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How To Complain Effectively About Mistreatment At A Psychiatric Hospital

For those who don’t follow the comment sections of posts, there have been commenters who have been telling us about the awful experiences they have had as psychiatric patients.  In particular (but not exclusively) as  hospital inpatients.  Commenters have used terms like “abuse” and “humiliation” and describe awful scenarios.  One person asked why the mean nurses don’t get fired, everyone knows they are mean including the staff.  Others throw the baby out with the bath water, one bad experience.  There is implication by at least one commenter that he/she would rather die (presumably permanently) rather than face a day on a psych unit again.  The suffering in these posts is palpable.

To those who feel better after leaving comments on Shrink Rap, by all means, feel free to continue, but this will not change the world.  May I put in a request?  If you’ve had an awful experience as a patient on a psychiatric unit, please tell the hospital.  One commenter said she (/he?) complained to the hospital administration and heard that some changes were made.  My thoughts?  You Go Girl!  (If the commenter was a male, I’m at a loss. Way to Go, Joe! perhaps?)  Complain, it can’t hurt.

Oh, you say, no one listens to psychiatric patients, they just say we’re crazy so they don’t have to listen.  For an isolated complaint, you may be right, Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Shrink Rap*

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