[OT] I'm back, and I got another cultural question!

Squirrel Havoc · March 29, 2006, 05:37:58

Well I just got home today from a week and a half long trip to the old psychiatric hospital, I won't get into the "why"s and stuff, but it wasnt that bad, I didnt kill anyone or anything. So I'm back, and better than ever!

WARNING: This is a loooong post, so dont read unless you are really curious.

Anyway, I heard some stuff up there, that America has not THE best, but one of the best inpatient psych treatment centers in the world in terms of how you are treated. Daily things there are get up, staff politely serves you breakfast, you have a morning meeting where they discus the days events, then you get your morning medication. Then its another group, then hmm nothing, just whatever, play pool, watch tv, play card games, sleep, talk, get some snack from the kitchen, whatever. then a craft group, then hmm noon meds, lunch, then excersize which is voluntary but recommended, then more nothing, oh yeah sometime durring the day you see the doctor, so you see her everday, and they are thorough appointments, not just "how are you? OK, lets increase this and decrease that and Ill see you tomorrow". basically its eating, meds, and groups. Good food, you get to fill out a menu for your food, no strait jackets unless you start freaking out bad, alhough there is this room called the treatment room that none of the staff talks about, and no one knows whats in there.

But basically it's not bad, you can't smoke, but everyone is friendly because no matter how rude you are, its against regulations for them to be mean. The patients are kooky, but pretty cool, usually just quite or seem to have nothing wrong with them.

Anyway, I doubt any of you have been to a psych facility, but if you have any friends of relatives that have been, can you tell me what it was like there in your part of the country/world?

Oh yeah, it's great to be back, too bad theres no pill for MPC withdrwawal

LPChip · March 29, 2006, 07:17:23

Same applies to these kind of centers here in NL. I don't know anyone that has been in there, and neither was I, but I know because thats how you're being treathed everywhere (in terms of hospitals) We also have regulations that make sure it goes like that.

rewbs · March 29, 2006, 08:03:46

QuoteAnyway, I doubt any of you have been to a psych facility

I haven't, but I'm strangely tempted now.

speed-goddamn-focus · March 29, 2006, 08:07:33

I really have no idea, but I hope they're just as nice here. Welcome back!

rewbs · March 29, 2006, 08:44:05

Quote from: "speed-goddamn-focus"I really have no idea, but I hope they're just as nice here. Welcome back!

Yes I should also have said welcome back, and it's great to hear you're feeling OK.

cyperkid · March 29, 2006, 12:09:57

few people i know have been there, but some of them are my friends
(mainly because depressions and because of that suicide attempts)...
i just know: getting inside is quite easy...just needs a razor and a big show to get the people active to "help" you.
...but gettin' out will be a real hard struggle. if you signed the paper that you by your own will admit that you're not feeling able to be responsible for yourself anymore...then it will be your (death) trap.
believe me: the psychological treatment system is pretty well in Germany too...but maybe i'm not alone with the opinion that they don't heal anything...they just give treatment to something what in THEIR eyes is wrong.

when i was in treatment as a kid of 16 (not in a hospital, but with several weekly meetings) all they did was putting the reasons for my problems to the pressure i "surely had to face" in school...totally nonsense...so i joined useless discussions about how to talk to others, how to cope with examination fears, how to have hobbys to balance "musts" and "wants"

during my civil service (going there for not joining the army) i had to take care of mentally diverged people. without pills they got violently (sometimes to each other, sometimes to themselves), with pills they were just zombies...

sorry, no "hurray" for psychatric hospitals (neither for "open" ones nor for the "closed") inside my answer...i'm not saying they are horror institutions, but i never experienced that they helped anybody personally
they were all just re-programmed...to function as a useful part of society...not as a human being

but if you had good experiences...that's of course a happy end (hopefully)

Matt Hartman · March 29, 2006, 16:14:16

I think the most interesting point here is the frequency of swallowing "meds" in the "health" system.

There's no mystery that meds are BIG-BIG business internationally. The war on drugs really translates to the war of getting your doctor out of your pockets.

The pharmacy's give you the generic equivalents for a reason. Because they make them in-house and the "proceeds" go directly to the company instead of the replicated drug manufacturer.

Where I'm going with this is that the "health" industry is actually destroying your health in favor of some serious bottom line.

There's a rash of new information coming out that proves that all natural sources are far better for your health than these mass produced drugs.

Make no mistake, Prozac is not much different from cocaine, hemp, speed, etc. With the exception that Prozac it's probably far more lethal and damaging to your health in the long run.

War on drugs really means control on profit. It's hard to control illegal drugs. Don't think for second its to protect you and yours. The very opposite in fact. Your health isn't priority, your pocket book is.

In light of the over medicated age, I thought I'd share my viewpoint.

The looney house is no exception.

