Psychiatric hospital bizarre stories

[Anuwolf]

Can any psychiatrists/nurses/security guards please tell us your bizarre story of working inside the psychiatric hospital? I'm sure theirs plenty to share!

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[Psyclops]

Can any psychiatrists/nurses/security guards please tell us your bizarre story of working inside the psychiatric hospital? I'm sure theirs plenty to share!

I've just gotten in from going around all night trying to get all the security guards I know to join SDN. Hopefully if they join they can entertain you.

 

[MBK2003]

Can any psychiatrists/nurses/security guards please tell us your bizarre story of working inside the psychiatric hospital? I'm sure theirs plenty to share!

I got to put a patient on 1:1 because he climbed into the ceiling (using the ladder a maintenance person left below the open ceiling panel) during an 11pm fire alarm. The patient was completely disorganized and it was not with any clear intent to flee the unit, he was just looking to get "closer to the Heavens." I felt like my recommendations should have included, "Don't leave ladders unattended on the unit inches below open ceiling panels." Funny thing was the nurses said he was easy to coax down with a cookie 🙂.

MBK2003

 

[OldPsychDoc]

I got to put a patient on 1:1 because he climbed into the ceiling (using the ladder a maintenance person left below the open ceiling panel) during an 11pm fire alarm. The patient was completely disorganized and it was not with any clear intent to flee the unit, he was just looking to get "closer to the Heavens." I felt like my recommendations should have included, "Don't leave ladders unattended on the unit inches below open ceiling panels." Funny thing was the nurses said he was easy to coax down with a cookie 🙂.

MBK2003

Just another day at the office... 🙄

 

[needinformation]

I heard about this story at my hospital. Two manic patients become friends and decide to get out. They manage to unscrew the hinges of the door on the patio and then removed the door, went down the stairs, caught a bus, IN THEIR HOSPITAL GOWNS, and then asked to go to their out patient clinic.

 

[Anasazi23]

Just another day at the office... 🙄

Exactly....

LIke the guy from detox who climbed into the ceiling, crawled through the ceiling in the middle of the night and somehow knew where the locked narcotics cabinet was, and tried picking the lock to get at the goods.

I say we should arrest these people. In any other setting they would be in jail. We weren't allowed to by the hospital supervisor.

That's exactly why he'll try it again someday.

 

[soaringheights]

I got to put a patient on 1:1 because he climbed into the ceiling (using the ladder a maintenance person left below the open ceiling panel) during an 11pm fire alarm. The patient was completely disorganized and it was not with any clear intent to flee the unit, he was just looking to get "closer to the Heavens." I felt like my recommendations should have included, "Don't leave ladders unattended on the unit inches below open ceiling panels." Funny thing was the nurses said he was easy to coax down with a cookie 🙂.

MBK2003

🙂

 

[Psyclops]

Exactly....

LIke the guy from detox who climbed into the ceiling, crawled through the ceiling in the middle of the night and somehow knew where the locked narcotics cabinet was, and tried picking the lock to get at the goods.

I say we should arrest these people. In any other setting they would be in jail. We weren't allowed to by the hospital supervisor.

That's exactly why he'll try it again someday.

In the hospitals for which I have worked, any case of a patient assaulting another or staff resulted in prosecution.

 

[Anuwolf]

I thought that some of you guys would enjoy this article.

04/03/06
Four psychiatric nurses were threatened with a butcher's knife and forced to beg for mercy in a terrifying attack in Kildare, it emerged tonight.

The female nurses were on duty in the Lakeview Acute Psychiatric Unit at Naas General Hospital at 3am when two men armed with a butcher's knife broke through the re-enforced glass panels in the door.

The nurses took refuge in their office but the men, who were dripping with blood from their injuries from the broken glass, broke through the door

The Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) said the men threatened to kill the nurses if they did not get down on their knees and beg for mercy.

"It appears as if they were looking for a female nurse who they had made threats against yesterday. It's extremely fortunate that she was moved off the unit. We believe that if she was there last night she'd have been murdered," said industrial relations officer Seamus Murphy.

