Are long inpatient stays in psychiatric hospitals beneficial for young people?

I thought I could share with you my experiences regarding inpatient services. I feel it is important that people understand hospital admissions are sometimes crucial and lifesaving when a young person is entrenched in their eating disorder and are suffering physical implications caused by this illness. I also feel it is completely necessary when someone has intent to hurt themselves and are therefore not fit to be in the community. I know from experience that changing this mind set does not come easily and because of this I agree that some people need long inpatient admissions to ensure safety. Unfortunately this leads to other implications, which I have also personally experiences.

As a young adolescent I was admitted to a psychiatric unit for children and adolescents and I stayed there for the best part of the year. Throughout that year I was deemed too unwell to go out and access the community, too unstable to attend school and too unsafe to go home or out with family for any length of time. My world became smaller and smaller. In fact my world became a small bubble within the unit. I lost sight of the ‘real world’ and I lived my life very much wrapped in cotton wool. This meant I had no motivators to change, because why would I change when my world was so safe and comforting? Why would I change when the outside world was a petrifying disturbance in routine?

This is where I believe that cutting a young person off from the outside world can cause more damage than good. Without keeping somebody linked with life outside a hospital environment how are they supposed to remember what they fighting for? As I didn’t have that reminder my life was purely my illness and me. My world was surrounded by weight, numbers, meals, restraints, exercise, self-harm etc… Even watching the news caused me anxiety.

So how do we cure this problem?

I believe that forward planning is part of the key. When a young person is brought into hospital it is important to let them know that it is not a long term answer to the problem. Throughout their stay long/short term goals being created can give a person courage that things can progress and change. That there is an expectation to work to achieve these goals and offer praise when they are achieved. After all remember how it would feel if you worked so hard then got nothing in return. For me, it felt there was no point trying.

If accessing the community was part of the group therapy programme at more hospital facilities then as a young teenager I would have been more motivated to follow the therapy programme and work towards discharge.

For families I think the answer is to keep in mind how difficult it can be to remember there is life outside the disorder. Although it may be frustrating, have patience and know that there will come a time in which a sufferer will feel ready to let down some of the barriers they hold. Remind them of the things they are missing out on, but at the same time remember guilt holds a huge role in an eating disorder and gentle encouragement for me was always most helpful.

This is where I think residential community placements are so important. Whilst being a supportive therapeutic environment we are also encouraged to access as much as possible in the community. This is a daily reminder that there is life outside an inpatient environment. That life is full of so many opportunities.  That life is for living and not just existing.