My Experience with Forced Medication
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- Опубликовано: 7 май 2024
- Forced medication is also known as forced drugging, involuntary treatment or assisted treatment. In this video I share my own experience with forced medication. I share why it's controversial, the ethics of involuntary treatment, and what my opinion on the matter is.
Time Stamps:
00:00 - Introduction
01:08 - What is forced medication / involuntary treatment / assisted treatment
02:48 - My experience with forced medication
10:45 - Coercion and threat of community treatment orders
15:36 - Surviving Schizophrenia book - proponent studies
17:34 - The ethics of involuntary treatment
19:31 - My position on involuntary treatment
22:05 - Conflicts of interest around involuntary treatment
23:23 - Self advocacy
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On the other hand family members are watching a loved one spiral down until they are one minute from living on the streets as a bag lady or man .Not sleeping at night trying to think of a way to make them see they are ill and ask for help, living in a delusion with a boyfriend that does not exist spending every penny they have in expensive hotels, laughing and talking to themselves, not knowing if they can see you as an alien or yourself all the while the world is going about its normal business and you have no way of helping until they have medication to stop them being afraid of their own shadow. I have read of people cutting bits of their body off in psychosis or harming someone else because they have hallucinations. Until the cause of schizophrenia is discovered medication is the only answer. The bravery of schizophrenics is to be admired The cause and then the cure must be found one day, I pray that day comes soon. God bless you and keep you safe and well and thank you for educating us on this dreadful disease which is a living hell for relatives too.
@@lsteph1000I believe in alternate timelines
I was a victim of domestic violence, and because I refused the ambulance & going to the hospital; They said I was a danger to myself, because he almost murdered me, & I did not want their help.
They tied me down at my wrist, my ankles and my belly. They administered one shot in the left arm and one shot in the right arm.
Mind you… NOT KNOWING if I’m allergic to those meds…
I refused to give them blood urine, CAT scan, MRI, and x-ray
The next thing I know I’m waking up two hours later & they did a CAT scan MRI and x-rays and took my blood inserted a catheter in me and took my urine WITHOUT my consent!
My ex-husband put a gun to my head knife to my throat, held me down shot me up with heroin put my head through a wall, broke my shoulder and raped me with a metal rod. They did everything to me that he did.. with the exception of the rape
I was not suicidal until they put me in a room with glass doors, and I had to ask permission to go to the bathroom. That’s when I became suicidal, but they did not know that I was very dangerous to myself!
my attorney finally got me out, I have not stopped thinking about suicide since that happened to me.
ECU NORTH CAROLINA
EDIT:
I’ve needed to go to the hospital and I still do but I refuse and I had my doctor finally sign my DNR because I’m done and if anybody tries to resuscitate me I’ll have their job and put them in the unemployment line with a lawsuit
That’s what a 5150 did to me
My cousin was very scared to go back to a mental hospital and I believe it’s the reason he attempted suicide. He’s still in the ICU after 25 days and will never be the same. Mental hospitals need to do everything possible to make the stay a welcoming enjoyable experience because when people having a psychotic break are too scared to go back to a mental hospital, they don’t have other options. Mental hospitals should feel like a safe haven, an oasis of healing, to people with schizophrenia or anyone having a difficult time.
Just the fact that you had six men come at you and strip you of your clothes demonstrates that they DO NOT care about the well-being of the patient. They are there to control and for their own personal indulgences. I have no doubt that a lot of sexual abuse and degradation occurs in these settings in which one holds total authority and agency over another. One would hope and expect that the mental health community understands the damage that they are doing by terrorizing people this way. No one in his right mind should not be able to recognize that they are doing greater harm. They should do better if they care, but they don't care.
I agree this is such a flagrant abuse of power...Very sad to hear.Should be stopped.
I just cannot understand why her clothing was basically violently removed. You're already medicating someone so what will they possibly be able to do with their clothing if they're basically unconscious. They're just further hurting the people they are supposed to help by traumatizing them.
Staff have a lot of discretion when it comes to “mental health emergencies”. If we are cynical and blunt, an attractive woman who pisses off a nurse or another member of staff might very well be “punished” by being forcibly stripped of her clothing - including her undergarments - by large, burly men. And if she wants to press charges against the hospital - well, may God (or whatever other higher power) help her.
