What You SHOULD Bring to a Psych Ward
so i want to start off this video by saying in may of 2019 i was hospitalized for one week due to my schizoaffective disorder and my intent and history of self-harm i hope i never have to go back but if i’m a danger to myself again then i have no problem checking myself in once more and of course this channel being literally called schizokitzo well i have something called schizoaffective disorder and just so you know schizoaffective disorder is a term for people who experience symptoms of schizophrenia such as delusions and hallucinations but also symptoms of a mood disorder such as bipolar or major depression for me i am schizoaffective bipolar type which means that i have hallucinations and illusions but also meet the criteria for bipolar one disorder but just in case you are about to turn yourself into the slammer i mean check yourself into a psych ward what are the things that you should bring that you might not think about so here’s my list and it is by no means like ending here but this is what you should bring to a psych ward so i’ll dive right into it you need your id you need your insurance card you need a list of all your medications and all of your providers that means doctors therapists everything neurologists if you have one of those just basically write down every doctor you have all of your health information because they’re gonna need that in order to piece together just exactly what your situation is going in what’s interesting though is that sometimes medications themselves aren’t allowed to be brought in and that sounds a little bit weird because if you’re going to a psych ward don’t you need to have the medications that you take on a regular basis so what happened to me was that i brought all my medications in a gallon plastic bag because that’s how i’ve always done it and they took them as basically proof that i was taking those meds but they refused to give me the pills in those bottles and instead gave me pills that they supplied so still bring your meds but don’t expect to take those expect to maybe take theirs and again it depends on where you go it depends on the place um it’s different for everyone but for me i was yes i brought all of my meds with me but i wasn’t allowed to take a single pill in any of those bottles i think i had a supplement that i was able to take but that was really it the next thing is that you want to bring a blanket blankets are so warm they are so cozy they sometimes feel like a hug i mean honestly when i was there i mean i’m always cold like that’s just the thing for me is i’m just always cold so i always have a blanket i always have a cardigan i love wearing sweaters and hoodies and stuff so definitely bring a blanket if you tend to get cold very easily it also can help keep you warm at night that kind of thing just make sure it’s not woven or knit because if you can possibly undo it and hang yourself they will take it away from you shampoo and soap bring something that calms you relaxes you feels like home because you’re going to be in an unfamiliar place it’s going to be very anxiety-inducing and having something familiar with you not only will you have like a blanket from home but you’ll also have the soap you use and the thing is like when you’re away from everybody for a week and you’re just on your own being clean really makes a difference because it’s like it’s a sense of normalcy and there’s nothing worse we’ve all been on vacation where we forgot our shampoo and we had to use the hotel shampoo and it’s always horrible to like add that into a psych ward stay and just like no just just bring your own shampoo just make sure it has no alcohol in it because they will take that from you and then make you use the crappy soap the next thing is bring comfortable clothes bring sweatpants bring sweatshirts make sure all the strings are removed but bring things that are cozy you’re gonna be stuck there for a while so you might as well be comfortable and if you do bring things that do have strings in them they might take it away from you and then make you wear a hospital gown and no one wants to wear a hospital gown when everyone else is wearing normal clothes please for the love of god no matter how depressed and neglectful of your health you are just bring a toothbrush and a toothpaste and please use them i don’t need your dragon breath breathing on me at 7am waiting in line for breakfast please you don’t want to do that to anybody brush your dang teeth people next thing is something that absolutely saved me and it’s to bring a notebook note that this is a composition book i got it from walmart for like a dollar but it’s not a wire-bound notebook if it’s a wire-bound notebook they won’t let you bring it in because you can take the wire off and potentially kill yourself this next thing will make you the absolute star of the unit and it’s playing cards there’s so many games you can play with playing cards my favorite one to play while i was at psych unit was king’s corners and i had this guy that i’ll play king’s corners with and he was pretty good at it and i was pretty good at it and so we would play for like whenever we had free time and our units like were able to mingle with one another like i would go over there and play king’s corners with him and we would just talk about life so yeah playing cards bring them and notice they say b look at that they’re b cards so they’re perfect for me i can’t believe i still have this too like this is actually the deck i used when i was in there wow and if you don’t like playing cards other things like word searches and crosswords those things work great too some people like sudoku and actually my roommate was a big fan of puzzles she actually had her boyfriend bring her a 500 piece puzzle in the middle of the week and man we ate that up that was so much fun like again we were all