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Inpatient psychiatry and victims of sexual assault



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Inpatient psychiatry and victims of sexual assault

Old 03-26-2013, 10:35 AM
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Inpatient psychiatry and victims of sexual assault

I recently found out that if you have any history of sexual abuse is on your medical records it becomes illegal for inpatient psychiatry to futher assault and tramitize you with restraints, forced drugging or coerced drugging by way of threats.

I am finding it difficult to find a copy of the exact law but im working on it.

Here is some stuff I found so far,

"Clients who have experienced trauma through rape or sexual assault discuss the traumatic feelings associated with being placed in leather restraints during times of hospitalization for psychiatric/mental health problems. In the eyes of those who have openly discussed their private interpretations of their experiences, restraint becomes revictimization. The clients who came forward to tell their stories may be only a small percentage, or they may represent a much larger percentage of the inpatient psychiatric population than nurses and therapists have recognized. Developing a therapeutic rapport with clients is a critical element of psychiatric/mental health nursing that may be severely impaired if the client perceives nurses to be perpetrators of violence."

Source Restraints: retraumatizati... [J Psychosoc Nurs Ment Health Serv. 1995] - PubMed - NCBI

The tragedy of Anna's life is replicated daily in the lives of many individuals viewed as "chronically and severely mentally ill." Unrecognized and untreated for their childhood trauma, they repeatedly cycle through the system's most expensive psychiatric emergency, acute inpatient, and long-term institutional services. Their disclosures of sexual abuse are discredited or ignored. As happened during their early childhood, they learn within the mental health system to keep silent.

Clinicians who acknowledge the prevalence of traumatic abuse and recognize its etiological and therapeutic significance are deeply frustrated at being denied the tools and support necessary to respond adequately. Sometimes, as Anna's psychologist did, these clinicians leave the mental health system entirely, deciding they can no longer practice with integrity within it.

Anna's story: The effects of sexual abuse, the system's failure to respond and the emergence of a new, trauma-based paradigm - NEC Article

In addition to all the traumatic events already discussed, other events can be retraumatizing. Events or circumstances that echo the violation and lack of control of an earlier trauma can be retraumatizing. So, for example, we know that for many individuals with histories of trauma being institutionalized, whether in a hospital, jail, or prison, can be traumatic (Jennings, 1994). Physical restraints and chemical restraints, as well as strip searches and other forms of coerced interventions, tangibly evoke previous violation of person and control (Allen, 2006; Huckshorn, 2005; Smith, 1995).

After the Crisis: Trauma and Retraumatization


I forgot to mention what happend when I attempted to refuse the so called "skin assessment" (naked strip search) thats all part of admission inpatient psychiatry. But my reaction to that was also called a 'symptom' of my so called 'illness' on my medical records.


Im going to make some calls and see if I can find out what the rules are for inpatient psychiatry and abuse victims, these search engines are just giving me links to stories with the keywords Im using.
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Old 03-26-2013, 07:22 PM
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Im working on this and will be back when I have something.
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Old 03-28-2013, 08:30 PM
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I writing to these websites. I am almost positive they are not allowed to do abusive stuff to trauma and rape victims. I will find out.

Here is more stuff I found, quoted below.

" This becomes more of an issue as mental health professionals begin to address how to treat abuse survivors, particularly on an inpatient basis. Indeed, the "trauma models" they use often appear much more humane and respectful of the person than do traditional approaches to people with psychiatric diagnoses, and some who specialize in this area believe the new paradigm should dominate the field, regardless of what has brought a person to a mental health crisis. However, as psychiatry gains a foothold in the area, a new division of "patients" can be seen: trauma survivors, with diagnoses like Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) vs.(and sometimes co-occurring with) more standard diagnoses of mental illness. In this context, the system continues to employ inhumane methods, such as forced medications or restraints, with some diagnosed persons, while an effort is made to avoid "retraumatizing" others.

This division is disturbing to C/S/Xs who see a new hierarchy of oppression forming before their eyes after years of fighting for the full human rights of all who cross the path of the mental health system. They do not wish to see two groups of diagnosed individuals set up in opposition to each other, one treated with concern and compassion because of their trauma histories, the other treated in coercive, inhumane ways because they are thought to have a biological illness. "

If you want to read all of it >> National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors [NASMHPD] | Welcome!
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