Flagrant sexual abuse and they probably got off on it; which of courts they will VEHEMENTLY deny. Lying liars who lie.
Wow okay, there is a lot of paranoia in here, even though I experience some of the same fears from an anxiety disorder and a history of sexual abuse. I would definitely be very concerned about being left sexually vulnerable in a situation like this, but there are lots of way to stop this kind of abuse from happening: cameras in the rooms, etc. I can't condone this kind of paranoid treatment refusal justification. If there are no cameras, I would not feel safe in the facility, for certain, but if they are there that would make me feel safer. Try to remember not everyone wants to hurt you okay? Every one of these comments has a vibe like the whole world is out to get you.
Thoughts:
1. Mental health institutions are terrifying. I was self commited for being suicidal and I had an awful experience as well.
2.I think most people assume that someone in the throws of psychosis is past the point of reasoning with, so they don't try.
3. I think part of the way they just force medicate is because psychosis (depending on the person) can look absolutely terrifying and so the gut reaction is just to force medicate what is perceived as a threat.
Hope things are better :)
My involuntary commitment and forced medication was the most traumatic experience of my life. I have PTSD and agoraphobia from it. Could someone have reasoned with me and talked me out of it? If there had been more time and people who were willing to help available could I have been spared the extreme indignity of forced treatment? These questions will haunt me forever.
The use of Emergency Aid is about as far as the medical system has gotten when dealing with a psychiatric crisis. Being in crisis is normal for psychiatric patients so when the system begins to use its protocol the situation escalates to the point where the logic is to stall the crisis. So that is done with the use of the drug companies' footprint on the butt of the Emergency Care and psychiatric care in medicine.
Changing the protocol to encourage discussion and have money for programs to teach people how to talk to psychiatric patients is something that CMHA should do and become activists about but CMHA is for administration only.
@@jacquelineleitch7050 That is what needs to happen. The money and training needs to go to training medical professionals how to de escalate a psychotic individual.
@@jacquelineleitch7050 My brother in law was able to talk me down at one point. He's very intelligent and patient. I still ended up in the psych ward with forced injections of antipsychotics. If there were more people like my brother in law it would greatly benefit patients.
Y’all are absolutely disgusting me with the amount of justification for stripping her naked. There is NO excuse. Do not tell me it’s for “safety” to brutalize her. These things happen because society and the medical system do not see these patients as people worthy or respect. Ableism is simple.
I'm still in shock that so-called "caring medical professionals" would ever advocate for this barbaric, violent treatment of patients. I really don't know who to trust anymore, if people who claim to help you will hurt you in the worst of ways...
Yes what happen with giving a shot in the arm ?? It doesn’t have to be the butt .
Yeah, you're right Bee Bees.
If this lady was stripped naked in when she was forced to take psychotropic medication, This was an act of SEXUAL VIOLENCE.
There's never any "medical justification" for such behavior.
The people who did This a sex offenders.
Period.
I am a physician (although not a psychiatrist): I am watching and learning from your experience. I am so positively impressed by every single video you create and your articulate perspective offers healthcare professionals such an insightful look into the mind of a person with schizophrenia. You should be extremely proud of your work, Lauren: you are having such a positive impact on so many lives. Keep up the outstanding work! I wish you and your loved ones good health
Please, check out the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Maybe you can become a functional medicine doctor and begin helping by making suggestions to advise her.
I'm so glad that you are watching Lauren's video and your praise of her work is perfect.
ruclips.net/video/55NpfNzdwMY/видео.html
Why should you need someone to tell you not to violate patients? Would you like to have your clothes stripped, be thrown on a bed, and have an unknown injection forced on you? I thought not. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." is not all that complicated a concept for anyone with the slightest bit of compassion.
Possibly u do u job. Otherwise i mistrust all doctors. I did 22 years
Doctors nurses guards enjoy tortured against my innocent person. So if u an innocent doctors. U should help stop dangerous doctors please?
I have been through acute forced medication in the hospital too, it left me more suicidal, angry and totally traumatized. I had nightmares and flashbacks for weeks afterwards.
So sorry to hear you went through this. 💕
Your experience, unfortunately, is far from uncommon. There are several recent studies that have been published in prestigious scientific journals that suggest that inpatient treatment itself may cause great trauma, to the point of driving patients towards suicide.
