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It depends what you are asking. There is a world of different in terms of treatment quality between admission to a generic local mental health ward, and admission to one of the specialist OCD treatment services.

Although with both, success will depends on varying factors including which therapist the patient is assigned to.

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Agree Ashley. I had voluntary admissions in 1997 and 2005 because I was in "crisis" and I received no "treatment" about part from sleeping pills, tranquillisers, anti-depressants and anti-psychotic medication.

Twelve years on from my last admission maybe "generically" things have changed. I don't know but I certainly don't want to be in a psychiatric ward again with utmost respect for the people with other mental health conditions.

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For anxiety sufferers in my experience (and things may have changed) psychiatric hospital admissions are usually for when you are in "crisis".

I personally did not receive any therapy for my OCD either times I went in voluntarily and found the experiences quite frightening because many of the other patients were sectioned and had completely different conditions and they were very chaotic places with little privacy.

A specialist setting for anxiety disorders would have a completely different atmosphere I would assume.

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Thanks for your reply, Phil. I would agree with you that in my experience too a generic psych admission as far as anxiety disorders go does seem to be at times of crisis (suicical thoughts/plans ect) 

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Hi OceanDweller,

I've been in hospital more than once and each time was a crisis as Phil said. I just wondered how many others had experienced psych admission before too. I'd agree and say it was pretty frightening and not an experience I'd like to repeat. Thanks for your reply! ?

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I spent two weeks in a generic ward decades ago. It was not too bad. But since then the number of beds has deceased enormously with a typical occupancy rate of over 100 per cent. That means if a person goes on 'leave' for a short time then the bed is immediately re-allocated. This builds up pressure in the system. And the treatment is biased towards the 'neurophysiological' model with the prescription of medication. I think clinical psychologists tend to direct their attention to out patients. Seems a very different kettle of fish in the specialist units.

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I've had admissions due to reaching crisis point and with my ocd/mood. They can be helpful for 'stabilisation' but not treatment (for me at least) and was hard dealing with my compulsions in a hospital and being around others. 

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Hi Skullpops, 

I have never had an emergency admission to an acute psychiatric ward/hospital but I did have a three month treatment stay at the 'Anxiety Disorder Residential Unit' at Bethlem Royal Hospital (one of the two main specialist inpatient/residential places in the UK).

Treatment there is very different from treatment as an acute patient in a normal psychiatric hospital- it's focused on CBT 3-5x a week and supplementary Occupational therapy sessions and you have much more freedom to move around the grounds, to leave the hospital and to socialise with other patients etc. so altogether a different experience really!

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1 hour ago, BelAnna said:

Hi Skullpops, 

I have never had an emergency admission to an acute psychiatric ward/hospital but I did have a three month treatment stay at the 'Anxiety Disorder Residential Unit' at Bethlem Royal Hospital (one of the two main specialist inpatient/residential places in the UK).

Treatment there is very different from treatment as an acute patient in a normal psychiatric hospital- it's focused on CBT 3-5x a week and supplementary Occupational therapy sessions and you have much more freedom to move around the grounds, to leave the hospital and to socialise with other patients etc. so altogether a different experience really!

Did you find ADRU helpful BelAnna? Can I ask how you ended up being referred there? 

Em

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4 hours ago, Angst said:

I spent two weeks in a generic ward decades ago. It was not too bad. But since then the number of beds has deceased enormously with a typical occupancy rate of over 100 per cent. That means if a person goes on 'leave' for a short time then the bed is immediately re-allocated. This builds up pressure in the system. And the treatment is biased towards the 'neurophysiological' model with the prescription of medication. I think clinical psychologists tend to direct their attention to out patients. Seems a very different kettle of fish in the specialist units.

That's something I noticed too, Angst. The immediate bed re-allocation I mean, if someone went out on 'overnight pass' someone else got their bed. I'm not familiar with any specialist units but it's interesting to hear everyone's experience and opinions. Thanks for your reply! 

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2 hours ago, Em00 said:

I've had admissions due to reaching crisis point and with my ocd/mood. They can be helpful for 'stabilisation' but not treatment (for me at least) and was hard dealing with my compulsions in a hospital and being around others. 

Hi Em, I've been in the same situation before where I've been admitted due to my OCD being unmanageable and a very low mood. Agree with you that they don't really do much in terms of getting to the core problem and treating that but it really is just to stabilise. Thanks for your reply. 

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1 hour ago, BelAnna said:

Hi Skullpops, 

I have never had an emergency admission to an acute psychiatric ward/hospital but I did have a three month treatment stay at the 'Anxiety Disorder Residential Unit' at Bethlem Royal Hospital (one of the two main specialist inpatient/residential places in the UK).

Treatment there is very different from treatment as an acute patient in a normal psychiatric hospital- it's focused on CBT 3-5x a week and supplementary Occupational therapy sessions and you have much more freedom to move around the grounds, to leave the hospital and to socialise with other patients etc. so altogether a different experience really!

Hi BelAnna,

Interesting to hear about a stay in a specialist unit. I'm not familiar with any of them although I've heard Bethlem mentioned a few times on here. Did your stay there benefit you? From what you've said so far it definitely sounds much better for someone with OCD than an acute psych ward. Thanks for replying. 