Earlier in the week, the men had attended the Lakeview unit, which provides emergency care for up to 40 psychiatric patients.

Mr Murphy said there was an atmosphere of terror in the ward, with one frightened patient ringing 999 for assistance on his mobile phone.

"It was like something you'd see in One Flew Over the ****oo's Nest," he said.

The nurses managed to eventually calm the men down and the Gardaí were called to the scene.

A Garda spokesman confirmed that two men had been arrested and charged in relation to the incident.

The PNA is currently gathering statistics on the number of assaults on psychiatric nurses each year.

According to the most recent figures, more than 1,600 nurses were physically or verbally assaulted in 2001.

After psychiatric nurses threatened industrial action, former Health Minister Micháel Martin agreed to establish a compensation tribunal to ensure that payments were made more speedily.

However, Health Minister Mary Harney told the PNA last year that there were legal difficulties with restricting the operation of the tribunal to psychiatric nurses alone and promised to improve the existing compensation scheme instead.

The PNA was due to be informed of the details last October but has not received any yet.

Had anything similar happen to you while being or had worked inside the hospital?

 

[Doc Samson]

A story that stands out for me involves an autistic savant adolescent boy with photographic memory. When initially interviewed by the admitting psychiatrist, he asked to see his medical license, so the guy opens his wallet, searches through it and produces his license card. Pt is admitted to the locked child/adolescent unit, goes to bed that night, somewhere in the middle of the night the checks person realizes he's missing.
3 days later, he's found at a railroad station of a major city >200 miles away. Turns out, when the admitting doc had been leafing through his wallet, the kid had memorized his credit card numbers. He had then gone up into the ceiling and wiggled his way off the unit in the crawl space above, then had used the credit card numbers to make good on his escape, including wiring himself some cash. When pts ask to see my license, I tell them they'll just have to trust me.

 

[TheWowEffect]

In the hospitals for which I have worked, any case of a patient assaulting another or staff resulted in prosecution.

Which hospital are you talking about?

 

[Anuwolf]

A story that stands out for me involves an autistic savant adolescent boy with photographic memory. When initially interviewed by the admitting psychiatrist, he asked to see his medical license, so the guy opens his wallet, searches through it and produces his license card. Pt is admitted to the locked child/adolescent unit, goes to bed that night, somewhere in the middle of the night the checks person realizes he's missing.
3 days later, he's found at a railroad station of a major city >200 miles away. Turns out, when the admitting doc had been leafing through his wallet, the kid had memorized his credit card numbers. He had then gone up into the ceiling and wiggled his way off the unit in the crawl space above, then had used the credit card numbers to make good on his escape, including wiring himself some cash. When pts ask to see my license, I tell them they'll just have to trust me.

What the hell was the psychatrist thinking of exposing his credit cards the way he did? I wouldn't even expose my SSN to somebody without asking them why and explain why they need it.

 

[Doc Samson]

In the hospitals for which I have worked, any case of a patient assaulting another or staff resulted in prosecution.

That would be very unusual in my experience. By definition, psychiatric inpatients are mentally ill... if you prosecute, they get arrested, go to court, go to a state psychiatric facility, and treatment continues. Starting that ball rolling is helpful to neither party, since it just slows treatment down, and a jail term resulting from an assault on a psychiatric unit is easily avoidable by NGRI. I've only ever seen this done once or twice with antisocial malingerers.

 

[Anuwolf]

In the hospitals for which I have worked, any case of a patient assaulting another or staff resulted in prosecution.

