Posted by Maria3667 on December 1, 2008, at 12:16:30
In reply to Locked wards 'harm patients', posted by Jeroen on November 30, 2008, at 14:14:48
Hi Jeroen,
A friend of mine has been locked up in a psychiatric ward several times and he claims it didn't help him.
I asked him: "What would be the right treatment for someone with severe mental problems?"
He said: "Just keep on going with normal day activities like working and playing sports. And besides that, have some psychological counseling. But don't go to a mental hospital. It won't make things better."
I've known him now for about 10 years and he's working as a computer operator. Eventhough he is still depressed sometimes and finds it hard to make friends, he claims it beats being 'inside'.
Just my thoughts.
Love,
Maria
> this is latest news from schizophrenia.com
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> The locking of mental health patients into their wards in NHS hospitals makes them more likely to be violent, harm themselves and refuse medication, new research shows.
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> Treating people with depression, schizophrenia or manic moods as if they were prisoners is designed to promote safety, but increases the risk of them attacking nurses or fellow patients, according to the study by London's City University.
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> 'A locked-doors approach is more likely to leave the patient seeing the ward as a prison, themselves as prisoners and the staff as jailers,' said Professor Len Bowers, who led the research. He found half of all hospital wards which look after those being treated under the Mental Health Act use a 'locked doors' approach.
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> But Bowers and his team found that it leads to patients feeling frustrated, stigmatised and depressed, and that can result in them being unruly. The policy increases the risk of physical aggression to others by 11 per cent, self-harm (20 per cent) and refusal of medication (22 per cent). The study found that while patients held this way are 25 per cent less likely to escape and commit suicide outside, those who cannot go out are more likely to feel worthless and suicidal.
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> Strict security does not reduce the 150-strong toll of such patients who take their own life each year, said Bowers. He argued that wards should be unlocked, with staff placed at the entrance to check who enters and leaves. There are about 10,000 people in the UK on acute psychiatric wards
poster:Maria3667
thread:865930
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20081123/msgs/866060.html