kind of bored so like anything to pass the time but putting together a puzzle with people and talking about just mental health on very frank terms is actually a really interesting experience and i did appreciate that so yeah puzzles good stuff and if you don’t like puzzles you don’t like crosswords you don’t like playing cards just bring a book you will have time to read books are allowed bring two or three or four there were a couple people on the unit that would be reading every spare time every spare time every second of spare time they got i was on such a higher dose of zyprexa that i couldn’t focus on reading my dad actually brought me a book about playing card magic but i couldn’t get through it because i could hardly focus on the pages thanks to my medication but anyway books are great you’ll have time to read them they’re definitely a way to get out of the monotonous and inducing and just whatever your brain is doing to you books in the psych ward are a good idea this next one is something that it depends on where you go so where i went i wasn’t allowed access to my cell phone but i had access to a landline at certain specific times where i could use to or i could use where i could call people that i knew but the thing is i was limited to the phone numbers i had memorized in my head and so what i would suggest to you is to bring a piece of paper with all the phone numbers of people you care about just in case you can’t access your cell phone either and you still can talk the people in your support system your family your friends etc and the final thing is bring pictures so i wasn’t allowed to bring picture frames but my dad brought me pictures of the things i loved and the things i cared about so that um this is like this for example is a picture of my favorite stuffed animal her name is madame b and she is turning 19 this year um but he basically brought me photos this is this is one of our halloween trips basically i’m not gonna go through my family album but photos are a way to feel less isolated basically like i was given photos of like all the things i cared about fun vacations i’d been on events and whatnot and so it kind of helped me remember that there was a life outside of the unit because while i was on the unit like everything was about the unit and so remembering that i did have fun in life that i do have things i care about that i do love stuff it was kind of a nice it was a nice thing and that’s it for this video thank you so much for watching if someone you know or yourself is headed to a psych ward i really hope everything goes smoothly there’s no bumps there’s no horrible experiences and that everyone gets the help that they need psych wards can be very effective in helping people in a wide variety of situations as many things that happened to me there that i didn’t like it still helped me in other ways that are really important will i go back to that hospital probably not but i will not hesitate to check myself in if something else happens but anyway i’m gonna ramble forever if i don’t go now so love you all have a good day see you in the next video bye bye
Did I miss anything???
This video is about what you might not think to bring to a psych ward! Some stuff is obvious, but others not so much, so hopefully–if you or someone you know is preparing for hospitalization–this gives you a good starting point for your psych ward packing list!
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Disclaimer: I am not a qualified mental health professional. This channel exists for educational purposes, and I do my best to provide accurate and up-to-date information. In order to create content, I combine scientific resources (peer reviewed studies and easy-to-understand articles) and my own personal experiences/advice. I seek to make complicated topics easy to understand, but I am no substitute for a doctor, therapist, or other qualified mental health professional.
23 Comments
I just remember getting a full cup of meds with only 60cc of water to take them with. Love your channel!
Thank you, Friend ⚘️
good video!
When I went to the hospital in 2020 they did the same thing with my medicine. They took my medicine and locked it away and gave me the same meds from the hospital pharmacy.
This is a great list for going to a hospital as well especially with the limits of visitors since COVID.
This was such a great list! And I love how you presented it by holding up examples of the items. It was also interesting to hear about versions of the recommended items that you can't bring in (like clothes with strings, wire bound notebooks, etc.) because you could use those to hurt yourself.
The bee cards are awesome and I wish I had a set! Also I laughed out loud at "no one wants to wear a hospital gown when everyone else is wearing normal clothes" XD And I enjoyed seeing the notebook of pictures that your dad brought you, which is super sweet & seemed like a really helpful thing to have.
Both my school counsellor and my therapist have both been talking about how they may put me in the hospitals psych ward, they don’t communicate with each other. They wanna admit me for my self-harm issues, and my suicidal ideation. I’m considered high risk to myself, police know about my condition. Because i’ve attempted suicide before it greatly increases my risk factor. So i’m kinda getting prepared in case one of them admits me. It’s frustrating that it’s so safe in psych wards, it makes it so much harder self-harm. Guess that’s kinda the point though. 😅
Is this for pediatric wards? The majority I worked in you couldn't bring anything but a book into a hospital ward setting. You have to wear there clothing they supply, etc?? Or is this list for stand alone psych hospital
I like your stories
I was in the habit of going to the psych ward and had to break it. My last experience was tragic, there were some screamers on the ward.