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I was admitted to a psych ward about13 years ago, and almost got admitted 6 weeks ago. On both occasions it was my OCD telling me I was evil etc. After my stay in hospital I started volunteering for mind as a patients advocate and did so for about 3 years. I was fortunate to spend a lot of time with an amazing OT, who decided to help me because I was helping others.

unfortunatley this was not the norm, and psych wards are not designed for people with anxiety problems.

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The thing about a voluntary admission in my opinion is the sufferer's mind is not in a great place to make a personal decision. A psychiatrist can suggest you have a "rest" but again from my own personal experience I found (especially in Brighton) it can be a really scary place.

A window on your room that anyone could look into, dirty showers, dismissive staff and a very early morning medication regime when I was woken up to go at take my medication.

That probably sounds like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest but that was what it is what like for me.

I hope things have changed but I genuinely believe that for people with anxiety conditions "generic" wards can be terrifying.

Sorry If I sound negative - just my experience. Best wishes, Phil.

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31 minutes ago, PhilM said:

The thing about a voluntary admission in my opinion is the sufferer's mind is not in a great place to make a personal decision. A psychiatrist can suggest you have a "rest" but again from my own personal experience I found (especially in Brighton) it can be a really scary place.

A window on your room that anyone could look into, dirty showers, dismissive staff and a very early morning medication regime when I was woken up to go at take my medication.

That probably sounds like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest but that was what it is what like for me.

I hope things have changed but I genuinely believe that for people with anxiety conditions "generic" wards can be terrifying.

Sorry If I sound negative - just my experience. Best wishes, Phil.

I agree, Phil. I was fortunate in my most recent admission that I found one nurse in particular to be really nice and helpful. The showers where I was flooded the entire room! ? Very poorly designed wet room type en-suites. Can't say I cared much for the early morning meds round either! A lot of the staff didn't appear to want to be there or even care, and on asking one young nurse why she'd chosen to specialise in mental health she told me it was "because she didn't fancy cleaning up **** and ****." (Sorry for the language) 

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4 hours ago, Skullpops said:

Hi Gary,

Thanks for your reply. Sorry to hear you too have had a hospital admission but that's good to hear about the OT, how are you doing now? 

 

4 hours ago, Skullpops said:

Hi Gary,

Thanks for your reply. Sorry to hear you too have had a hospital admission but that's good to hear about the OT, how are you doing now? 

I'm feeling a bit more positive at the moment skullpops. But it does frighten the **** out of you when you have a relapse.

my gp put me on mirtazapine and they completely messed with my head! But I'm here to tell the tale ?

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5 hours ago, Em00 said:

Did you find ADRU helpful BelAnna? Can I ask how you ended up being referred there? 

Em

 

 

5 hours ago, Skullpops said:

Hi BelAnna,

Interesting to hear about a stay in a specialist unit. I'm not familiar with any of them although I've heard Bethlem mentioned a few times on here. Did your stay there benefit you? From what you've said so far it definitely sounds much better for someone with OCD than an acute psych ward. Thanks for replying. 

Hi Em and Skullpops,

I'm really sorry to hear about your acute ward experiences- acute wards sound like quite stressful places!

 Yes to some extent my treatment stay was helpful although the CBT I had there wasn't as effective as some other CBT I've had in the past and since.

I really liked being around other patients/housemates with OCD, going on trips out to places nearby as part of therapy and the Occupational Therapists there were great.

Normally in order to have specialist in-patient treatment specifically for OCD you have to be referred by a Psychologist or Psychiatrist to either the ADRU at Bethlem or the OCD ward at Springfield Hospital, to have tried two different SSRIs; to have had two or more courses of CBT treatment and have severe OCD (measured using YBOCs I think). My referral was a bit different because I was initially referred by my Psychologist to another specialist centre, who secured funding for me even though I didn't meet the above criteria (re. medication).

 

Edited by BelAnna
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On ‎14‎/‎08‎/‎2017 at 15:53, Em00 said:

They can be helpful for 'stabilisation' but not treatment (for me at least) and was hard dealing with my compulsions in a hospital and being around others. 

Although some generic hospital wards may offer treatment, I think Em's experience is perhaps a fair assessment from what I hear from people that end up on wards.  It will usually allow them to stabilise, but will usually be referred to CMHT for the treatment/therapy as an outpatient. 

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21 hours ago, Skullpops said:

Interesting to hear about a stay in a specialist unit. I'm not familiar with any of them although I've heard Bethlem mentioned a few times on here. Did your stay there benefit you? From what you've said so far it definitely sounds much better for someone with OCD than an acute psych ward. Thanks for replying. 

If you're in Scotland Skullpops, the only specialist OCD service on the NHS is based at Dundee. I know they have inpatient options, but I am not sure I know anybody whose experienced that so I can't comment. I know they do a lot of outpatient work though, and they are good. 

Access to one of the NHS specialist services in England is possible, but for patients in Scotland usually means being accessed by Dundee first (unless can get local health board to agree to fund). 

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