’ve seen them fall asleep doing this). If they are of the same gender they will watch you go to the bathroom or shower (if not they will temporarily switch with someone). I actually didn’t always mind having a 1:1, depending on the person. Some were very kind and it can be lonely even though there are  people everywhere. So for all those who helped me feel less alone….thank you.