I remember i went to the phyc ward and i am actually allergic to mint so i couldn’t brush my teeth with the tooth paste they provided so i was brushing my teeth with the shampoo they provided which was super wack and tasted really bad
My brother just got admitted thank you SOOO much you are a goddess now I know what to bring him if they let me
Every time I've been to a psych ward was forced . I spent most of the time sedated and fighting nurse's .
You can't take your own blanket anymore, your sweater shirt can't be a hoodie, you can't have your own stuffed animal anymore, only some hospitals let you bring your own toiletries…. Just remember no hard cover books….
I have been following you for a while but today I have watched several of your videos. Sometimes hearing another person make sense of what's going on inside of you when you can't is nice. Or when you wonder if you are making it up. Or having someone to relate to. The perk of all these with you is that you have a great personality and watching your videos isn't anxiety producing like some of these other channels
Mental health is culturally different in different countries. We shouldn't really use labels, but it takes time to reach this point. I think you should see yourself without a label.
I colored so many mandalas and can decorate a whole wall with it. The staff kept printing new coloring pages because lots of people colored. It´s one of the nice memories while being hospitalized.
So bring a coloring book and colored pencils, just in case they don´t have it.
Thank you so much for posting this!! I’m considering admitting myself and this is a total lifesaver 🙂
How exactly are you playing games with playing cards if you were in a straight jacket in a padded room by yourself.
As others have noted, things have gotten even more restrictive. Sadly, none of this would have been good advice for me even if it had not become restricted. But then, I was never supposed to be in the psych ward. I just got sick and left to die by my wife of almost 15 years. The Psych Ward was the only place the State could put me. Yeah me! Essentially prison for the act of supporting my wife, loving my kids, and doctors failing to diagnosis my pancreas failing. Over 10 months on a misleading 72 hour hold (they told me I HAD to sign an electronic document if I wanted to leave. The electronic signature was actually to admit myself for a 72 hour hold. When I found out, I was told it was too late and I now had to stay for 72 hours. 7200 hours later, I was discharged but my ex had sold my stuff and home while I was in the Psych Ward.
I do not care how bad off you are, I will never again recommend a Psych Ward. My now ex-wife worked for the Federal Prison and most of what happened there would be illegal in prison. Only a few parents and few of the staff made it tolerable. Two weren't even staff for the ward, but rehabilitation specialists who were amazing at their job and amazing people. I say this as someone who worked for a decade and a half in medical education including nursing. I wrote curriculum for it (even including the Mental Health courses) and worked with professionals from each area. Very little of what everyone shares as "normal" is supposed to be how it goes. It has just become the accepted.
to fucking late i’m in handcuffs in a cop car
The local hospital’s psych ward has shampoo that also functions as a body wash
What if you need diabetc meds and stuff like that. How will they know the meds they give you are not harming you?
a copy of a psychiatric care directive
Google search it.
I ahve been inpatient 3 times. After the first I made a psychiatric care directive and it save me from having forced ECT.
A care directive is a document that is made part of your medical records. You have 2 witnesses sign it. It is a document that states what your preferences are in regards to your care. So for example: Yes/No to ECT, or if emergency interventions are needed would you prefer restraints, seclusion, medication, etc. – you can even indicate if there are any doctors or hospitals you don't want treatment from or if you have aversion to certain medications.
When I went my 2nd time it was so tehy could change my meds and the hospitalization was just a precaution. 24 hours after I was on the new medication it hadn't really taken effect yet and the psychiatrist decided he wanted to do ECT. WTF?!? He didn't even want to give the new meds time, he just wanted to go straight to ECT. When I said no, he said he would call my wife. I knew that she was aware I didn't want it so I told him go ahead. She told him no. He threatened me with getting a judge to approve it. At that point I said you can try, but I have a psychiatric care directive that clearly states I don't want ECT and since it is part of my medical records – which means the judge WILL be required to see that before they can rule on this, you won't have a chance and when the judge asks me I will tell him I have made you aware. Then the judge will likely be pissed at YOU for wasting the court's time.
The next day the dr started talking about discharging me. 24 hours later I was home.
I don't know if the Dr is just a sadist or if they figured I had good insurance so it would be an easy payday, but when I shut them down, they suddenly wanted me gone.
im an adult baby, can i wear foot pajamas and have a pacifier