Angela Semple

Review of UPMC Behavioral Health

The nurses and therapists were generally caring an...

The nurses and therapists were generally caring and polite, though I felt like medications were being pushed on me without explanation. The nurses gave whatever meds the doctor ordered and you could technically refuse, but when asked 'Why do I need this?', 'How does it work'? or 'I never said I had trouble sleeping, why are you giving me meds 'for sleep' on top of other meds that make me sleepy?' no one was helpful. Since there was nothing to do but group meetings, I could have used some way to exercise as that often helps with mood, but that was pretty much impossible. The atmosphere was depressing and the common areas windowless; while it may sound superficial, natural light or daylight lamps as opposed to florescent could make a huge difference. The food was so gross I sometimes chose to go hungry, and the bathrooms dirty. All the bathrooms are unisex, and while I think it's important to have a unisex option, separate women's and men's would also be nice purely because men can be gross. To top it off, when I got my possessions back, cash and medication had been stolen from my purse. Overall I couldn't wait to get out and vowed never to go back.