When I was in the hospital voluntarily for a depressive episode, I witnessed patients with psychosis being force medicated. One man, who was just a bit older than me, was under legal order to be injected with antipsychotics. He started screaming when the nurses explained he had to take the medicine. A security guard was called. Me and the other patients were asked to go into our rooms. But as they wrestled him down to the floor, he wound up kicking my door open. I went to the door to see what was going on. There, I saw him held down by multiple nurses, injected with a tranquilizer, strapped down, and injected with the medication, while screaming and pleading for them not to do it. It was traumatic to watch, so I cannot imagine how awful it was to experience. The fact that they did this out int the open was horrible. My heart went out to him and his family. His family was trying to do the right thing, but in those situations it is hard to know what the right thing is...
But did you actually see what paranoid schizophrenic behavior they were preventing? I think this is a lot like vaccination hate, like have you ever seen polio? No? It might be worse than the other thing, just saying.
This is kidnaping and assault, it cries out for justice to heaven. Gods commandment is to say clear headed. You need a clear head and healthy brain to be well. These drugs cause brain damage, they block dopamine and serotonin that you need to feel good and be healthy.
If we refuse we will not be responsible for the damage these drugs and procedures cause.
The authorities who are paying for these things will be held accountable if they do not convert.
All life is equal before God.
Those authorities if it would be done to them then they would know that it is wrong.
And the cops who catch these people if they escape and bring them back to those who assault them and damage their bodies permanently or even kill, without questioning what is going on in those institutions, they are participating in the crime.
They can have one unit for private insurance patients that they let go, and another unit for forced holds paid by the government.
The second group are not allowed to have any visitors ever, not even family.
Sounds very fishy to me. I called the news asking to investigate what is done to these people and the guy on the phone told me " I have to run
and hung up the phone " This is how much the public will know about it from the news so far.
I called the hospital trying to make a scheduled visit with a family member that has requested my visit but was rejected and was
yelled at and send to the security guard because I tried to arrange the visit.
I called the hospital again and said that I have a visit scheduled and needed to know what I can bring, the guy on the phone said
" how did you managed to do that " It
It proves these people are not allowed to have any visitors ever !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is criminal and proves that something is going on there that is bad.
People should not be jumped and injected with drugs and forced to eat, this is not right.
Keep away from MH
I'm really appreciative that you addressed the coercion involved in treatment and the dynamics that violate trust and basic human rights for people already going through a harder time than most.
I’ve experienced very similar circumstances in the hospital. It’s absolutely traumatic. Nurses have held me down and given me medication against my will. They also screamed at me, called me names, and dragged me across the floor. I had nightmares and flashbacks to the incident for weeks. They made things so much worse than it needed to be. I was pulling myself out of a psychotic episode that was triggered by a fire alarm. But the staff refused to just leave me the heck alone. I wasn’t hurting anyone, I believe they should have just left me alone. I have a lot of trust problems in the first place but after that happened I really had trust problems. And on top of that I was taking my meds, I was being compliant, I went to the hospital voluntarily (never did that again) and I participated in treatment. They made me feel like I was a burden for having symptoms. I will never forget how this staff treated me. I reported this to the director of the hospital because it was absolutely inappropriate. Thank you for sharing this video, and bringing attention to this issue.
Jocee Sevilla Unfortunately, your experience is extremely, extremely common. :(
As terrible as this is it's pretty common. Especially with minors in residential treatment centers.
If it EVER happens again reporting it to the hospital is absolutely useless you are wasting your breath. Contact the IDFPR immediately and file a report a federal investigator will call you and has the power to take the doctor’s license away and put people in prison. Take a look under the key words “I am under investigation by the IDFPR” to find out what an absolute threat they are to doctors and nursing staff. Hospitals will not tell you about this federal agency to report to because it is a huge threat to them. Tell others.
The director of the hospital is the one organizing this abuse.
Two months ago I had a manic episode, and was taken to the hospital via EMSA. I was changed hands three times, so no one in the emergency room was anyone I knew. I kept saying things, anything to try to get someone to respond. In a room full of people, no one did, so I got louder, hoping someone would hear me and respond.