I can’t believe this, but unfortunately I must believe it. I’m totally in a disagreement with this procedure. Arresting somebody inside of a psychiatric hospital for being violent towards a staff or another patient is ludicrous. I think the staffs expects the patients to be on their best behavior, even if they were involuntary admitted at all times. If theirs some patients who has a history of assaulting should be in another unit, just like prisons;

Minimum security prisons are comprised of non-secure dormitories which are routinely patrolled by correctional officers. Like the medium security dorm, it has its own group toilet and shower area adjacent to the sleeping quarters that contain double bunks and lockers. The prison generally has a single perimeter fence which is inspected on a regular basis, but has no armed watch towers or roving patrol. There is less supervision and control over inmates in the dormitories and less supervision of inmate movement within the prison than at a medium facility. Inmates assigned to minimum security prisons generally pose the least risk to public safety.


Medium security prisons typically are comprised of secure dormitories that provide housing for up to fifty inmates each. Each dormitory contains a group toilet and shower area as well as sinks. Inmates sleep in a military style double bunk and have an adjacent metal locker for storage of uniforms, undergarments, shoes, etc. Each dormitory is locked at night with a correctional officer providing direct supervision of the inmates and sleeping area. The prison usually has a double fence perimeter with armed watch towers or armed roving patrols. There is less supervision and control over the internal movement of inmates than in a close security prison.

Some medium security prisons may be designed with dry cells as the method of inmate housing. Dry cells contain no toilet fixture. Most inmate work and self improvement programs are within the prison, although selected medium custody inmates are worked outside of the prison under armed supervision of trained correctional officers. These inmate work assignments support prison farm operations or highway maintenance for the Department of Transportation. Each medium security prison typically has a single cell unit for the punishment of inmates who violate prison rules.

Maximum security units are comprised of cells with sliding cell doors that are remotely operated from a secure control station. Maximum security units are designated by the Director of Prisons at selected close security prisons. These units are utilized to confine the most dangerous inmates who are a severe threat to public safety, correctional staff, and other inmates. Inmates confined in a maximum security unit typically are in their cell 23 hours a day. During the other hour they may be allowed to shower and exercise in the cellblock or an exterior cage. All inmate movement is strictly controlled with the use of physical restraints and correctional officer escort.

Supermax (supermaximum prison) and SHUs (Secure Housing Units) are free-standing facilities or units within other prison facilities. They are to provide for the management and secure control of inmates who have been designated by Department of Corrections (DOC) officials to exhibit violent or disruptive behavior while incarcerated. This most often means inmates are held in isolation, solitary confinement, in sensory deprived conditions and in an environment restricted of stimulation.

 

[TheWowEffect]

In the hospitals for which I have worked, any case of a patient assaulting another or staff resulted in prosecution.

We probably have an average of 1 assault every week and noone has ever talked about pressing charges. Either we are taking too much or the hospital you are talking about doesn't exist anymore.

 

[Anasazi23]

Of course, there are schizophrenics and bipolar or delusional/paranoid patients who become violent for various reasons. These people are not the ones, I would think, would be prosecuted.

However, it's the cases like the antisocials who perform behaviors to get what they want (private room, etc) that do this type of thing.

I remember the beginning of my first year when I did a consult on a known psych frequent flyer who was really nothing more than a maladapted sociopath. He wanted attention from the nurses and an automatic transfer to psych so we could get him housing, so he attacked his patient roomate, putting him in a headlock and punching him in the face, breaking his nose and obviously causing a huge scene.

The hospital ethics committe met to determine whether or not he should be reported to the police and brought up on assault charges. I supported this. However, it was determined that he should be transferred to psych and have no legal recourse brought against him.

Which is why he'll do it again.....

 

[Milo]

Here's one of my favorite quotes from ye olde inpatient days...

"Please Doc, just let me take my eye out and wash it. I swear to God I'll put it right back in afterward."

 

[Triathlon]

Of course, there are schizophrenics and bipolar or delusional/paranoid patients who become violent for various reasons. These people are not the ones, I would think, would be prosecuted.

However, it's the cases like the antisocials who perform behaviors to get what they want (private room, etc) that do this type of thing.

I remember the beginning of my first year when I did a consult on a known psych frequent flyer who was really nothing more than a maladapted sociopath. He wanted attention from the nurses and an automatic transfer to psych so we could get him housing, so he attacked his patient roomate, putting him in a headlock and punching him in the face, breaking his nose and obviously causing a huge scene.

