Sbforever

That's the new thing no more smoke breaks inpatient if the people "who know whats best" have their way.

Heck even 'stable' people bug out during withdrawal and fail when they try and quit smoking with those stupid patches that have like a 5% success rate.

Can anyone think of anything worse to endure during a crisis and going psychiatric hospital than having to endure cigarette bans and smoking withdrawal too ?

Archelon

Isn't this for all patients? When in the hospital my relatives have to use patch because they cannot get out from bed after surgery.

When they are well enough for relative to wheel outside, then they can get a smoke.

When psychiatric patient can go for a break with relative, then can they smoke?

My uncle had to use patch while in hospital for gall bladder.

lebroncavs

Psychiatric patients can't go outside until they are discharged. When they visit family they visit them in some special area of the psych ward.

Dee74

If it's like it is here in Australia it's an occupational health and safety issue applicable by law to everyone - staff and visitors as well as patients.

D

Sbforever

You comparing apples to oranges so to say,

Psychiatric patient's are treated much different than medical patients. If say a cancer patient decides against chemo therapy because he or she feels the treatment is worse than the condition that is his or her choice. When someone subjected to inpatient psychiatry objects to drug therapies for the same reason it's much different, believe me.

Just look up "use of coercion in psychiatry" without quotes for some pages on this, "human rights psychiatry", again without quotes, is another good search.

I still just don't get how anyone can think these inpatient smoking bans are a good idea.

What are the effects of abrupt smoking withdrawal ?

In active tobacco users, smoking withdrawal produces a wide range of withdrawal symptoms, including any or all of the following:

Agitation.
Difficulty concentrating.
Anxiety.
Headache.
Nausea.
Constipation or diarrhea.
Falling heart rate and blood pressure.
Fatigue, drowsiness, and insomnia.
Irritability.


And most people who have tried those stupid patches knows they don't really do much and is not the same as having a smoke and getting that quick rise of nicotine to calm anxiety and increase focus.

Sbforever

ALL hospitals are like this ? That's scary.

I wonder how much the rate of inpatient assaults both patients on staff and staff assaults on 'agitated' patients has increased ?

When I was inpatient I saw several assaults when people came in after the last smoke break and got very upset when they were told they had to wait till morning to have a cigarette .

Friend of mine just subjected to a no smoking inpatient and inspired this topic. No smoking, I couldn't believe it.

Lenina

I think having a designated smoke room or a deck would be the kind thing to do. I've always been told that it's not a good idea to try to quit smoking while detoxing. It's too much at once. I can see where depriving a psych patient of tobacco as being a trigger for agitation. It would make an interesting case to argue in court. A bit tricky but possible to win, I think.

Love from Lenina

A few airports still have smoking rooms, they are like a sealed room, plexiglass. I've seen them, recently!

Twofish

Just my 2 pennies...when my daughter was on a psych hold and she smokes, they let her puff on this e-cig. Not the vapor cigs but something that they put a nicotine cartridge in and she could puff on it. It was better than nothing at all I guess and IMO.
TF

trachemys

Go ahead and quit nicotene while you're there. I've quit everything before when I had the flu and lamented pickin up every bad habit afterwards. Just Do It.

Dee74

It's been that way for 15 years or more, in all health facilities.
Many do have designated smoking places outside, but of course they would only be available to those who can get outside.

I'm really not acquainted well enough with psych facilities here, but I haven't read anything that suggests a marked rise in assaults in either general or psych wards.

D

Teddysgirl

Hey Sb, I'm sorry to hear that you're having to go through nicotine withdrawals in the hospital. Having a mental illness myself (depression) I can only imagine how hard that is. Ugh. Here in the united states, all hospitals have no smoking policies for patients, visitors, and employees. I can partly understand where they come from, but being a nicotine addict myself, I can understand how sucky that is. Can someone bring you an e-cig to vape on while you're in there? I'm not sure of the rules on those in the hospitals, but I would think since they don't have a smell, it would be worth a try? I know its not the same as smoking real cigarettes, but maybe it can take the edge off a little bit. Hang in there!

Sbforever

Thanks, for the words of encouragement but I am not in the place anymore but I was stuck there for weeks.

I don't think too many hospitals allow internet access and of course they confiscated my cell phone during the intake get naked strip search ! and then I couldn't make a "long distance" phone call from the patient phones.

"Long distance" Who still says that? haven't heard that in over a decade !

heck, I could call Australia from here in the US FREE right now from this PC if I wanted. It's called modern communications.

They also wrote "resistant to placement in treatment" (for alcoholism) on my medical records when I rejected an all male place but wouldn't allow me internet access to find the name of the nice place I saw online but forgot the name of.

Resistant to the place that likely sends kickbacks, I wanted treatment.

Ya sure, go live in tight quarters with dozens of troubled men, no thanks !

I think it's total bull , to use a nice word, how mental health patients are treated. It's bull and wrong and its disgusting !


I always stray off topic so back to the smoking , smoking may be harmful in the long run but it's LEGAL and since mental health patients are citizens the should not be discriminated against and have less rights than anyone else in this country.

But thanks teddysgirl I am alright, and I think more people should make noise about the mistreatment of people subjected to inpatient psychiatry.

Mountainmanbob

agreed
they are dealing with plenty enough already
MM

Gargery

I'm a smoker. Never, in ten zillion years would it occur to me I would be able to smoke in a hospital or other medical facility. As much as I enjoy tobacco, I understand it is a private pleasure- not to be employed where it affects others.

andyroo72

Interestingly, prisons in NZ have been smoke-free for about a year now. I haven't heard anything like an increased level of violence in prisons, although it's probably too early to tell. I think it's a very sticky area- prison is all about depriving people of their rights, it's really debatable that the right to smoke should be one of these.

Sbforever

I am guessing you are around 18-25 years old or less and don't remember the world before the NAZIs and bullies of political correctness took over at all.

Even airplanes had ashtrays ! I was kid I remember sticking the gum I was chewing to make my ears pop into it and getting in trouble by my mom. My dad would go in the back to smoke.

Dee74

I'm old enough to remember those days...not everything was good in the good old days.

having respect for others and their health is actually about as far from Fascism as you can get, SB

D

Sbforever

But but but nobody forces the non smokers to go out for the smoke break !

I will never win this one solely because I cant put into words that world of anxiety attacks and psychosis combined with smoking withdrawal, its just evil. painful nasty and unnecessary.

Sbforever

Get ready for my next topic on patient rights. Its a doosy

Dee74

Everytime I go to the hospital I walk through smokers tho - you can't avoid them without walking on the road.

I don't doubt it's an added unpleasant element to what is already an terrifically unpleasant experience, but yeah I don't think you'll win this one, sb.

I could see lawsuits in future - 'the state of Florida allowed me to smoke - and I got lung cancer..' etc.

D