Instead 4 men rushed in and pinned me down to the bed, one on each of my shoulders, and one on each of my ankles. I wanted up. I yelled “FIRETRUCK” because I was stuck in my past where firetruck = up (long story)
Out of my peripheral I saw a man in blue scrubs with a blue needle. I yelled “I don’t know what that is! I DONT WANT IT” only for him to inject me.
No one said anything to me. I was scared and confused and no one told me that I was safe. I was only met with cruelty and deafening silence.
The only person who said anything to me that entire time was a nurse who put “fall risk” around my wrist. I said “you won’t abandon me, because you always double check the buddy system” and she repeated it back to me.
That was it. There wasn’t any comfort. No one I knew was there. I don’t remember anything other than just being in a room with one person left who wouldn’t respond.
I still have flashbacks two months later
As a new mental health nurse I really appreciate you sharing your point of view on your hospital experiences. You’ve helped me better understand the patient’s point of view. Thank you for that!! 🙂
@S W Quiet down
ruclips.net/video/55NpfNzdwMY/видео.html
@@evelyng3889 the medications are not addictive. why would you use a word addictive to describe the meds your son takes. does your son crave the medications? thats what addiction is. withdraw symptoms do not denote addiction. you want to say something bad about those meds so you use words like addictive. addiction is not always a negative thing. theres positive addictions too.
@@evelyng3889 i take lorazapam, yes these have withdraw symptoms. i take a slew of those meds. but the thing is they arent addictive. not even habit forming either. just because something has withdraw side effects doesnt mean its addictive. they dont even get you high.
@@evelyng3889 diazapam is a benzodiazapine. im sorry i mixed up i take lorazadone. benzos are addictive but atypicals, ssri's arent addictive. you only take benzos if you have severe anxiety. does your son take benzos? not for being autistic. benzos get you high but others do not.
I have experienced to be subdued with forced injections and are extremely traumatised by those assaults.
I was diagnosed with schizophrenia but really I from C-PTSD and those experiences destroyed any chance of having a therapeutic collaboration.
It happened 20 years ago in a big asylum in Denmark but still I need help to deal with the traumas of forced treatment.
Lauren expresses her self very eloquently on the subject.
Great video Thank You.
I was misdiagnosed as having a mental illness and I actually had a life-threatening heart problem causing all of my symptoms mimicking mental illness/psychosis. Nobody cared about anything but drugging me and drugging me and drugging me. I almost died. I have the means to sue for malpractice and I plan on doing it. I know how this feels and I am so sorry you had this happen to you too. You are very articulate for having a diagnosis like Schizophrenia. I hope they gave you invasive testing on your heart and brain before they diagnosed you. A cardiac MRI, stress test, halter monitor, all of it. EEG's, etc.. I was having hallucinations, hearing voices, had seizures, passing out, they all thought i was faking it. Nobody checked me physically before giving me this diagnosis. It isn't right. The way they hospitalize people is wrong. Completely! Just like with drug addicts if the government/state wants to stop enforcing the law with addicts then this needs to apply to more compassion and better approach and laws when it comes to hospitalizations for the mentally ill. If you were truly incompetent you couldn't make it through a video like this.... let alone the tons of videos you have done as a whole on your channel. I would get a lawyer and fight against this. I don't think it's fair or right. :(
Maren Grau - Please, please, please sue the hospital and the clinicians involved for malpractice. Unfortunately, lawsuits for cases like this are rarely filed - and hospitals continue to abuse patients and violate their rights, with minimal consequences. Perusing a lawsuit will be stressful and daunting, but I promise you, that it will be worth it. The people who caused you suffering and actual harm deserve to suffer just as much as they made you suffer. Please sue/press criminal charges/ do everything - not just for yourself, but for the sake of everyone who similarly suffered, who might not be able to pursue a lawsuit, because the statute of limitations on their case has expired.
@@j.h.miretskay3430 :/ You get that what she is saying is likely a delusion, right? A life-threatening heart problem that causes hallucinations?
What heart problems did you have?I think this is happening to my family member.
RUclips: *Jake Paul putting literal p0rn stars in his video* NICE!
RUclips: *LWWS literally trying to educate the masses on a misunderstood disorder* Idk man looks sus
Evidence #348 of how RUclipss policies and decisions are geared toward cashflow not actually keeping everything above board 👌
You hit the nail on the head in this video Lauren. There should be more talking therapy first before resorting to forced meds.
