What to Expect When Being itted to the PBMU

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Trigger Warning:

Mentions of depression, suicide, self-harm, and mental hospitals. Do not continue if these topics disturb or upset you.

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What is it?

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PBMU stands for psychiatric behavioral medicine unit. Often referred to as "psych wards", "mental hospitals", or, more outdated-ly, "asylums", this is where parents send their children to if they express a clear danger to themselves or others.

I will be mostly going over short-term hospitals, as I have more experience with those. Residential homes for the mentally ill, however-- not my strong suit, but I'll go over what I know.

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The decision

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If you are experiencing active suicidal thoughts, you need to report to a trusted adult immediately. Whether that is your counselor, your teacher, your parent/guardian, is your choice.

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ACTIVE v IVE

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Just what are active suicidal thoughts? And what about ive? Well, I have some definitions I learned from a doctor:

IVE SUICIDAL THOUGHTS

These are thoughts of wishing death upon yourself, thoughts such as "I want to die" or "I hope something happens to me". You are not currently seeking out any action, you do not have a plan, you most likely have not written a suicide note. These are when you need to seek professional help or emotional from trusted adults, friends, or your significant other(s).

However, you don't necessarily need to go to the hospital for these, since they most likely won't it you (they are generally very tight on beds and availability, so they only it those they think are in serious danger). But it is still wise to get help.

ACTIVE SUICIDAL THOUGHTS

If left untreated, ive thoughts can become this. Active thoughts are when you have been thinking of a plan and have the intent of actually performing suicide. You may have written a suicide note, and you may have given away your things already.

This is when you need to seek immediate medical attention. Don't be ashamed; the hospital attendants will care about you and want you to be safe. Speaking as someone who has been itted to the emergency room for suicidal thoughts around 7 times (and actually been in the PBMU 6 times), I can promise my experience.

NOTE: IF YOUR PARENTS WILL NOT TAKE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL FOR WHATEVER REASON, DO!! NOT!! BE AFRAID TO CALL A HOTLINE OR EVEN 911!! YOUR SAFETY ALWAYS COMES FIRST!!! They WILL it you even without your parents' consent if you are a true danger to yourself.

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The Evaluation

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Once you're at the hospital, they will ask you to wait in the lobby until they have a room available for you to use. Then they will put a wristband on you and you'll have to wait in a hospital bed for several hours while doctors are in and out evaluating you.

Some of the questions will be hard to answer. They'll do a psychoanalysis for depression and risk of suicide. They'll ask for your mental medical history and family history to determine if there are any underlying causes besides just depression, such as bipolar disorder or a personality disorder.

Then, they will find the nearest PBMU and determine if there are any beds available. If not, they'll keep searching around the area, continuing to spread out until they find a bed available. If there are no close available beds, they will have you wait for hours or even days until there is one. They will not let you go home until they're certain of your safety.

There are no PBMUs in certain American states, such as Alaska, so sometimes they'll fly you over to another state entirely (such as Washington for Alaska).

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Inside the PBMU

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Now, I'll be talking about what to expect once you're actually in the PBMU.

3 out of the 4 different hospitals I've been to required you to share a room with two or more patients. Most likely you will not have your own room.

You'll be required to do certain activities, like DBT (dialectical behavioral therapy), grounding exercises, therapeutic games, sometimes animal therapy, music therapy, pool (swimming) therapy, and more. Do these activities well and you'll start to feel better (and get out of there faster, for those of you bored out of your minds).

The rules vary from hospital to hospital, but a lot of the more common rules I've noticed are:

• Don't touch other patients

• Respect self, respect others, respect community

• Keep your feet off the furniture

• Wear shoes or socks at all times

• No sexual gestures, whispering, or yelling/screaming

• No wandering off the unit (such as eloping or running away from where you're scheduled to be)

Etc.

As far as visitation and calling friends goes, most PBMUs will allow an hour or so for family and friends over the age of 18 to visit you at a specific time in a specific place. They don't usually allow you to call friends under 18.

Only one of the hospitals I went to (Seattle Children's) permitted you to have family (not friends) on the unit at all times (including them spending the night), and allowed you to make phone calls to friends and significant others under 18 at specific times.

You were allowed to have friends under 18 visit, but only for a while and you weren't allowed to be intimate.

The patients in any given PBMU could be in there for a wild variety of reasons-

Severe anxiety

Severe depression

Suicidal thoughts

Severe OCD

Psychosis

Severe anger issues

It's best to respect their privacy and not ask unless they're willing to share. Try not to upset anyone, either, as people there tend to be more on the sensitive side. People are prone to bouts of crying, screaming, psychotic episodes, anger outbursts, panic attacks, and more if triggered or provoked.

Another word of advice: if you have scars anywhere, wear long sleeves and/or don't wear shorts/skirts without leggings. Self-harm scars are a HUGE trigger for some patients, I can vouch for this; seeing other patients' scars have sent me into a spiraling panic attack.

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What to bring

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Things you can pack are stuffed toys, books, blankets and pillows, your glasses, shampoo and the like, and anything else they say you're allowed to bring. No clothing with strings or shoelaces, generally, unless you've been cleared to do so. , anything they don't like can and will be confiscated until your discharge, so be careful.

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Discharge dates

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Now, you'll typically only stay there from 5 days to a week. My longest hospital stay was about two weeks, and my shortest was 3 days. that being safe to yourself and others, respecting the environment, following the rules, keeping good hygiene, making your bed every morning, and eating three meals a day will get you discharged faster.

As for residential homes, the living conditions are quite similar, except you can be staying there from as long as 3 months to a year. You will go on outings (movie theaters, bowling alleys, etc). You are allowed to have personal devices, books, and more, so long as they don't present a danger to yourself or others.

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Any questions?

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If there's anything I missed, feel free to ask! I'll be happy to answer any of your questions.

This has been a PSA. :two_hearts: :two_hearts: :two_hearts: :two_hearts: :two_hearts:

Stay safe fam

-peace

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