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Mental health hospital

What recreational activities are offered in a mental heath hospital for patients to engage with in their free time?

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In the NHS one I was in there was, let me see......1 single broken volume tv.

There was only 1 bath for the whole ****ing ward too.
Original post by Sabertooth
In the NHS one I was in there was, let me see......1 single broken volume tv.

There was only 1 bath for the whole ****ing ward too.

Damn!
Reply 3
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FRS500
20
I hate to say it but mental health provision is so dire in this country that you are likely to get more if you were in prison than if you were sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

Nonces and murderers get better education and recreational pursuits if they want it... in fact they're encouraged to do so.
Original post by FRS500
I hate to say it but mental health provision is so dire in this country that you are likely to get more if you were in prison than if you were sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

Nonces and murderers get better education and recreational pursuits if they want it... in fact they're encouraged to do so.

That said the Healthcare wing in certain prisons e.g. HMP Norwich is just as appalling as some NHS Psychiatric Hospitals e.g. that described below.

Original post by Sabertooth
In the NHS one I was in there was, let me see......1 single broken volume tv.

There was only 1 bath for the whole ****ing ward too.
Reply 5
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Ellie121
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Original post by Sabertooth
In the NHS one I was in there was, let me see......1 single broken volume tv.

There was only 1 bath for the whole ****ing ward too.

Thank you for sharing your experience- it definitely sounds like there was pretty much nothing to do when you had free time. I’m wondering if there’s anything you would’ve liked to have been facilitated/ organised ( that is feasible taking into account any safety measures necessary) e.g. like board games etc?
Reply 6
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Ellie121
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Original post by FRS500
I hate to say it but mental health provision is so dire in this country that you are likely to get more if you were in prison than if you were sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

Nonces and murderers get better education and recreational pursuits if they want it... in fact they're encouraged to do so.

It definitely seems like a number of people agree with your account/understanding of the inpatient mental health facilities. Would you have any ideas of what recreational activities could potentially be offered to patients to do during the things they aren’t in therapy sessions?
Reply 7
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FRS500
20
Original post by CletusPotter
That said the Healthcare wing in certain prisons e.g. HMP Norwich is just as appalling as some NHS Psychiatric Hospitals e.g. that described below.


Honestly, this country is such a disgrace. We barely look after those who are able and active, let alone the vulnerable.

They have no chance
Reply 8
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FRS500
20
Original post by Ellie121
It definitely seems like a number of people agree with your account/understanding of the inpatient mental health facilities. Would you have any ideas of what recreational activities could potentially be offered to patients to do during the things they aren’t in therapy sessions?

I've never been a patient but I've worked with MH patients before though and can confidently tell you nothing.

You mostly watch television tbh. You won't really do much else, especially if you're on an admissions/PICU ward. There's usually an activity room for you to do 'stuff' of your own accord.

If you're really really really lucky there may be a gym. I've never come across one with a gym though.
Pre-cvoid - over a course of a week: coffee and newspaper group, community meeting, some art stuff and then ofc TV, which, as @Sabertooth says is crap. Often the remote will go missing, there was once a stretch of a 5 day period where it was stuck on BBC 24/7 (including nights) because someone stole the remote.

No idea what it's like now, my understanding is all activities have to be ward based (no OT like cooking groups or gyms - if they even offered this before) to stop the spread
Reply 10
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Ellie121
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Original post by FRS500
I've never been a patient but I've worked with MH patients before though and can confidently tell you nothing.

You mostly watch television tbh. You won't really do much else, especially if you're on an admissions/PICU ward. There's usually an activity room for you to do 'stuff' of your own accord.

If you're really really really lucky there may be a gym. I've never come across one with a gym though.

thank you for your input! I currently got a job as a healthcare assistant at a mental health hospital supporting those with schizophrenia and personality disorders, and the manager is really keen on providing more activities during the day that can be supervised and just as something to do. Currently, like you mentioned, at the place I work there really isn’t much for individuals to do- a large number of them tend to just sit there until it’s time for medication or a therapy group or a meal. Even as a staff member sometimes it can be boring, so I can’t imagine what it’s like for a patient who has the same routine every day ( whilst always working to recover and cope). We do have a small gym at ours, which some of the patients really do enjoy using as well as a large garden area that they’ll take walks around and can play like football if they’d like. I was just wondering what other activities individuals may enjoy and what could be facilitated
Reply 11
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Ellie121
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Original post by Noodlzzz
Pre-cvoid - over a course of a week: coffee and newspaper group, community meeting, some art stuff and then ofc TV, which, as @Sabertooth says is crap. Often the remote will go missing, there was once a stretch of a 5 day period where it was stuck on BBC 24/7 (including nights) because someone stole the remote.