The hospital ethics committe met to determine whether or not he should be reported to the police and brought up on assault charges. I supported this. However, it was determined that he should be transferred to psych and have no legal recourse brought against him.

Which is why he'll do it again.....

I would have to agree with sazi! For the safety of all involved. If this person is cognisant enough to learn a pattern of behavior for a reward he will be able to learn a pattern of behavior to avoid consequence. Otherwise all criminals should be set free because of social ineptitude (a "mental illness"???) I think not.

 

[Psyclops]

I thought that some of you guys would enjoy this article.

04/03/06
Four psychiatric nurses were threatened with a butcher's knife and forced to beg for mercy in a terrifying attack in Kildare, it emerged tonight.

The female nurses were on duty in the Lakeview Acute Psychiatric Unit at Naas General Hospital at 3am when two men armed with a butcher's knife broke through the re-enforced glass panels in the door.

The nurses took refuge in their office but the men, who were dripping with blood from their injuries from the broken glass, broke through the door

The Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) said the men threatened to kill the nurses if they did not get down on their knees and beg for mercy.

"It appears as if they were looking for a female nurse who they had made threats against yesterday. It's extremely fortunate that she was moved off the unit. We believe that if she was there last night she'd have been murdered," said industrial relations officer Seamus Murphy.

Earlier in the week, the men had attended the Lakeview unit, which provides emergency care for up to 40 psychiatric patients.

Mr Murphy said there was an atmosphere of terror in the ward, with one frightened patient ringing 999 for assistance on his mobile phone.

"It was like something you'd see in One Flew Over the ****oo's Nest," he said.

The nurses managed to eventually calm the men down and the Gardaí were called to the scene.

A Garda spokesman confirmed that two men had been arrested and charged in relation to the incident.

The PNA is currently gathering statistics on the number of assaults on psychiatric nurses each year.

According to the most recent figures, more than 1,600 nurses were physically or verbally assaulted in 2001.

After psychiatric nurses threatened industrial action, former Health Minister Micháel Martin agreed to establish a compensation tribunal to ensure that payments were made more speedily.

However, Health Minister Mary Harney told the PNA last year that there were legal difficulties with restricting the operation of the tribunal to psychiatric nurses alone and promised to improve the existing compensation scheme instead.

The PNA was due to be informed of the details last October but has not received any yet.

Had anything similar happen to you while being or had worked inside the hospital?

Why would any of us enjoy this article. One of my close coworkers, a psychiatric nurse, was assaulted and restrained in a safe room by four female patients. The door was locked. She was left. It was not an enjoyable event for her.

The thing I had a hard time getting about you patients was that you often felt it was us (the staff) against you (the patients). Could you help explain that Anuwolf? It always seemed to me that the staff (MD through orderly) offered the best services they had to offer. I would enjoy an answer to that question.

 

[Psyclops]

Of course, there are schizophrenics and bipolar or delusional/paranoid patients who become violent for various reasons. These people are not the ones, I would think, would be prosecuted.

However, it's the cases like the antisocials who perform behaviors to get what they want (private room, etc) that do this type of thing.

I remember the beginning of my first year when I did a consult on a known psych frequent flyer who was really nothing more than a maladapted sociopath. He wanted attention from the nurses and an automatic transfer to psych so we could get him housing, so he attacked his patient roomate, putting him in a headlock and punching him in the face, breaking his nose and obviously causing a huge scene.

The hospital ethics committe met to determine whether or not he should be reported to the police and brought up on assault charges. I supported this. However, it was determined that he should be transferred to psych and have no legal recourse brought against him.

Which is why he'll do it again.....