Here in the UK adult psych wards in the NHS do not have any psychologists or therapists which I think is a massive error. They have them in adolescent wards but not adult wards, so staff dealing with the admission of an unwell adult, are far too eager to administer meds by injection to calm a patient down to ease their workload and keep the patient from harming themselves, rather than take the time as you suggested to sit and talk calmly to them as a first option.
I find it most upsetting that patients have literally got no access to any trained professional for talking therapy and meds are always seen as the best option when in fact talking and being heard would help most of the patients who could then probably agree on which meds to take to help them.
All I hear about the NHS is horror stories.
The conversation between psychology and psychologists and medicine and psychiatrists is past due.
I might depend on the country but psychiatrists are supposed to be trained in psychotherapy.
Psychiatrists are not trained in psychotherapy, or they may have some smattering of Freud with an adjunct of Jung -- at best. They are given some basic psychology and the license to use their med degree to prescribe drugs. In order to graduate they do not need to show any creativity, access to philosophy and any great knowledge of art and literature that are the benefactors of a psychotherapist. Indeed there is only one school in Canada that offers psychotherapy and that is the U of T. You will not find it filled with psychiatry students. You will find it filled with lit, social work and philosophy majors.
What you get with a psychiatrist is a lottery. And the likelihood of being enmeshed with higher class system clients and patronizing to lower class system clients is massive. Furthermore psychologists are unavailable to the general public in that we can no longer afford their fees as they are all being paid exorbitant fees by the courts for court-ordered therapy.
It's a mess and as per usual mentally ill seldom benefit from any interest in mental health. Lol
Jacquie Leitch I understand your critique but in my country a psychiatrist has either to be trained in CBT, psychoanalysis or psychodynamic psychotherapy and it happens at a institut independent from any clinic. There are specialized physicians who solely work as a psychotherapist. I still feel that a physician-psychotherapist has a different background than a psychologist-psychotherapist but I think it should not be the rule that the physician is only the „pill doctor“, it would dissatisfy me.
First of all, I want to say how incredible you are for being able to speak on this topic. Thank you. I witnessed forced medication during my most recent stay in the hospital. I ended up in the “medical” psych ward due to lack of beds and was with elderly patients and patients with severe mental disabilities. Almost all of the elderly women were given “the shot” at some stage. It was horrible. The conditions were horrible and this was considered the best behavioral health department in my area. Without rambling on, I cant imagine having my rights violated that way. Thank you again for spreading your story and knowledge.
This is going to sound very harsh.
My mom is right now in the hospital being forced medicated in the same way you described in the video, she also I having ECT sessions and it's all just awful.
Yet I am not advocating to eliminate force medication and here is why based at least on my own experience:
My Mom does not think or believe in any way that she is sick but on the contrary, her family and everyone are trying to make her crazy, we tried convincing her that she is sick and her delusions are not real for over 10 years now and it has come to the point where she is hurting her self and others for over 5 years. No psychiatrist or doctor or family or a friend was able to convince her.
So please Anybody tell me how can you convince someone who thinks you trying to make him crazy that they are sick? it's kind of like Lauren were she thinks that the medication is poison how in the world could she accept taking poison?
My mom had Schizophernia for 15 years now, and we tried everything and nothing works it's like convening you right now that this comment does not exist! only threat sometimes that she will be hospitalized helps to make her take medications but even that fails and she runs away and we fear that she could be lost forever doing something that will harm her self or others.
I hate force medications and hospitalization but for me it's either she harms her self or others "This ranges from suicide to actually killing people she thinks they are spying on her and want to harm her" or forcingly hospitalizing and medicating her to the point she kinda becomes stable again.
PS: For people thinking we are just taking the easy route here, we don't have police to take her to the hospital like you in the US, My Family and I had to do this our selves by lying to her and medicating her and forcingly take her to the hospital while she is seeing us, fighting us, and screaming to the top of her lungs. And to see the fear & the look of betrayal she is giving us with all the horrible things she is saying.
You can imagine how traumatizing this is, and in no way that's the easy route!
and by no means we blame her because we know it's out of her control and its the sickness which is causing all this.
I am sorry for this long comment but I wanted to show that there are cases that need force medication and not all cases are the same.