No idea what it's like now, my understanding is all activities have to be ward based (no OT like cooking groups or gyms - if they even offered this before) to stop the spread

At where I’m working now ( just recently employed), it seems like there’s very little for patients to do during the day and tend to just sleep or sit in the lounge with very little communication or things to do. To be honest, it seems like compared to some other places we do offer more than most places, but it still seems like a lot more could be offered especially when interpersonal skills and the ability to mentalise is something that is lacking in the individuals where I work ( personality disorders and a schizophrenia) so I think it would be good to have activities to encourage them to learn skills, enjoy themselves ( to some degree, as much as you can in a given moment) and utilise the skills they learn in therapy
Original post by Ellie121
Thank you for sharing your experience- it definitely sounds like there was pretty much nothing to do when you had free time. I’m wondering if there’s anything you would’ve liked to have been facilitated/ organised ( that is feasible taking into account any safety measures necessary) e.g. like board games etc?


I would've ****ing loved a shower. Not just 1 bath between 20 people.

I've been in other hospitals; 1 which was worse than the NHS one and others which were significantly better. I really enjoyed playing board games (jenga (fun with the antipsychotic shakes!) and connect 4) but I think monopoly or something like that would have been way more than I could manage. There were some books in the non-NHS hospitals; they were a little too hard for me, but comics would have been appreciated. Group games related to mental health were surprisingly beneficial: I remember playing mental health bingo :tongue: Drawing/painting would be fun: the NHS hospital had an "art room" which was always locked. When a close friend of mine was in hospital, she had access to a computer for like 20 minutes a day, that would've been fantastic although probably not feasible for most hospitals. Even just group therapy would have been nice, didn't have that either. TV with volume that worked so I could hear it.
There's a big difference between paeds and adult services. Adult are far worse - not only is there less money, the patient population is also generally more... symptomatic.

Even with money there are many things that would not be possible. In most general adult wards anything sharp or that can be broken into something sharp is out - pens pencils anything glass etc. Board games won't be much of a success - most patients are not capable of that and everything will get rapidly lost. Even things like TVs get broken quickly as observed above.

Actually violent people will not be on a normal psych ward but unpredictable and occasionally aggressive people will be, especially on female wards (males are physically more dangerous so their aggression is taken more seriously) and that must surely be incredibly stressful.

Not nice places to be.
(edited 3 years ago)
well im in america and i've been to one one time.
i guess tv and making slime (netflix)
Original post by Sabertooth
In the NHS one I was in there was, let me see......1 single broken volume tv.

There was only 1 bath for the whole ****ing ward too.

that's crazy! :/ we had a bath in our rooms. we had rooms to ourselves.
Original post by Vanessa Chuah
that's crazy! :/ we had a bath in our rooms. we had rooms to ourselves.

I've been to three hospitals in the US. One was like a prison: I had to spend literally 22 hours a day in my [shared with 2 other people] room. But yes, the room did have a shower and toilet attached. There was no tv just some readers' digests to read and that was it. I was allowed out of my room to eat, take meds (which they didn't have the ones I was on for 2 days) and make one 5 minute phonecall to my spouse once a day. This was a state run facility - 85% of the people were homeless.

The other two US hospitals were private and compared to ^ and the NHS almost like holiday camps.
Original post by Sabertooth
I've been to three hospitals in the US. One was like a prison: I had to spend literally 22 hours a day in my [shared with 2 other people] room. But yes, the room did have a shower and toilet attached. There was no tv just some readers' digests to read and that was it. I was allowed out of my room to eat, take meds (which they didn't have the ones I was on for 2 days) and make one 5 minute phonecall to my spouse once a day. This was a state run facility - 85% of the people were homeless.

The other two US hospitals were private and compared to ^ and the NHS almost like holiday camps.

wow that's crazy. we were aloud to get out any time we wanted.(out of our rooms) as long as it's not past 9:30. and with the phones we were aloud to call as long as our unit was in the unit. so yeahhh.
Original post by Vanessa Chuah
wow that's crazy. we were aloud to get out any time we wanted.(out of our rooms) as long as it's not past 9:30. and with the phones we were aloud to call as long as our unit was in the unit. so yeahhh.

Were you in a adult hospital?

I don't know where in the US you live but I live in the south so the already underfunded state mental health services are even more so than elsewhere.
Original post by Sabertooth
Were you in a adult hospital?

I don't know where in the US you live but I live in the south so the already underfunded state mental health services are even more so than elsewhere.

no i was in the pediatric wing. i live in the south as well. i live in VA. this happened actually on june 6th of 2020. and i stayed there for 6 days. and it was my first time.

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