Jfire

That was what came out of the mouth of an older AA guy who I admire , I called him from the psychiatric ward as needed an ear to listen , I'm lonely now but was so lonely there it was the ******* pits , day 1 I walked out got 10 euro off I guy I know got 6 cans strong cider , downed 4 in 15 minutes drank the other and returned and bang I was on lockdown for 10 days not the 4 days I consented to with my doctor on account of the "stress at home" , I got some valium brought in which helped a little but as another friend said , "you'd want to be off your head in there", god the psychotics freaked me out as did this young man who could bearly speak , was blind and just kept walking into things I literally had no one to talk to , even the staff were awful , you wanted to make a call or get a towel they looked at me with pure contempt and I saw absolutely no care given , anyway to make a long story short I was traumatised by the experience , was going to drink the night I got out but met an AA member out walking and he said "one day at a time" so I though okay and watched a movie until late (one flew over the cuckoos nest), I think I stuck out most of that week but drank again , (that's what alcoholic do isn't it ?) , for 5 days , this day 2 weeks ago I was carted back into the Psy ward and had the good sense to just say No , to which the doctor said , "if he doesn't consent we cant take him , (Just say no eh ) anyway I though Id share that , still need to pick up clothes tomorrow from that place , ugh , here in Ireland they are not taking in addicts/alcoholics anymore and I was lucky ?????, I feel broken after it all , but on the mend as no alcohol in 14 days , going to treatment centre monday and things slowly improving , had I not declined in that hospital I would still be there , 14 days , good luck

tomsteve

that's what alcoholic do isn't it?

im an alcoholic and havent drank for over ten years.
there are many alcoholics here who havent drank for a long time.

so, no, its not what alcoholics do.

its what alcoholics with untreated alcoholism do.

please dont believe that lie.

Jfire

I meant active alcoholics ;( sorry got caught away in the typing , was reading the big book last night about the chap who drank in a cinema , passed out , was brought to hospital , stomach pumped and he went back to cinema with a bottle , seems like standard active alcoholic procedure

ten years sounds great tomsteve

Holds1325

I got put in psychiatric for a couple days. I did not want to go there but I just stopped fighting and went. I was down depressed, anxious you name it, but it did help me in the way that this is whats waiting for me if I ever get to that dark place again. Alcoholism put me in that dark place, its best to avoid it.

Meanwhile staying sober is the best you can do, otherwise that psych ward cycle is going to keep going until it gets worse. While in there I met a kid who had a drug and alcohol addiction and was in there 3 times in the same month, we talked for a little while before he got sent against his will to the state mental hospital as the psychiatrists werent convinced he was sane enough to live on his own. I still keep him in my prayers here and there, it was pretty sad.

For your sanity please stay off the alcohol and drugs, they can always put you in there against your will.

Alas, I know its terrible in there but thats what alcoholism can do, thats what addiction does, it causes things to happen that you don't want to happen, and these things always happen unpredictably.

Fly N Buy

An alcoholic in his cups is an unlovely creature. This was true of me when as an alcoholic I am engaged in active alcoholism.

Glad you're seeking help, good for you!

Jfire

Thanks holds and I hope all is well your end !, as much as I am complaining about it Alcohol brought me there I accept that and you know what I was a little insane , bottom line , sad story about that guy but good to know you can end all this by not picking up the first drink

Db1105

Its no coincidence that I haven't been back to a psychiatric ward or jail since I quit drinking.

Soberwolf

I have direct experience with this & with family & it is crushing

my mum died sober with over 25 years of sobriety the last 10+ years of them was in a row my eldest sister next milestone is 4 years

They tried to put me in a psychiatric ward years ago when they told me it was for anger management il never trust ppl like that again & its really hard doing therapy in a building you can tell was an old Victorian asylum or something

Sobriety is such a precious gift nurture it & reap the benefits

Jfire

@ Soberwolf yes it is crushing and what ever therapy they might give would be undone by the environment ;(


Behind the Walls

Here is a documentary on the Asylums in Ireland , hope you guys can view it in your region ?there was the old building next to the place I stayed which has being transformed into a hotel , its HUGE !

http://www.clarionhotelsligo.com/

Jfire

How do I delete posts

Gottalife

About a year before I recovered I landed by court order in a hospital for the criminally insane. I only discovered that is what it was recently when a doctor explained to me what the place was all about.

Scary when I remember I was quite happy to be there, 21 years old, in a ward full of mostly korsakov patients, and people goinf through the dts. I felt right at home. The scariest thing was that was trying to convince the medical team that I was nuts. I would rather have been a certified lunatic than an alcoholic, because nutters had an excuse for their behaviour and could still drink.... How's that for denial?

However the docs knew my track record and stuck with alcoholism as a diagnosis so, in a way, I was one of the lucky ones who didn't get misdiagnosed with some other mental illness and pick up a whole new addiction in the process. There was nothing wrong with me except alcoholism and I eventually found the solution in AA.

Jfire

Gotta Life you grabbed sobriety good and early, you sound hedonistic in your hey day , I cant imagine what its like witnessing several people going through the DTs and you content to be there . to elaborate a little as I forgot , the AA member I was talking to on the phone said "they will only fill you up with drugs" which was true in a way , by the time Librium was reduced I had a hankering for my mind to escape again , I was pretending to swallow the 5 mgs tabs for breakfast lunch and dinner and kept them for nighttime ;( my last detox librium was taken out of the equation and I'm kinda happy to have ridden it out clean

brynn

Ditto. Amazing how that happens!

Gottalife

I suppose hedonistic might fit. Self centred certainly. But there I was comfortable in the company of chronic alcoholics, mostly much older than me. I related to them, loved hearing about their escapades. I liked the hospital environment, no pressure from the world, no personal responsibilities, it was an oasis.

I should have been relating to others my age, and doing things that others my age did. growing and learning, progressing in the world, having relationships, a career etc. But I seemed to be locked out of that world.

JeffreyAK

I spent 3 days captive in a hospital and then a psych ward, for having a 0.45 BAC a good 4 hours after I quit drinking and passed out (I had a monster tolerance), and for having told my sister by email that I was suicidal (I have no memory of doing that). In my case my fellow captives were good people, mostly young folks who had been deemed a danger to themselves, but I despise being held captive against my will and was going nuts by the time they let me go. It was absolutely not the place for me to be, and while it forced me to not drink while I was there, my drinking kinda went off the deep end afterwards. You cannot force someone to want to stop drinking, and IMO trying might cause real damage and delay their recovery.

Austin4Wyo

Been to an acute psychiatric hospital three times. One of them was for a spell of forty-nine (49) days, legally bound bound to be there and under the care of the State of Wyoming. It isn't pleasant. No one gets there on a winning streak.

I have no desire to repeat it, but I'd be a f***ing liar if I said that the time spent there wasn't useful, part of my journey into recovery, and something that I am now thankful for. Without it, I very likely would have been dead through SOMETHING related to my alcoholism. I was so deeply disturbed by Major Depressive Disorder, there really was no alternative other than my seven week vacation.

I encourage you to look and see some purpose in this. It may have been highly unpleasant, but I'd put money on there being at least SOMETHING positive about the experience. All things can be positive if we choose to make them so, but we have to be willing to look for the good, and then be willling to accept it.

Have some faith. This too shall pass.