I hope you all well.
I think you're missing some of her points. She's not saying she doesn't think there are situations in which forced medication is necessary, but that the way in which it's enforced can be much more harmful than it should be. Also, I'm new here, but she sounds like she has a Canadian accent- she may not be from the US- but that's just a guess.
I wish you and your family well. I think Lauren would support treatment in this situation and, assuming all treatments have been offered and tried, involuntary medications to prevent your mom harming herself or others is, perhaps, necessary. That said, she should be offered alternatives and provided as much support in making her own decisions as she can be. It may be painful to watch her delusions, but that alone shouldn't guide action. A person in severe, chronic, pain still has the right to refuse pain relief medicines regardless.of how difficult to it is for loved ones to deal with it. It is an important and nuanced conversation.
I have schizoaffective disorder and had to be taken down, injected, and tied to a gurney bed too.
It sucks but I now realize that I wasn’t well and didn’t want to take medication at the time.
I was also hurting myself and my family. It had to be done and forced medication often is given as a last resort. I am stable now and taking my meds.
It took me much suffering and many years to accept that I do truly need medication
We’re going through the same thing with my mother in law right now. She will not take her medication & claims that she is not sick anymore. Clearly she is not well at all it’s coming to the point where I have to sneak her medication. But she still needs her monthly shot. I don’t know what to do .
My uncle is the same way. Divas is it their right to harm themselves and others? Because when it gets to that point I think people need to be stopped and medicated.
I was admitted during an acute phase and hadnt slept for 3 days, i thought everyone was an alien and was terrified, the nurse/alien offered me something to help me sleep and was told i have to lay on a bed because its gonna make me dizzy. I was givin a large dose of IV thorazine. I fell asleep and when i woke up i was much better and agreed to another dose, by day 3 i was on oral thorazine and zyprexa, 2 weeks later i was diacharged and havent looked back.
Your new haircut looks very nice by the way :-)
Now medication helped you.
You are the proof.
And you were compliant.
Well done.
Good example for others to learn from.
HILARY ADELE , i still have the occasional episode, when this happens we up my zyprexa from 10mg to 30mg for the length of the episode, i usually recover within a few weeks, then we drop the zyprexa back to 10mg, and im on 400mg of thorazine daily year. Im compliant with my meds and ask for help when i need it, since starting this combo i havent been hospitalised in several years. Compliance is critical, but some people may believe that theyr being poisened or something similar, in these cases, an IM dose of zyprexa may be administered without the persons consent, when the drug kicks in, the patient may come compliant, its not always the case though.
I agree with you 100% with being injected with zyprexa or something similar when your having an episode. Its hard to explain to people who have never been thru it? It brings you back to reality quickly before something bad happens. Apart from some weight gain from zyprexa ive had very little side effects. Currently on 5mg zyprexa/500mg thorazine. No dramas so far and havent been admitted to hospital in a long time :-)
My problem is MHMR tells me they need blood tests twice a year so will that check if I’m taking the meds cause I’m detoxing & I don’t want them to find out
@@hilaryadele662 Complaint=obedient to authority. So much for democracy and human rights.
I was in the ICU with pneumonia. I have severe anxiety and PTSD especially around medical situations. I was in a horrible panic attack and no matter how I tried to explain how things were going wrong the hospital didn't understand. Eventually the Dr screamed, "If you don't calm down I will sedated you!" I finally had hope. I said, "Please do. You have a job to do and you refuse to give me anxiety medication so please sedate me." He was shocked and started to understand. I still ended up sedated but I got my anxiety medication from then out. My friend Nathan had it much worse. He was schizophrenic and I can't count the number of times he was strapped down and forced on a ton of meds that weren't helpful at all. I'm absolutely against forced medication.
Iam againest them as well.
These could just be experimentations on human flesh just like in the old days.
I agree with you, compassion and empathy are required. Trust can't be had for those that dehumanize those who are in need.
I absolutely agree, these things are incredibly important, and will make it easier and smoother, if slower, but I think force will still sometimes be required because of the nature of paranoia- by definition you tend to see threats where there are none, and you can't help it. Gaining trust is so much harder with someone who is paranoid. Even a family member who you trust with your life, in that moment, you might see as a threat.