It seems alot of people have been interested in the particulars of what I was talking about. Like Ana proposed, psychotic patients who wouldn't benefit from the reinforcement would generally not be prosecuted. But, in the two hospitals I worked for (both private corporate hospitals), if someone who wasn't psychotic assaulted another pt or a staff member, a police report was filed. Most times the police would come and take a statement, and not much else would come of it. I think there would be a fine often enough or something of the like. Now, these patients were often on our adolescent unit, or our RTF, or assaulted someone and it was uncharacteristic of their diagnosis. DS, it wasn't usually of that magnitiude. It was more of a "just becaue you are in here and receiving treatment doesn't give you the license to assault others". There were rare occasions though where pts needed a reason to be transfered to a forensic facility. Anuwolf, like usual you have no idea what you are talking about. A psychiatric diagnosis does not excuse all of one's behaviors.

 

[Anuwolf]

Why would any of us enjoy this article. One of my close coworkers, a psychiatric nurse, was assaulted and restrained in a safe room by four female patients. The door was locked. She was left. It was not an enjoyable event for her.

The thing I had a hard time getting about you patients was that you often felt it was us (the staff) against you (the patients). Could you help explain that Anuwolf? It always seemed to me that the staff (MD through orderly) offered the best services they had to offer. I would enjoy an answer to that question.

Psyclops, Are you a psych student, Nurse or a psychiatrists? I’m having a difficult decision to view you either as a doctor/nurse or a student.

I do apologize for my sick sense of humor. If you are a doctor, a psychiatrists or a nurse you can probably understand where I’m coming from. I was diagnosed of having borderline personality disorder when I was at the hospital. Lately I’ve been having some serious mood swings, even almost busted my fathers car front window over an argument yesterday at the beach, funny eh? In case if you’re wondering, yes I’ve been in the psychiatric hospital 5 times prior 2004 to the beginning of 2005. Theses kinds of articles somehow get to me.

Let’s get back to your questions

The thing I had a hard time getting about you patients was that you often felt it was us (the staff) against you (the patients). Could you help explain that Anuwolf?

I will most defiantly explain however you MUST understand that each person who enters a psychiatric hospital is not a typical NORMAL person that you see in shopping malls or in public view. Each patient has their own reasons of being there. Some are either detoxing from a narcotic like Xanax, heroin, etc, and some are there because they were forced into this treatment that they don’t want. You guys probably receive more **** coming from people who are involuntary admitted to the hospital by the ruling of the courts. Here in Florida we have a law “The baker act law” which gives the rights of social workers, case managers, Psychiatrists and Law enforcement to decide if the person that their dealing with is endanger of themselves (suicide) or to anybody else (homicide) and is in need of emergency psychiatric care. When somebody is in the hospital involuntary.. You can’t expect the guy or woman to come up to you and give you flowers. The person is usually pissed or psychotic. All I can say is that if you can’t take the heat and to fully understand why patients are chasing after you… maybe the field of psychiatry is not the field for you to be in. anybody choosing to work at a psychiatric hospital should have solid steel nerves with LOTS of patience, just like in prisons. Inmates will try to break you down at anytime. Once they find your weak spot, you might as well quit. Theirs no time to think and feel sorry for yourself after a patient assaults you with a weapon.

Anyhow.. my experience at the hospital was alright, however I didn’t like when the nurses were threatening me of shooting me up just because I didn’t feel like taking the horse pill that they gave me inside those little plastic cups.

It always seemed to me that the staff (MD through orderly) offered the best services they had to offer. I would enjoy an answer to that question

That’s not necessarily true. Not all hospitals offer the best treatment. When was the last time you’ve actually studied on psychiatric abuse? Where psychiatrists or psychologists sexually assaults their patients and then orders an ECT on the patient to delete the memory of the sexual assault that happens.

Go to http://www.psychiatric-abuse.org.uk/

http://www.feministpeacenetwork.org/survivors.htm

http://www.ect.org/

Not but least
http://www.cchr.org/

Also don’t forget Psychiatric Fraud

http://www.freedommag.org/english/vol29I2/page04a.htm

 

[Anuwolf]

Psyclops, for some reason I have a feeling that you were given a lot of crap at the psychiatric hospital. That’s why in your words you sound bitter.

