Hospital: George Washington University Hospital
City/State/Country: Washington, D.C., United States
Stars: 2.5
Comments: Giving it 2.5 stars mostly just because while nothing completely terrible happened, it wasn’t a good environment for me. The first night I was sobbing as I arrived on the ward so they gave me an anti-anxiety drug and a sleeping aid and I was too upset to object, and I also wanted to be compliant because I was nervous – I knew a lot of bad things could happen in psych wards. I’m not sure what would have happened if I had said no, I don’t want this med. The next couple of days they gave me my old medication and no new ones, which while I was relieved I didn’t get dumped on something heavy-duty, the meds I was on weren’t really working either.
I felt largely ignored by the individuals working there, or they were rude/cold when you asked for things. It didn’t help at all – one of the therapists spent most of the time, instead of helping me come up with coping management skills, being upset at my coffee-drinking and suggested exercise and vitamins (which exercise can help some people but like???)
There were 3-4 groups a day and they weren’t very productive for me, though to be fair I did not go to many. They removed the phones during groups and sometimes forgot to put them back until you asked. There wasn’t a lot of stuff for us to do there in terms of entertainment, though I did find a couple of okay books to read. We weren’t allowed to have our own clothes either.
Type of program: inpatient
Other marginalizations/identities that might have influenced your stay: White, genderqueer/non-binary (did not disclose that part), queer, Autistic
Psych Ward Reviews 