“I also need a safe place to go when things go sideways.”
“So you’re here by choice?”
“Absolutely. It’s my responsibility to myself and my loved ones to take control in my treatment, by taking my medication. I must be constantly vigilant; always on the lookout for instability.”
I’m grateful I got there too … twice I was “voluntarily” committed in suicidal desperation, but the last time by choice.
Damn I wish I could have smoked during stays 2 & 3 though: the first time in uni the Quebecois still allowed smoking. Hôtel-Dieu indeed, score one for the Catholics.
Now all 🇨🇦 hospitals (all 🇨🇦 indoor spaces except homes actually) are 😱 smoke free 🤷♂️
At least nicotine patches were available.
And all my stays have been “free”, which beats the hell out of bankrupting oneself to get help. Still have to get meds and therapy fully covered though, but I’m among the very lucky with an employer benefits plan that makes meds free for us.
Keep fighting, Amelia.
Your fire is inspirational, and hopefully never again self-immolating.
I did finally get to turn it to football for part of my 3rd Sunday … beyond that, WAY too much Judge Judy etc.
We had a remarkably good selection of books in the “library” (bookshelf in locked group room) at least.
Jospeh Boyden’s The Orenda still haunts me in unique and valuable ways.
And Lawrence Hill’s The Illegal, similarly.
Not just because they’re inextricably tied to that place & time, just as Soul Coughing music is tied to Tom Robbins novels for the younger me, nor simply because they are written with powerfully 🇨🇦+ voices (Indigenous and Black, respectively) but because each dealt with “otherness” and its consequences in such profound ways.
Thanks. Marvin gave the best advice. I strive to see my illness the way he saw his and try to be responsible.
It’s supremely stupid to put someone in a mental health crisis into nicotine withdrawals. Screw places that don’t let you smoke. I chose my last psych ward solely because they allowed smoking.
This stay in the hospital cost me over $30,000. Insurance is $400/month plus $60 per doctor visit and $40 per medication. “Congratulations on surviving your suicide! Now you’re in debt to add to all your problems!” It’s terrible.
“I also need a safe place to go when things go sideways.”
“So you’re here by choice?”
“Absolutely. It’s my responsibility to myself and my loved ones to take control in my treatment, by taking my medication. I must be constantly vigilant; always on the lookout for instability.”
I’m grateful I got there too … twice I was “voluntarily” committed in suicidal desperation, but the last time by choice.
Damn I wish I could have smoked during stays 2 & 3 though: the first time in uni the Quebecois still allowed smoking. Hôtel-Dieu indeed, score one for the Catholics.
Now all 🇨🇦 hospitals (all 🇨🇦 indoor spaces except homes actually) are 😱 smoke free 🤷♂️
At least nicotine patches were available.
And all my stays have been “free”, which beats the hell out of bankrupting oneself to get help. Still have to get meds and therapy fully covered though, but I’m among the very lucky with an employer benefits plan that makes meds free for us.
Keep fighting, Amelia.
Your fire is inspirational, and hopefully never again self-immolating.
For profit healthcare is a sin.
Elective stuff, cosmetic stuff — sure, but I’m in favour of a 100%+ tax that goes to backfill scarce medical personnel diverted by these companies.
I had a Marvin, too, on visit 2.
We shared the same name, and won a bunch of “trophies” together in the beer-pongesque game we invented with styrofoam cups & little foil balls.
Even made the trophy into a Stanley Cup inspired tiered thing 🤣
You can put us in the SHU, but you can’t take the hockey from our 🇨🇦 blood!
It was there, and expanded, for visit 3, 4 years later. Which was truly lovely tbh ❤️🩹
As we’re saying a lot these days up here (thanks to Mike Myers/SNL): Elbows Up!
Ah, the games you come up with to entertain yourself in the psych ward…
Well, we also had remote-related issues 🤬
I did finally get to turn it to football for part of my 3rd Sunday … beyond that, WAY too much Judge Judy etc.
We had a remarkably good selection of books in the “library” (bookshelf in locked group room) at least.
Jospeh Boyden’s The Orenda still haunts me in unique and valuable ways.
And Lawrence Hill’s The Illegal, similarly.
Not just because they’re inextricably tied to that place & time, just as Soul Coughing music is tied to Tom Robbins novels for the younger me, nor simply because they are written with powerfully 🇨🇦+ voices (Indigenous and Black, respectively) but because each dealt with “otherness” and its consequences in such profound ways.
Thanks. Marvin gave the best advice. I strive to see my illness the way he saw his and try to be responsible.
It’s supremely stupid to put someone in a mental health crisis into nicotine withdrawals. Screw places that don’t let you smoke. I chose my last psych ward solely because they allowed smoking.
This stay in the hospital cost me over $30,000. Insurance is $400/month plus $60 per doctor visit and $40 per medication. “Congratulations on surviving your suicide! Now you’re in debt to add to all your problems!” It’s terrible.