In 2014 at Connecticut’s New Britain general hospital the staff would have security guards forcibly “escort” me to their freezing cold seclusion cell, then strip me naked “for safety sake” and refuse me either a blanket or any covering, even tHough i had done absolutely nothing of any nature to suggest that i was a danger to self or others and seclusion was simply retaliatory or punitive…but in any case they refused point blank. I was so afraid of being left to freeze in that room, locked in alone, for hours naked, that i made a point of knocking my head mildly against the wall so they woukd come back. I told them i needed a blanket but they said if i did not stop hitting my head they would restrain me. And they came back with a restraint bed, threw me on it, and put a towel over my face and head and turned me over and held me face down so i couldnt breathe while the nurse injected 3 punishment drugs as they were known into my buttocks. Then they turned me over andn spread eagLed my legs sTill naked while they restrained me, the four male guards, with my arms above my heads and my legs fullly apart. I tOld them i felt like they were raping me and they said it was just their job. When they were through, i was naked in restraints and i had to beg them screaming for a thin sheet to cover me. A nurse came in to do the Face to Face eval and she shivered in the cold….i begged her for a blanket but she said no, it is unsafe! They all left me alone and locked the door. I have not gotten over this, and yet no body in Connecticut will investiggate, even though i wrote up a formal complaint, went to protection and advocacy, wrote to rhe attorney general and even SAmHsA …Connecticut apparently will have to kill more of its mental patients before they investigate again….
Alas, Beatrice, at 64 years old and after 40-plus years in the System, both in Connecticut and here in Vermont, I have never had $138,000 dollars to spend on myself, nor any family member willing to “waste” it on me (which is unfortunately what they would consider spending money on my care). This is likely the case for many people with mental illness diagnoses like schizophrenia who have been locked in the System for years, abandoned by their families and deprived of any resources but dubious ones provided by the so-called “benefits” of disability. So while Inner Fire sounds great, it, like so many other programs of its kind, is only available for those with big bucks to spend, and I highly doubt that the State of Vermont will be coming through to spend them on the likes of me any time soon. Regards, Pamela Wagner
If anti-depressants, so-called, worked at all, especially in “really serious” cases, the US suicide rate would have dropped dramatically ever since doctors had AD drugs for use. But in fact since 1950 the suicide success rate has decreased only slightly (it varies yearly) and was exactly the same in 1960 as in 2015. None of which proves anything except that whatever such drugs do, they decidedly do not reduce the rate at which depressed people kill themselves, which seems to me to be not only the gold standard, but pretty much the one standard that ought to make or break the reputation of these chemicals as useful.
Why would you give these drugs to someone who is “seriously depressed” or suicidal?! Do you really pretend to believe they work? Or would you just be another person desperate enough to do harm to help somone? The fact of the matter is that if anti-depressnts worked at all, especially in these so-called really serious cases, the US suicide rate would have dropped dramatically ever since doctors had these drugs for use. But in fact since the 1950s suicide success rate has decreased only slightly (it varies yearly) and was exactly the same in the 1960s. None of which proves anything except that whatever these drugs do, they decidedly do NOT REDUCE suicides or the rate at which deoressed people kill themselves, which seems to me to be not only the gold standard, but pretty much the one standard that ought to make or break them as useful. But doctors go on prescribing them like candy and writers who purport to be against their use insist that they remain useful in these most dire of cases. Well, if so, i would need some proof! So far i ain’t seen any.
In 2014 at Connecticut’s New Britain general hospital the staff would have security guards forcibly “escort” me to their freezing cold seclusion cell, then strip me naked “for safety sake” and refuse me either a blanket or any covering, even tHough i had done absolutely nothing of any nature to suggest that i was a danger to self or others and seclusion was simply retaliatory or punitive…but in any case they refused point blank. I was so afraid of being left to freeze in that room, locked in alone, for hours naked, that i made a point of knocking my head mildly against the wall so they woukd come back. I told them i needed a blanket but they said if i did not stop hitting my head they would restrain me. And they came back with a restraint bed, threw me on it, and put a towel over my face and head and turned me over and held me face down so i couldnt breathe while the nurse injected 3 punishment drugs as they were known into my buttocks. Then they turned me over andn spread eagLed my legs sTill naked while they restrained me, the four male guards, with my arms above my heads and my legs fullly apart. I tOld them i felt like they were raping me and they said it was just their job. When they were through, i was naked in restraints and i had to beg them screaming for a thin sheet to cover me. A nurse came in to do the Face to Face eval and she shivered in the cold….i begged her for a blanket but she said no, it is unsafe! They all left me alone and locked the door. I have not gotten over this, and yet no body in Connecticut will investiggate, even though i wrote up a formal complaint, went to protection and advocacy, wrote to rhe attorney general and even SAmHsA …Connecticut apparently will have to kill more of its mental patients before they investigate again….
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Alas, Beatrice, at 64 years old and after 40-plus years in the System, both in Connecticut and here in Vermont, I have never had $138,000 dollars to spend on myself, nor any family member willing to “waste” it on me (which is unfortunately what they would consider spending money on my care). This is likely the case for many people with mental illness diagnoses like schizophrenia who have been locked in the System for years, abandoned by their families and deprived of any resources but dubious ones provided by the so-called “benefits” of disability. So while Inner Fire sounds great, it, like so many other programs of its kind, is only available for those with big bucks to spend, and I highly doubt that the State of Vermont will be coming through to spend them on the likes of me any time soon. Regards, Pamela Wagner
Report comment
If anti-depressants, so-called, worked at all, especially in “really serious” cases, the US suicide rate would have dropped dramatically ever since doctors had AD drugs for use. But in fact since 1950 the suicide success rate has decreased only slightly (it varies yearly) and was exactly the same in 1960 as in 2015. None of which proves anything except that whatever such drugs do, they decidedly do not reduce the rate at which depressed people kill themselves, which seems to me to be not only the gold standard, but pretty much the one standard that ought to make or break the reputation of these chemicals as useful.
Report comment
Why would you give these drugs to someone who is “seriously depressed” or suicidal?! Do you really pretend to believe they work? Or would you just be another person desperate enough to do harm to help somone? The fact of the matter is that if anti-depressnts worked at all, especially in these so-called really serious cases, the US suicide rate would have dropped dramatically ever since doctors had these drugs for use. But in fact since the 1950s suicide success rate has decreased only slightly (it varies yearly) and was exactly the same in the 1960s. None of which proves anything except that whatever these drugs do, they decidedly do NOT REDUCE suicides or the rate at which deoressed people kill themselves, which seems to me to be not only the gold standard, but pretty much the one standard that ought to make or break them as useful. But doctors go on prescribing them like candy and writers who purport to be against their use insist that they remain useful in these most dire of cases. Well, if so, i would need some proof! So far i ain’t seen any.
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