Just needed to be heard for a little while

whitewing

dibuzz wrote: »

No I haven't Pyxis.
Staying overnight somewhere would make me so anxious I would be even worse.

That may be good if it means they can get a bit of a clue as to what is going on.

tea_lover

I've often wondered how effective those sorts of sleep studies are, as surely a lot of people sleep differently in a strange location? Even without anxiety/depression etc, I'm sure a lot of people don't sleep the same way in a hotel or hospital as they do at home.

But they obviously work to some extent or they wouldn't do them!

codemonkey

I've wondered about how effective sleep studies really are. Its very embarrassing but I snore like a walrus and I'm willing to bet if I did a sleep study it'd be the one night I didn't snore.

tea_lover

Similar to the way in which my laptop works perfectly when IT finally turn up to look at it.

Waves_and_Smiles

Morning all!

I attended a sleep clinic a while back and it did help a bit. I was told to stay awake for 36 hours beforehand, initially they said 24 but I was used to being awake that long so they extended it. They ran an EEG at the same time so that could see what my brain waves were doing which was the main bit that helped. I only dozed because I don't sleep well in strange places anyway but it was enough to figure out that I was a slow sleeper with a high REM activity (the latter which ties in with psychosis). How much was discovered by the study and how much was through the EEG, though I don't know. At that point I was only sleeping for 45 minutes to an hour a night, then sleeping for 16 hours at once a few days later and repeat so it was a little desperate as I was attending a day centre and failure to attend meant sectioning! Now I am hardly awake...

In other news my favourite blanket has a hole. Not happy!

whitewing

Re: blanket. Take it as a sign that you are meant to be peeping out into the big, wide world.

oystercatcher

Maybe the hole is so you can see the world when in hiding WaS ?


I too have wondered about sleep clinics as I never sleep well away from my own bed, I would have thought the sleep we have when exhausted from staying awake for days is different too but from what WaS says they can tell some things !

I am doing a hospital mercy run today, my friend has a scary appointment and needs a lift, so I have agreed to do a vile drive through a nearby city to get her there. I'm quite surprised at how protective I feel for my friend as she can be a bit annoying at times but she is actually very vulnerable . Fingers crossed we have good news this afternoon.

It's strange, when I have 'an appointment ' I get far more chores done than when I have an empty day as everything gets left until later and in the end doesn't get done. My life is too empty usually but if I have a lot planned then I become anxious . It's not simple .

Waves_and_Smiles

I haven't recorded my experiences of a psychiatric day centre before so as I am quite clear headed I thought I would, it may help someone. My situation was experimental by my psychiatrist, normally they would section someone on their first schizophrenic break but he decided to try a different way. I am certain that is why I have been able to live independently for so long. This isn't penguiny at all, in fact it is very optimistic.

When I was first diagnosed with paranoid and catatonic schizophrenia rather than hospitalise me (which is the most common occurrence) I was sent to a day centre, the purpose of which was to help with the transition for long stay psychiatric patients to independent living. I made an agreement with my doctors that I would attend 9-4.30, 5 days a week indefinitely. If I failed to attend without good reason I would be sectioned and they agreed to pay for taxi's for me if WaSp couldn't drop me off. This was quite an unusual step but my psychiatrist decided to take it due to the fact that I had already had 9 years of therapy, I was psychologically trained so understood what was happening to an extent and his specialist subject happened to be chronic illness and links to mental health. Also sectioning someone with catatonic schizophrenia often results in them becoming more catatonic because there is time to drift in your own thoughts, although it is common it isn't the best solution and often results in what is called a revolving door situation. This means although it is not the best thing for a patient to be hospitalised they find they lose the ability function without being so and therefore constantly boomerang between hospital and independent living.

The day centre had various classes, assertiveness training, relaxation, group therapy, stress management and for the first 6 months I signed up to these daily. I also saw my psychiatrist and a therapist once every week. The rest of the time at the centre I could chat to patients, have coffee, read or draw and do whatever I wished as long as I was there within the designated hours. If I wanted to talk about how I was feeling one of the nurses would talk to me within an hour. They would also let me sit in consulting rooms alone if I wanted some space, I remember spending an afternoon in one making little animals out of plasticine just for fun. Other times I would curl up in an armchair and nap.

After 6 months I was asked if I would become an advocate for MIND which I agreed to (after a level of panic). That was upstairs from the day centre so that became part of my week, too. For the final year I didn't have to attend classes but I did have to turn up every day and after finishing my work for MIND could talk with other patients and do as I wished including attend classes again if I was feeling shaky. I made many friends and learnt a lot about others conditions and how they coped. I looked forward to it every day and it became my place of safety.

I had many catatonic episodes during that time and there was always a nurse to lead me to a quiet room and sit with me until it was over. They taught me not to be afraid of them starting and to understand what was happening in my mind. Gradually I became more confident and less scared. All the way through this I had daily psychiatric back-up and tried a variety of different therapeutic techniques, some which were brand new. I saw my psychiatrist weekly and several more times if I needed to and he worked on the belief that educating me about what was happening was the key to me being able to cope. He never, ever talked down to me and explained exactly what was happening chemically and psychologically to me, he treated me more like his student than as a patient a lot of the time. The more I understood what was happening, the less scared I became. It was very lucky that the day centre was his project, he took over supervision for my therapist and directed her in my treatment as well as explaining to the nurses how to deal with my catatonic episodes. He was correct that the key for me was education, the more I understood about what was happening to me the more I was able to cope and the less scared I was the more the psychosis reduced.

I believe it is solely due to the support that I received at the beginning of my illness that has stopped me being hospitalised long term. I was very, very lucky to get that amount of support and it isn't common. I also struck very lucky that the psychiatrist I had, had a special interest in chronic physical illness and its connection to mental illness, he was convinced that there was a connection between my autoimmune flares and psychotic episodes. He made me his personal project and subsequently wrote a rather large paper on me.

I attended for 18 months in all, the usual attendance was 6-12 weeks. I had been there longer than anyone else. They held my hand through the first 18 months of my illnesses and supported me all of the way. That level of psychiatric help is sadly rarely offered and there is little funding for it nowadays. I will never forget my dear psychiatrist for going the extra mile for me, I honestly believe it is due to him that I am still living in my own flat and my times hospitalised since have been very brief. He made me an expert in my conditions and due to that I stopped being afraid of them.

Feel free to ask questions if you want. If not that is fine, too. I am just putting this out there in hopes it reassures anyone who may be sent to day centres.

geminilady

Very informative and interesting hope it helps someone,I am sure as well as your many followers and posters there are lots of lurkers out there.Mental illness can be very frightening and is still a bit of a taboo subject so the more information the better.
Your post just reminded me of my mum,she had a nervous breakdown when I was a child and would not leave the house the psychiatrist went to her house to see her for months and was a great help she talked about him for years afterwards.
I have often wondered if mental illness runs in family's as I have had several bouts of depression over the years,am ok at the moment though

heartbreak_star

Wow, WaS - how strong are you, and I feel happy you were able to talk to others about yourself and help them too

Your psychiatrist gets lots of gold stars from me too.

There should be so much more money going into psychiatric care. If I win the Lotto I promise to set up a place like the one you were treated in

HBS x