If I created a petition would you sign it?

Would you sign my partition

  • Yes!

    Votes: 8 66.7%
  • No

    Votes: 1 8.3%
  • Im not sure....need a bit more information

    Votes: 3 25.0%

  • Total voters
    12
  • Poll closed .
Status
Not open for further replies.

Shock

Well-Known Member
#1
Hi all,

To those that know me on here this shouldnt really come as a surprise :)

In my on going battle to correct the treatment of suicidal, bipolar and depressive involuntary patients (of which only a short while ago I was a member of) in Australian hospitals.

To give you a bit of a back ground story I was forcibly admitted by police a while back as I was quite on edge and in a very bad way. Now, I want to be clear that I have no problem with the police or how they handled my situation - they were only performing a job which they did politely.

What I am concerned with is my treatment at the actual hospital. You can read more in detail about it in my other posts put to give you a very brief rundown heres what happened (in no particular order);

  • Not given a legally required allied person
  • Not told why or how I was there
  • Kept being ignored when ever I asked a question
  • Had my phone removed from me so couldnt contact anyone to let them know
  • Was laughed at when I asked for legal help
  • Was kept in a empty room for hours at a time
  • No one attended to my continual panic attacks
  • Staff were continously angry and rude
  • Not given my medication so became sick
  • Came out with PTSD

Anyway, as I understand I got off lightly. Quite a few people have spoken to me since with by far worse stories which has prompted me to create this thread.

What I want to do is create a partition which I will deliver to the Minister of Mental Health asking that non-violent involuntary patients be treated with a greater deal of respect. Staff should be trained in this matter. They must understand that we are citizens and are suffering a form of illness - underneath we are no different. My partition will ask for better training of nurses and hospital staff.

I will also ask for the environment to be changed. There should be books, magazines, TVs and things to keep you occupied. Twelve hours staring at a wall isnt nice.

I will ask that all patients be briefed on why they are there and offered an Allied Person and/or legal representation immediately. I hold my civil right to freedom in the highest regard and so should they. Any necessary infringement on this should be thoroughly described. Information on this should be made freely available once inside.

I will ask that patients have access to a phone 24hrs a day to call loved ones for support.


So sorry for the long post! I just want to gage peoples response if I were to do this.

Information would be collected via a website (I work in web development :)) and be held securely. Like most online partitions, I would ask for your name and the country you live in. Once I get an appreciable amount of signers the names would be printed off and delivered to the Minister for Mental Health. The database would be deleted after that.

So...would anyone sign my partition? :)

(ps Thanks once again for every thats supported me so far! You truly do not know how much you have helped me out! I love you all!)
 

Speedy

Staff Alumni
#2
Re: If I created a partition would you sign it?

First of all, I wish you the best of luck. I think this could potentially be something that helps other future patients and you (I'm pointing out the obvious, but still! =]) I have no idea how it'll work out, but I guess let's hope for the best.

Also, in my past hospital stays, we didn't have 24 hour phone access. There were hours (depending on ages, etc.). Like.. no phone usage during group therapy sessions, activities etc. Adolescents only phone usage after first family session. Or adults phone use from 10 am till 10 pm, etc. stuff like that. Was just thinking maybe just having flexible phone times might be worth looking at rather than 24 hour phone access. I'm in the USA though, so I don't know how it works in Australia usually. Pardon my long paragraph.

And, last but not least, I voted that I'd sign it.
 

Shock

Well-Known Member
#4
Re: If I created a partition would you sign it?

what would your partition be about.?
Hi Masked,

Basically my partition would be about asking for the things I mentioned above to be included for people staying in Psych Wards. Although I can only speak for Australian hospitals, I found my stay and experiance in a public hospital psych ward much more devastating then the event and reason I wound up there.

My goal is to convince the Mental Health Minister and State and Federal governments to be more attentive to the training of staff involved in these units (particularly, as I mentioned, in regards to respect and understanding towards their patients - the human beings they are employed to care for). Staff simply need to be more compassionate and caring. A lot of the staff I interacted with made my stay a hell of a lot worse for me.

I would like patients who are involuntarily admitted to be fully aware of their rights and for the hospital t either provide them with a legal representation and/or an Allied Person - preferably both (an Allied Person is someone who takes the side of the admitted person and conveys their needs, fears and requirements to the hospital staff). Lets not forget the people involuntarily admitted are still civilians of a free, democratic government and deserve legal representation and assistance. Currently (again, as far as I know, just in Australia), violent criminals receive more rights then passive mentally ill people.

I would also like the facilities to be a little more structured to providing caring environment. As I said when I stayed we were all expected to sit for many hours at a time with absolutely nothing to do except stare at a wall. I was held like this for 12hrs and I was the first to be released! I cant imagine what the others were feeling. I would like books, magazines, TVs - anything to keep you occupied - available. It's not good to be caught up in your own thoughts for hours at a time.

I believe all these goals are certainly achievable, and in reality not much to ask.

Thanks for your questions! :) I hope that answers them!
 
#5
Re: If I created a partition would you sign it?

In both my units (them being adolescent) we had mobile phones taken off of us. In the first we were allowed miniumum of 30minute phonecall whenever we wanted in the evening..if noone else was waiting to use the phone, you got longer. In my second, on the EAU we got 30minute timeslots in the evening, on the stepdown ward we got 20minute timeslots (due to it being a larger ward).

