Judging Amy

Review of Highlands Behavioral Health Sy...

If you love someone and they are depressed or suic...

If you love someone and they are depressed or suicidal do NOT send them here. I was released on Friday after a voluntary 72 hour hold. It made me so much worse, that place is horrific. Let me share some insight as a patient here:

I went in under the guise of getting a safety plan, not to be committed.

First, I was left alone in intake for over an hour, next to me was a man who was beating his head, chair, fists against the wall. No one checked on me to see if it was a trigger, I was rocking and shaking and vomiting alone in a locked room the size of a closet.

Next, you are stripped down (literally), made to repeat your story 10 times because they don't have a computer system, it's all written down. After you are stripped of your clothes, your rights, and your decency, they dump you alone in a ward without an introduction or what the rules are.

You are not allowed to leave the ward, even to go down to eat, till you've seen the doctor, which took me 32 hours to see, i wasn't checked on to see if I was eating my food, I was so emotional after being dumped into a physic ward to eat my dinner, I wasn't asked if I had eaten that day, and by morning I had gone without food for 24 hours and I had a hypoglycemic attack, which the illness is listed, and no one still ran to help me even though I said I was going to faint. You can't close a door to save your life, you don't get exercise and you are treated as an annoyance every time you have to ask for something like towels, socks, pants or food, because it's all locked up and you can't get it, and they are too busy doing their "work" to help you. Took us a whole day to get soap in a room, where our only bathroom we are allowed to use is, and we aren't allowed to go into another persons room.

I had a 9 out of 10 (pain level) migraine (chronic migraines is also listed in my chart) and I was left to suffer for 7 hours, vomiting and sobbing while they shine a light in my eyes every 15 minutes, for SEVEN hours before they called an ambulance to treat me. The "Doctor" would only recommend me Tylenol and anti nausea meds to fight a migraine.

One day we were only allowed "fresh air time" before smoke breaks after meals (3 total) for less than 7 minutes a time, that was all the sunshine and fresh air we were allowed that day.

You are not allowed to share personal information to other patients but the groups don't talk why you are there, they are just interrupted by those that can't sit still. The only time I got with the psychiatrist was for a total of 15 minutes over the span of three days, and the social working for 10 minutes one day, but I can't talk about it to anyone else? The only sunlight in this dark place are the other patients, they understand you and make you feel better, NOTHING ANYONE ELSE CAN DO THERE.

I was told the system failed me. I told them I felt I was in prison. That this place was and is a trigger. I was not put on medication and the first thing out of a doctors mouth is "the average stay is 5-7 days" but I was there only on a 72 hour hold, which we were told if we try to leave after that voluntary hold we can be placed on involuntary and all our rights stripped. This place not only made my anxiety flare, my depression to sink lower it killed a part of me I'll never get back. We are treated less than human. We are in prison for seeking help. Don't send someone you love there unless you want to lose more parts that make them whole.