has anyone found they get treated differently in hospital if they are admitted for a mental health problem?

Question

a friend who suffers from depression had overdosed, and went by ambulance to hospital -leeds general infirmary, she was conscious all the way. whilst in a&e she was ignored completly bearing in mind her mental health wasnt that great, she was seen by a nurse and doctor who completly patronised her, and just presumed she had broken up with her boyfriend( she was a assault victim the attack contributed to depression and suicide bid). she was admitted to an observation ward where again completly ignored by the staff, who she heard talking about her instead of to her. anyway she got better and moved on, a few month later she was back in a&e (leeds again) with a injured back and was treat in such a different manner-the staff actually acknowleged her!
anyone else ever experienced this with uk hospitals?

Answer 1

God, I totally now that feeling. When I was in for my bipolar the Drs and nurse seemed like Nazis. I felt like it would suit them just fine if I died in the first place. They don't care about the mentally ill. We are people too and need to be treated with respect and digninty. They are so cold.

Answer 2

I was a psychiatric in-patient when i was experiencing crushing chest pains that were going to my left arm and jaw. I was told by the nurse in charge to go to A & E. I went with another nurse and when I got there I was just given a spray and the poor nurse who accompanied me got told that I shouldn't have been sent there, I should have waited for a medical doctor to come to the psych ward. It would have taken ages as medical doctors don't want to visit psych wards. I'd been discharged and on New Years Eve I was rushed by ambulance to A & E with the exact same symptoms and the staff could not have done enough for me. Complete reversal. Those with mental health problems are definitely treated differently.

Answer 3

Suicide suspects and elderly females seem to be the clinical groups most at risk of dying unnecessarily whilst in institutional medical care. Who you are and how you present can certainly influence the quality of your care in hospital. Simple everyday politeness should be part of that care: treating people with respect and dignity. If you wouldn't like it down the pub you don't have to like it in hospital.

Often seems like you haven't got anything anyone wants if you're crazy, and there's often fear. Psychy staff can be mean too, but I've generally witnessed good care in psychy places. You can generalise about personality types, but like the police, these people are simply humans in uniform: I think there are as many caring tyre repairers as anyone else. Every place has its fools and frauds. I have never met an underpaid or overworked nurse by the way.

And yes, medicine has its Doctor Doom and Mrs Morphine, and people getting stuffed up the chimney where they're less of a nuisance. Probably happens every day.

Answer 4

I live in the U.S. and work in the mental health field. Often times, if one of our inpatients (from the psych facility) had a medical emergency, we would accompany them to the ER. In most cases, we were ignored and not taken seriously. Our staff had to be more aggressive in order to get our patients treated the same as every other patient in the hospital. I think GOOD medical professionals are aware of many different types of conditions. There is such a stigma with mental illness that unfortunately it effects the victims of it even in their medical health. My husband is a paramedic and has learned how to deal with emergencies dealing with patients suffering from mental illness. He really had to gain an understanding and now he is THAT much better at his job. I wish more people were more open minded.

Answer 5

Unfortunately this happens all to often in UK hospitals. Mental health patients are marginalised by staff and in some cases seen as "time wasters" and not having "real" illnesses. About 3-4 years ago the Royal College of Psychiatrists ran a campaign to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness, it had more of an impact on the public than medical staff!!!

Answer 6

This is normal for psychiatric staff. They do not give a sh*t about their patients, preferring to see them as superfluous to the running of the ward. I have had about 4 psychiatric admissions, in the last one there was no treatment at all, just stick you on the ward and let you get on with it. The Doctors are worse, rude, abusive, arrogant and stupid. Dim Rugger Buggers.
All they want is the maintenance of their status, power over helpless people and to feel adequate. Patients are supernumeraries to that.

Answer 7

It depends what you go in for. Suicide attempts or other attempts at self harm are greatly looked down on. I have had quite a number of admissions, but not for self harm, and have been treated well. The self harming patients in with me were often ignored to the detriment of their treatment and the rest of us as we felt bad for them. I feel self harming patients and other patients mental illness needs the same level of care one would expect for any physical illness.

Answer 8

you should see the way our service users get treated just because they have a learning difficulties does not make them a second or 3rd class citizen. a service user that i know of refused to have blood taken so the nurses said that they will pin her down and force her, the nurses were told to do that would mean assault and their names being added to the pova list police inquiry and probable prosecution. they get ignored and several comments made about them.

Answer 9

hi yes you do get "patronised" by many kinds of national health professionals. i went into hospital after a nervous breakdown and due to having a panic attack and not wanting to stay in for further treatment the doctor there could not believe or understand why i was being so uncooprative...nor did she want to understand so much for care in the comunity

Answer 10

All patients with mental problems are regarded as 'strange' both by staff and their own physicians and we don't know how to deal with the problem. I am a physician and I have encountered several patients that needed professional care....but I am not a psychiatrist and I felt edgy....one young man (taller and more fit than I) escaped from his ward and hid in my office...he was regarded as dangerous and when I entered my office, he grabbed me from behind the door and scared the hell out of me...he gave me a big hug...but I was in terror...I just didn't know what to expect. Blood, guts and gore...I can deal with but the wheels of the human mind scare me. In the daily practise of medicine we see people with psychological problems but once the problem crosses over to a mental case, we back away.