You quoted “just becaue you are in here and receiving treatment doesn't give you the license to assault others”

We the patients can quote you guys back into saying

“Just because you are our nurse or doctor, doesn’t mean you can threaten to inject us with a medication that we don’t want” Nurses tend to threaten patients if they don’t feel like taking the medication orally. The ole famous quote from the nurses is “If you don’t want to take it orally we can arrange for you to take it else where”

You also quoted

“Anuwolf, like usual you have no idea what you are talking about. A psychiatric diagnosis does not excuse all of one's behaviors.”

I’m afraid I do know what I’m talking about… Just remember one thing buttercup, in the business world, the clients are always right. In short, if the patient doesn’t like something. He is simply not happy, non happy client’s means something is not being run properly.

I will never use my psychiatric diagnostic as an excuse to act in such disrespect.

I agree with you entirely that a psychiatric diagnostic is not an excuse for one’s behavior. I’m in all favor of removing psychiatric diagnostic from all courts… everybody seems to be getting away with murder, rape, stealing because of all of theses psychiatric diagnosis that psychiatrists who are paid by the defense attorney gives to the defendant. Everybody is responsible for their own actions.

 

[Solideliquid]

You guys are going waaaay off topic here.

 

[Anasazi23]

Please keep the personal bickering between yourselves, or preferably, non-existant.

I'd like to keep the thread open for continued discussion.

 

[Poety]

Here's one of my favorite quotes from ye olde inpatient days...

"Please Doc, just let me take my eye out and wash it. I swear to God I'll put it right back in afterward."

 

[Poety]

You guys are going waaaay off topic here.

Anu=linebored?

I'm confused here - this place is getting weird

 

[Psyclops]

In an effort to retun to the topic, here are a few names I have heard pts call staff members:

penis wrinkle, piss drinker, orgy eater (at this point the pt was stringing together anything that sounded remtly offensive).

 

[i61164]

Do y'all think that bizarre/interesting stories are a good enough reason to go into psychiatry? I mean, if I'm going to do something for 30+ years I want it to be amusing. Surgery is out because I can't stand and hold a retractor all day (training would be murder). Family practice is ok but is too much htn and dm (it gets boring). OB ... I won't even go there. Do these funny pt stories keep y'all going?

 

[Anuwolf]

here are a few names I have heard pts call staff members:

penis wrinkle, piss drinker, orgy eater (at this point the pt was stringing together anything that sounded remtly offensive).

Did theses patients had tourettes syndrome by any chance?

 

[pingouin]

Did theses patients had tourettes syndrome by any chance?

probably not. anger and/or intoxication can lead to some pretty creative name-calling.

 

[Triathlon]

Did theses patients had tourettes syndrome by any chance?

I didn't think Tourette's coprolalia was directed at anyone, just random.

 

[Solideliquid]

I didn't think Tourette's coprolalia was directed at anyone, just random.

Also, aren't the majority of tics (the actual event) motor in nature and not vocal?

 

[Triathlon]

In outpatient clinic we had a patient (adolescent) with severe OCD. His obsession was being naked and his compulsion was exposing himself and/or completely stripping. He was kicked out of school and obviously had trouble in public. I was very shocked when while in clinic during his family interview with the Dr. he was sneaking his snake out for a peak. That was a split second shock I don't want to repeat, my neck still hurts from looking away so fast. 😱
Poor kid's going to get a cingulotomy. Hope it works.

 

[Anasazi23]

I remember when I worked at the State Hospital. There was a woman there they called the "snake lady." She insisted on shaving all hair off her body, including her eyebrows, pulled out her eyelashes, and would slither on the floor to ambulate...naked when she could.

She refused to eat all food except for hard boiled eggs, which she would eat whole, like a snake, and without using her arms.

 

[Triathlon]

One of my favorites is the man who had an amnestic disorder which resulted in a 30 second short term memory. Just like one of the character's on 50 first dates. We had to introduce ourselves to him repeatedly through out his visit. VERY intersting!