24hour access to phones can often set people back in their treatment. It can make people more homesick and in the longrun make their stay unsettling because of the constant want -which is boosted by phone calls -to get back home despite them not being ready/

I dont agree with them not giving you your medication however!

I guess I was quite lucky as I was in a private (Although placement was funded!) Adolescent Hospital. We had tv's and art stuff...other than that we just brought our own stuff or slept... but I was there 3 months so you kinda had to bring your own stuff. However if you were unsettling or you assualted staff or patients or were a big risk to yourself, you could be taken to extra care or seclusion (which was a small room with a mattress and an ensuite that could be locked. In Extra care door between you and the 2 staff monitoring was open, in seclusion you were stripped, dressed in a seclusion gown, and said door was shut) On the stepdown ward we also had a 'quiet room' - 4 walls and a floor, you could ask to go there if you were distressed, or you could sometimes be asked to go there.

Some of your points are valid, but others i feel are just part of the process
 
#6
Re: If I created a partition would you sign it?

Hi Masked,

Basically my partition would be about asking for the things I mentioned above to be included for people staying in Psych Wards. Although I can only speak for Australian hospitals, I found my stay and experiance in a public hospital psych ward much more devastating then the event and reason I wound up there.

My goal is to convince the Mental Health Minister and State and Federal governments to be more attentive to the training of staff involved in these units (particularly, as I mentioned, in regards to respect and understanding towards their patients - the human beings they are employed to care for). Staff simply need to be more compassionate and caring. A lot of the staff I interacted with made my stay a hell of a lot worse for me.

I would like patients who are involuntarily admitted to be fully aware of their rights and for the hospital t either provide them with a legal representation and/or an Allied Person - preferably both (an Allied Person is someone who takes the side of the admitted person and conveys their needs, fears and requirements to the hospital staff). Lets not forget the people involuntarily admitted are still civilians of a free, democratic government and deserve legal representation and assistance. Currently (again, as far as I know, just in Australia), violent criminals receive more rights then passive mentally ill people.

I would also like the facilities to be a little more structured to providing caring environment. As I said when I stayed we were all expected to sit for many hours at a time with absolutely nothing to do except stare at a wall. I was held like this for 12hrs and I was the first to be released! I cant imagine what the others were feeling. I would like books, magazines, TVs - anything to keep you occupied - available. It's not good to be caught up in your own thoughts for hours at a time.

I believe all these goals are certainly achievable, and in reality not much to ask.

Thanks for your questions! :) I hope that answers them!
yes, in that case i'd be willing to sign it:)

let me know if you create it
 
#7
Re: If I created a partition would you sign it?

Just link us to the site once you have it up and running. I went through something similar here in the states as a juvenile, and hate the thought of anyone being treated as poorly as I was. Just because we are sick, doesn't mean we should have no rights. As far as I could see from my experience and the experiences of others just on this site alone, prisoners have more rights than the mentally ill. This needs some serious fixing.
 

Sadeyes

Staff Alumni
#8
There should be a Patient Bill of Rights in any condition a patient is admitted. If this is not available and made accessible, it violates the health law both in the US and in the UK...again, let me know if I can help in any way...and I am glad you are moving forward with this...maybe your advocacy concerning your mistreatment can save someone else from this horrible treatment...and yes, I will support you as I can, but living in the US, I am not sure my inclusion would count
 

Shock

Well-Known Member
#9
Re: If I created a partition would you sign it?

I guess I was quite lucky as I was in a private (Although placement was funded!) Adolescent Hospital. We had tv's and art stuff...other than that we just brought our own stuff or slept... but I was there 3 months so you kinda had to bring your own stuff. However if you were unsettling or you assualted staff or patients or were a big risk to yourself, you could be taken to extra care or seclusion (which was a small room with a mattress and an ensuite that could be locked. In Extra care door between you and the 2 staff monitoring was open, in seclusion you were stripped, dressed in a seclusion gown, and said door was shut) On the stepdown ward we also had a 'quiet room' - 4 walls and a floor, you could ask to go there if you were distressed, or you could sometimes be asked to go there.

Some of your points are valid, but others i feel are just part of the process
Hi Storm,

Thank you for responding to my thread :)

Just for the record I fee I should clarify that I do agree there is and has to be a process, just as I agree that there should indeed be 'quiet' and 'Extra Care' rooms for violent patients.

However, I would like to point out that what I experienced was that everyone I was with was held in these rooms, violent or not. I have and will never, ever physically injure anybody as I am a pacifist yet I was treated as a violent patient. This is one of the things I wish to protest.

As for the phones, again I agree with you - many patients should avoid possibly re-immersing themselves in situations that could of brought them in in the first place. However, I think it is important that people can call their family and loved ones to let them know were they are.

Thanks once again for your reply - you raise some great points which will help me in my quest! I hope you do not feel that I am just answering back at you with this post! I really do value others opinions - thats why I posted this in the first place - and anything that I can clarifye about my reasons for doing this I will try my hardest to do!
 

Shock

Well-Known Member
#10
OK guys! I think I am going to go ahead with the website! Thank you all for your support, questions and calls for clarification. I promise to make my intentions and desired out comes as clear as possible for the site. And I will promise to let you all know of any progress made.

I am going to begin building tonight! Keep tuned for the link! :)
 
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