This one is from a while ago, so some details will be a bit here and there.
The first time I was hospitalized for my mental illness, which is also the time I was diagnosed, I was at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).
The story of how I got there is in another blogpost.
It was the 28th February 2018. I was sent to MGH for a wellness check. I rode with the MIT EMT. They did my labs and all my minerals and fluids were wack. I had spent almost two months without eating and drinking little water. Even though I got there around 10pm I wasn’t seen by a doctor until 2am.
That was because they were trying to give me fluids so that my levels would get close to normal. They also gave me food. A fruit bar and tuna sandwich.
When I met with the doctor, I broke into tears as one does. I told him the analogy of the tree falling in the forest but life/ death edition. We talked about lots of stuff. At the end of our discussion he told me I have bipolar disorder. I didn’t know what that meant and wasn’t of sound mind to ask questions that would help.
I was also introduced to being section-twelved. This has different names in different states. The section twelve is a section of the law that allows a psychiatrist to hold you in a psychiatric hospital for three business days if they think you are a danger to yourself or to other people. My doctor thought I was a danger to myself so my option was to get hospitalized voluntarily or get section-twelved. I chose the first option.
They started looking for a bed for me, and I was placed in Blake 11, it is on the ninth floor. Blake eleven is an adult psychiatric unit. I spent the rest of the night in the waiting area though. I got a bed and they put it on the side and I had IV fluids.
I got to Blake 11 at around 6am. I had a roommate and we were separated by a curtain. The beds were what you would expect in a hospital. You could lower it or make it go up. You basically had the option of finding an angle that works for you. However the mattress was very thin and the blankets too. You needed more than one.
After I got to my room I was given hospital pajamas and towels and soap so that I could go shower. Because of my condition I hadn’t been taking care of my hygiene. And I had my natural hair out which made it hard because I couldn’t comb it.
There was a main area where we had breakfast, lunch and dinner. After breakfast you filled out a menu for the next 3 meals. One of the patients there told me that he ordered everything he thought would be interesting. If you’re gonna be locked up you might as well as eat well.
Some of the rules of the unit were that you weren’t allowed to go into someone else’s room. There is a part of the unit some patients were not allowed to get to. I think it was because patients in that part had more severe symptoms. Also some areas would get off-limits. This was usually if a certain patient needed privacy to receive a given treatment. Most of the other rules were related to safety, like how you couldn’t have strings of any kind. I think we couldn’t use our phones but if you needed to call someone the staff would help you.
The unit was very diverse in terms of mental illnesses treated. There were people with depression, bipolar, OCD, addiction, anxiety, dementia and a combination of two or more. This made it really scary at times, for someone who knew little to nothing about mental illnesses. However it was also very enriching to see people try so hard to heal.
Overall, I had a good time at Blake 11. Sometimes uncomfortable things happened. I was overwhelmed by my treatment team- they were like five. We met everyday in the morning and they assessed my condition. I felt very alone there as no one among my friends knew where I was. It was in winter so going back home was a bit hard.
I loved my stay because I got to meet so many kinds of people and their resilience. My favorite thing about being hospitalized is the people you meet even though you know you’ll probably never see them again.
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