Forced medication when I was given Droperidol and Ketamine against my will was one of the worst experiences of my life.
Know this - if your human rights are EVER violated again when you get home immediately go online and file a report with the IDFPR as I did by instructions of an attorney. A federal investigator will look into the matter they are on your side and are NOT the friends of the doctors or nursing staff. What I did was deliberately set my doctor to record fraudulent medical records which is a federal crime. I did not tell him anything to lead him on he wrote his conclusions based on his own ego. Everyday what he thought was happening was that I was taking his forced medication but in reality the whole time I’d go back to my room spit it out and flush it down the toilet. I said nothing when he’d come to see me other than physical ailments like I was dizzy had blurred vision and vomiting and headaches (which I was having due to the stress of his abuse) but he only recorded things he wished were having saying “your improving on the medication “ and “the patient is now stable” it was mere ego and fantasy on his part (shows that all psychiatry is just a scam) anywho I allowed this to continue for three months. As soon as I got out I contacted the IDFPR and immediately got a call from a federal investigator who asked permission to gain access to my medical records since my doctor denied the feds access, of course I signed for it right away. Currently my doctors medical license is under threat of being taken away and he is being brought to trial for treating a medical condition that did not exist and Medicare fraud. Yes I knew what I was doing from the beginning. Yes I’m taking his life away for taking mine. No I don’t feel guilty if anything I feel liberated. Yes I will do it again and teach others. Tell the others. If you want to get a perspective of the level of hell that I just brought down upon this psychiatrist look up online what “being investigated by the IDFPR” really is. I just put him in a world of hurt. 😃
That sounds absolutely terrifying. Our medical system treats people with mental illness like wild animals that stumbled into the middle of a city.
I can’t help but feel like they don’t actually care about the people they are treating. They just want to get everyone in and out as fast as possible even if the method that gets everyone through the fastest actually causes harm.
Wild animals deserve better treatment and people who can talk them down as well.
Jacquie Leitch oh I agree with that. Unfortunately most cities don’t seem to know how to (or don’t want to) handle wild animals and resort to unnecessarily killing them when it’s usually peoples fault in the first place.
Safly. With non compliant patients I think I don't know.. I just imagine it could be that way... Shortage of staff and money.. To play the game with those who are being completely irrational. And refusing treatment that could help them.
There is always two ways to look at things. All sides have validity...
However everyone is human and has a limit on toleration. I think mental health workers are amazing to even choose to do that job.. As it is full of uncertainty and danger in each moment that thry are at work.
They're doing it to make money, and they choose you because you're vulnerable, less patients is bad for business.
I find the nurses in the hospitals are only there for a pay check and shouldn’t be nurses cause they lack compassion. Especially you nurses at Brampton Civic Hospital in Brampton Ontario Canada 🇨🇦.
When I had my first "psychosis" last year I unfortunatelly ran into the police and was hospitalized against my will and without even realizing what was happening to me. In the mental hospital I was immediatelly put into the isolation ward and also coerced into medication or medicated by force.
My memory on that hospitalization is rather fractured, but I remember that I felt trapped like an animal and the medical personel didn't exactly explain the situation to me. It took me three days to have a judge release me and also I had to inform my mother so she could validate my identity which made the situation even more problematic in this instance.
This incident set of literally an avalanche of events where I was repeatedly hospitalized by force and also medicated against my will or frightened into taking it across a span of three months.
Imagine you never had a psychosis and then experience all of this and have to somehow make sense of this new reality, while your life is literally falling apart around you.
The worst part of it was really being strapped to a bed and left alone for hours while you scream against a glass window where the medical personel sits doing nothing to comfort or release you. When I asked to be released so I could go to the toilet, the nurse put a bottle between my legs and led me lay like this.
By the end of the process I mostly gave in to the medical treatment, because I was afraid I would never get out of this spiral again and I clearly told the doctor that I think I have developed PTSD from all of these experiences, also that the medications (Haldol, Diacepam, Risperidol) are making me feel like an emotionless robot (which is really debilitating if you're an actor) and that I can feel how I'm spiralling into depression. The doctors explained to me that post psychotic depression is frequent, but I'd argue that the depression was mostly due to what just happened to me.
Afterwards I spiralled into deep depression with suicidal intrusive thought, which I only got out of this June, but unfortunatelly I spiralled right back into "psychosis" and was hospitalized twice more but refused any medication this time and also didn't stay in the hospital.