 

[Anuwolf]

probably not. anger and/or intoxication can lead to some pretty creative name-calling.

I guess you’re right, or a person with little or no vocabulary due to sniffing of the spray paint.

In outpatient clinic we had a patient (adolescent) with severe OCD. His obsession was being naked and his compulsion was exposing himself and/or completely stripping. He was kicked out of school and obviously had trouble in public. I was very shocked when while in clinic during his family interview with the Dr. he was sneaking his snake out for a peak. That was a split second shock I don't want to repeat, my neck still hurts from looking away so fast. 😱
Poor kid's going to get a cingulotomy. Hope it works.

He was in an outpatient clinic? With such case like this I would of think that he would have been in the state inpatient hospital. I’m sure he loved walking down the streets sharing the world his one eye monster, or the rest of his body for that matters.

What are the success rates for having a Bilateral Cingulotomy? I have never heard of this until now.

I remember when I worked at the State Hospital. There was a woman there they called the "snake lady." She insisted on shaving all hair off her body, including her eyebrows, pulled out her eyelashes, and would slither on the floor to ambulate...naked when she could.

She refused to eat all food except for hard boiled eggs, which she would eat whole, like a snake, and without using her arms.

Are you serious? Snake lady? I didn’t even know theses kind of symptoms could even exists (kind of makes me feel NORMAL with having BPD) did you ever watch High anxiety with Mel brooks? “Is that the cocker’s daughter?” I had to laugh at that quote!

Do you remember hearing her diagnosis? I know eyelash pulling is Trichotillomania. Where did she get the shavers from?

 

[Solideliquid]

Do you remember hearing her diagnosis? I know eyelash pulling is Trichotillomania. Where did she get the shavers from?

Not restricted to the eyelashes.

 

[Anuwolf]

Not restricted to the eyelashes.

I'm not saying it's only for the eyelashes.. That’s part of the symptoms.

People who have Trichotillomania usually love the feeling when they pull. It's a pleasure pain to them. It's part of self injury if you ask me.

 

[Poety]

I'm not saying it's only for the eyelashes.. That’s part of the symptoms.

People who have Trichotillomania usually love the feeling when they pull. It's a pleasure pain to them. It's part of self injury if you ask me.

Not always, some onset of trichotillomania occurs from stress. It is also a coping mechanism seen in some people.

And saying its part of the "symptoms" wouldn't really be accurate since some will only pull scalp hair, while others will pluck eyebrows, etc..

 

[pingouin]

Not always, some onset of trichotillomania occurs from stress. It is also a coping mechanism seen in some people.

And saying its part of the "symptoms" wouldn't really be accurate since some will only pull scalp hair, while others will pluck eyebrows, etc..

To add, schizophrenia or active psychosis are part of the differential diagnosis for trichotillomania. So in the case Sazi mentions, where, uh, there seems to be just a *bit* of psychosis going on, the hair-pulling seems like it's more consistent with her delusional thinking rather than an anxiety-related or impulse control disorder issue.

btw, that story creeped me out, Sazi. if this is a contest, you're in the lead in my book.

 

[Psyclops]

I'm not saying it's only for the eyelashes.. That’s part of the symptoms.

People who have Trichotillomania usually love the feeling when they pull. It's a pleasure pain to them. It's part of self injury if you ask me.

I think it usually considered an anxiety reuducer, and they enjoy it in that sense. I don't consider it to be related to self injury for the most part. It is avery specific type of behavior and the underlying pathology doesn't seem be the same as in cutting for example.

As for the boy who called those names out, he did not have tourettes. But I remember his diagnosis being something in the psychotic spectrum.

Read Oliver Sacks, the man who mistook his wife for a hat. It should satisfy any desire to read bisarre stories.

 

[Poety]

I wasn't going to post in this one but I guess I'll jump on in, I am afterall competing with Sazi here.