Matt Hartman · March 29, 2006, 16:16:57

If you're health conscious it really pays to visit this site:
Life changing information.

www.mercola.com

rewbs · March 29, 2006, 16:36:14

QuoteThere's a rash of new information coming out that proves that all natural sources are far better for your health than these mass produced drugs.
Make no mistake, Prozac is not much different from cocaine, hemp, speed, etc.

Note that cocaine and hemp are from natural sources.
I beg to differ. I see little in common between the items in that list other than that they are psychoactive subtstances.
They are all very different in terms of short and long term physical and mental effects, addictive nature, tolerance buildup, legal classification, cultural status, availability and price.

speed-goddamn-focus · March 29, 2006, 18:43:27

Quote from: "Matt Hartman"War on drugs really means control on profit. It's hard to control illegal drugs. Don't think for second its to protect you and yours. The very opposite in fact. Your health isn't priority, your pocket book is.

It's not very shocking that they're protecting their investments just like any other industry does. It's a shame, but since people are too greedy to make any system but capitalism work it's the reality.

Other than that I pretty much disagree with everything you say. "Natural" is just a buzz-word, and usually only means the producers can't get it classified as medication, imho.

Matt Hartman · March 29, 2006, 20:03:52

when I say the word "natural", I'm talking organic, not pharmaceuticals.
I'm talking the technology and wisdom that's been available for a very, very long time.

Not the industrialized machine that spits out a capsule. Or how about the mercury contained in useless immunizations that is linked to neurological brain damage.

Guess what, it's funny how there's much less health problems among the Amish. Certainly no ADD ADH or Autism. Well there's 3 children with ADD. The only 3 children that received immunizations. Hammy.

Coupled with the grain industry, is it any wonder why we are a disease ridden society?

again,

www.mercola.com

Matt Hartman · March 29, 2006, 20:08:18

Quote from: "rewbs"
QuoteNote that cocaine and hemp are from natural sources. I beg to differ. I see little in common between the items in that list other than that they are psychoactive substances.

They are all very different in terms of short and long term physical and mental effects, addictive nature, tolerance buildup, legal classification, cultural status, availability and price.

I meant to point out there differences as far as which is the most harmful to your health. Speed is anything but natural.

You have to realize unless your pulling your information from underground sources, you're getting a very skewed viewpoint from the FDA reports and the like.

rewbs · March 29, 2006, 22:25:49

Quote from: "Matt Hartman"
Quote from: "rewbs"
Quote from: "Matt Hartman"There's a rash of new information coming out that proves that all natural sources are far better for your health than these mass produced drugs.
Make no mistake, Prozac is not much different from cocaine, hemp, speed, etc.
Note that cocaine and hemp are from natural sources.
I beg to differ. I see little in common between the items in that list other than that they are psychoactive subtstances.
They are all very different in terms of short and long term physical and mental effects, addictive nature, tolerance buildup, legal classification, cultural status, availability and price.

I meant to point out there differences as far as which is the most harmful to your health. Speed is anything but natural.

You have to realize unless your pulling your information from underground sources, you're getting a very skewed viewpoint from the FDA reports and the like.

Yes, out of the list you gave, (real) cocaine and hemp are of natural origin, whereas fluoxetine and amphetamines are synthetic. So to clarify, are you saying Prozac, cocaine, hemp, speed, "etc" are all equally harmful in your opinion? That seems like an insanely sweeping statement and I continue to disagree. I devise my viewpoints on this subject mostly from personal experience, and Erowid, of course.

Sorry to nit pick.

Sam_Zen · March 30, 2006, 01:14:12

So we're talking about dope here.

I smoke hashish on a daily basis for about more than 40 years now. With the choice of no other drugs, after
testing most of them. It's a natural product, growing under the sun. That's why I don't use contemporary dutch weed, because it's cultivated in greenhouses, with a breed program to enhance the amount of THC, to make it 'stronger'.
The effect is as f*cked up, as the method to produce it.

Cocaine also is a natural product, but only in the way the Indians use it by chewing the leaves. As soon as it becomes a chemical produced powder, it isn't natural anymore. Let alone crack.

Hemp-products aren't fysically addictive (no problems if I would stop smoking). This was already recognized in an (secret) investigation of the CIA in the sixties. With e.g. cocaine, it's another thing. Just bad dope, i.m.o.
On the long term it leads to decadency, because of the seeking to bigger kicks on and on, no matter what.

It all comes down to the fact of keeping personal control on the use, as with alcohol.
The use of drugs is a matter of all times. And sometimes they are forbidden, sometimes not.
Here is a stamp from 1937 : Dope tax for the gov.

Squirrel Havoc · March 30, 2006, 04:48:43

Wow, this thread got filled in a hurry. I have to disagree on mental hospitals being unhelpful, sure they change you from how you were born, I can agree with that, but stuff happens in the womb that causes you to be born wrong. Without meds I couldn't function outside of an institution, I've tried. And even though I'm mellow now, I wouldn't call myself a zombie (except when they gave me a thorazine injection).