My Stay in a Mental Hospital: Day 1

             I woke up in my bed and remembered what had happened the day before. My boyfriend of two and a half years broke up with me because he no longer was happy and didn’t love me anymore; my biggest fear. It fucking sucked. It’s something that I had no control over. Of course I begged him not to only to feel ashamed of myself after. Before him, I felt like a confident and strong girl. After him, I was left empty. I gave him everything I had. About a year and a half ago I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. He was there for me through all of it. After he left, I didn’t know what to do; I didn’t know how to take care of myself. I started having thoughts of suicide and self-harm. Not wanting to hurt the people around me (ironic right?), I decided it was best if I checked myself in before I hurt anyone. My little sister was there a year prior and it seemed to help her. I wanted to go the day he broke up with me but it was the day of my littlest sister’s middle school graduation party and I didn’t want to take either of my parent’s away from that. My friends came over and I stuck the rest of the day out.

 The next morning I felt just as bad. Around 1 in the afternoon, I decided it was time to go. To get into Linden Oaks, the mental facility, I had to first go to the ER. My mom drove and It didn’t take long to get a room. My room was totally bare except for the bed and chair in the middle of it. The back wall had what looked like to be an ambulance door. I thought to myself, this must be the room they stick all the crazy people in so they can’t kill themselves. The room next to me was the same. He was short and had a long beard and hair that resembled Jesus; He must be crazy too. I spent 5 hours drifting in and out of sleep. I was interrupted by different nurses and doctors who asked me the same questions and I replied with the same answers.

               “What brings you in today” I’m having thoughts of suicide and self-arm.

               “How do you feel?” Hopeless, lonely, depressed, exhausted.

               “Do you have thoughts of hurting yourself or others?” Just myself.

            It wasn’t till about 6 pm when they finally got the okay from linden oaks to bring me in. Then I had to wait for an ambulance to bring me over. One of the men looked to be in his sixties while the other looked sixteen. I still had my phone so I was able to catch a few Pokémon in the ambulance. When I got to linden oaks, I was greeted by multiple staff members who said they would make me better. It was around 8 pm, free time for all the patients. Most gathered and socialized in the day-room while others stayed in their room. The day-room was an open area right by the Nurses’ desk. It consisted of a table with 5 chairs and more comfy chairs by the walls. On the table were colored pencils and pictures that had been printed out. You could tell they were from some sort of adult coloring book that was supposed to help with stress. I had to stay in my hospital gown as they checked me in which consisted of them taking my picture and meeting with my assigned therapist. She seemed to be in her early 30’s. We talked for a few minutes, she asked the same questions as everyone else except at the end, she asked what my goal was while I was here. My answer was, I want to learn to be okay by myself.

               After talking with my therapist, I got to change back into my clothes and then say goodbye to my parents whom had met me there. My sister packed me a bag because she knew what I could and couldn’t have. I hadn’t eaten dinner yet so they ordered me a boxed lunch which consisted of a turkey sandwich, some type of baked chips, an apple, and juice. I only ate the sandwich and apple.

While eating, I met a few of the residents already there. I mostly observed at first. There was Shane, an arrogant heroin addict that couldn’t be older than 23, Rachel, a girl that was the same age as me who tried to kill herself by overdosing on pills in her medicine cabinet, and Jennifer, who I wasn’t quite sure what was wrong with her but I know she bit a cop and smashed her mom’s car windshield; she was probably in her mid-twenties. They then took me to my room. I guess the adult ward was full because my room was in a different section; the annex. I’m still not really sure what it was but it consisted of girls of all ages; I wasn’t sure what their problem was. My roommate was already asleep by the time I got there. They gave me something that would help me sleep and I took it no questions asked. I cried myself to sleep pretty quickly.