how is a mental institute, or a youth facility?
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Answers:
It really depends on which facility is in question. When I was 13, I had to go to one because I was severely depressed and suicidal. My experience was okay. While it removed me from the dysfunction of my home, I'm not all that sure that the treatment facility helped me resolve many real core issues. It has really only been in my adult years that I have healed a lot of the wounds from childhood. Still, I learned a lot from the experience, and I also learned who my true friends were during that time.
Here's a rundown of a typical day at a teenage treatment facility as best as I can remember:
Wake up
breakfast in the cafeteria
group therapy
activity time
lunch in cafeteria
individual therapy
activity (art, music, anger management. All with a therapuetic focus of course)
group therapy again
dinner in cafeteria
time to yourself, watch tv, visit other people
bedtime
For the most part, I was treated well. Make sure that you are attending a reputable licensed institution. It may be more expensive, but for something like this, it is well worth it!
Other Answers:
A mental institute is NOT a place for an unruly teen. If your teen is mentally ill and has seen a psychiatrist and the doctor recommends an institution, then check the place out carefully. If you have insurance, hopefully you can do better than a state-run hospital, which are notorious for neglect and abuse. As for a youth facility, CHECK IT OUT DILIGENTLY! Not all such places are bad, but terrible things have been known to happen in some of them. Don't rely on anyone else's word. YOU check it out. Good luck.
I've never done "ward time" but almost did once when i went cold-turkey off a meds i still needed at the time - i went there for the epilepsy symptoms i was experiencing from the sudden no meds putting my BODY "in distress, but walked from emerg, was escorted to psyche ward which i could see through plexiglass - it looked quiet and nobody did much but shuffle around in their "ward-wear". I was drilled and tested by a Nurse Ratchet and the head psychiatrist of the hospital and walked out with a prescription for the meds, directions on titrating off it, and a letter to my GP declaring me free of any psychiatric disorder, even free of PTSD.and that was a week after 9-11!
i did go to a lot of group therapy, some in facilities as an out patient and always self-referred - i asked my GP to get me in - but my friends there had all either done ward time OR were in the psyche facility where the group therapy was. All my friends gave me one answer: You always leave MORE messed up than when you went in.
but i found they liked out-patient places like drop-in places or centres where you could chill out and get grounded for a coupla days. There you could take your cat, like my friend did. I'm sure if you're gonna try to destroy somebody or commit suicide, it's your only option, though. it's a rule in my country they can "Form A" you and put you in a psyche facility by force like somebody would go to jail if they were found guilty of a crime.
hope this helps
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