So, had a patient, would spread his buttocks apart and rub his anus against the tile wall until it would prolapse (yes, he spread his cheeks APART, and rubbed the actual HOLE)- he would report that he got sexual gratification from this and that he can't stop it. He got put on supervised showers which supposedly stopped the behavior.

He was diagnosed as Psychotic NOS - had been that way all his life (perhaps some birth injury, but he was much older at the time I saw him - late 50's)

One more: 77 year old, was molested by priests as a child, would molest the other patients on the unit and no one found out about it until much later. Always men that were around his age. He was frankly psychotic too adn would often smear his feces up and down the hallway - which just sucks for the janitorial staff 🙁

 

[Anuwolf]

Poety and Psyclops,

You both are right that both stress and anxiety is responsible for trichotillomania. It’s also a reducer, as what Psyclops mentions. Self harm however is some what related to trichotillomania, you can say it the other way around. It’s part of the symptoms in some people.

I’m not saying that everybody with trichotillomania will all self harm, just some.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001517.htm

 

[Poety]

Poety and Psyclops,

You both are right that both stress and anxiety is responsible for trichotillomania. It’s also a reducer, as what Psyclops mentions. Self harm however is some what related to trichotillomania, you can say it the other way around. It’s part of the symptoms in some people.

I’m not saying that everybody with trichotillomania will all self harm, just some.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001517.htm

I hope I'm right, I learned that in medical school on my psychiatric rotation - that would SUCK to get misinformation regarding a particular patient!

 

[Psyclops]

Self harm however is some what related to trichotillomania, you can say it the other way around. It’s part of the symptoms in some people.

I’m not saying that everybody with trichotillomania will all self harm, just some.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001517.htm

So, the fact that two things covary suggest that they might share an etiological factor(s). But, I think that this isn't the case in trichotillomania. I think that the SH that they are refering to wouldn't be the same as the SH seen in something like BPD for example.

Having worked with patients who had TTM it certainly was a surprising sight to see an 11yo kid with half a bald head.

 

[MJD503]

In the hospitals for which I have worked, any case of a patient assaulting another or staff resulted in prosecution.

That is a NO-NO at the hospital I work (state hospital) - well, they frown upon it but legally cannot tell you that you can't file charges. The police pretty much look down upon staff putting charges against patients, so I hear.

Though sometimes you wonder... Like the time an MD got multiple bones broken in 'scuffle' with a patient. He was insistent on letting this patient (in a state hospital) who was deemed unable to make decisions for himself go off ALL psych medication. When he approached the patient to tell him that he would be putting him back on meds -- he got hurt real bad.

 

[MJD503]

In short, if the patient doesn’t like something. He is simply not happy, non happy client’s means something is not being run properly.

Not to make this more off-topic but -- I have been assualted once by a patient who was having command hallucinations. He had a long history of male family members raping him and he assualted me because he thought I was going to rape him. Though I had no verbal contact with him short of "how are you today?" and "dinner is ready". How do you explain that for being unhappy and not running the unit properly?

 

[Poety]

Not to make this more off-topic but -- I have been assualted once by a patient who was having command hallucinations. He had a long history of male family members raping him and he assualted me because he thought I was going to rape him. Though I had no verbal contact with him short of "how are you today?" and "dinner is ready". How do you explain that for being unhappy and not running the unit properly?

MJ, I think Anu is a patient herself, not a medical professional.

 

[Solideliquid]

Not to make this more off-topic but -- I have been assualted once by a patient who was having command hallucinations. He had a long history of male family members raping him and he assualted me because he thought I was going to rape him. Though I had no verbal contact with him short of "how are you today?" and "dinner is ready". How do you explain that for being unhappy and not running the unit properly?

Do the laws that govern self defense cover us as physicians? Say if I KO a violent anti-social PD patient trying to violently attack me?

 

[Psyclops]

It's interesting to hear the differences in experiences when it comes to prosecution of patients. Maybe it depends on the type of hospital (private vs. state) and the state. If I remember correctly it was encouraged that we press charges.