All of these instances of "Psychosises" lasted for hours at best where I was really out of controll. The most time I could still be talked and reasoned with or at least follow commands to not worsen my own situation (especially with the police).
I should specify that I use the term psychosis very sceptically. I definetly had a mix of religeous, mystical and "Video Game/Anime" Ideations among other things, which I was testing out. The thing is I cant really say that any of these were completely false or hallucinations, because during these two seperate timeperiods and especially in the second one situations would arise where people would either pick up on things that I thought were going on but did not verbalize or I would literally get into situations that were flat out "wtf did just happen" and it happened with such a frequency that I cannot believe that it were just coincidences.
As for Hallucinations, I might have had some auditory hallucinations, but the way i perceived them is nothing like what I found researching the matter. It was never "disembodied voices" that came from nowhere, but always coming from people that were actually present in the moment with me saying extremely strange or ominous things. One time I ran into a homeless lady in the middle of the night who was warning me that people are out to murder me, which happened shortly after someone beat the peephole of my appartments door. I stayed with her for at least 30 minutes helping her to move her shopping trolley while she was uttering ominous stuff as if she was giving coded commands into the thin air and also performed voodoo magic. Eventually I left the situation and just went home.
I was repeatedly assaulted and threatened afterwards and also weird situations like this one kept happening from june 10th until early august.
I could go on for ages on all the specific experiences that I made during the last year, because I remember a lot of it in broad detail, but given the weirdness of all of these it definetly makes me question how much of it was due to "Psychosis" or if there was actually some higher powers at play or if my own madness attracted all of these situations.
I should maybe specify that I am a Queer Artist/Actor living in Berlin and attracting weird situations has been frequently happening to me since highschool which was long before I experimented with drugs and also long before all of this Mental Health Madness. It's extremely difficult for me to differentiate and make sense of this experiance meaning that I cant really tell where my generally crazy identity, my actors background and this new pathological experience intersect and how they might influence each other...
If you're trained in "Make belief" and "assuming other identities" and "pretending magical powers, etc.", where does all of these stop and where does "Out of controll Psychosis" even begin, while im still aware of the situation?
PS. I know that Paranoia is also a frequent symptom of Psychosis, but its not Paranoia if you frequently end up the center of adversity and backstabbery just by existing. Especially if you're generally perceived as strong, confident and more or less outrageously Queer.
I was coerced into ECT. It was a horrible experience. On the other hand, my son was in a disastrous situation with the onset of schizophrenia at the age of 40. He was hospitalized, committed,and obligated to take his meds for 6 months.It completely turned his life around, he is now employed again, kept his home and is relatively symptom free.This would not have happened without medication. You were brutalized in the hospital.No excuse for that.
Thank you for sharing importance of medication.
And the fact that it can be passed down to off springs genetically.
Sadly when sufferers reject medication it has to be enforced.
As the right medication for the individual can. Improve the quality of their life totally.
Some people I. Presume need more force to handle than others.
Mental illness is a very sad situation and it affects all members of your family even if it's just from the caring side which can be very challenging when you have a none compliant person who needs and would benefit from medication.
Risk assessments are made on capability and threat of harm to self and others... And even. Possessions as somecsn display arsonists behaviour too...
I wish people would stop thinking big pharama has an hidden agenda.
We should be greatful for medications. People who. Are mentally ill can Traumatise others around them too....
@@hilaryadele662 unfortunately traumatizing someone instead of talking to them so they are scarred mentally for life does not justify enforced medication
ECT is the most effective treatment for true major depressive episodes.
@@cassandraotroy6325 don't say blanket statements like that about drastic treatments such as ECT, and manic-depressive disorder is an outdated label. However I'm glad that ECT treatment is helping whomever is receiving it.
@@aliciashanks5239 I said major depressive disorder (mdd) not manic depressive, which is now called bipolar disorder. And ECT remains factually the most effective treatment, when nothing else works
Although the same incident happened to me when I was first sectioned, I can imagine that it was more traumatising for you due to being a woman and the size of the guards.
I didn't resist or kick up a fuss when I was in the cell, but after I got out, I was annoyed by one of the nurses who tried to minimise and trivialise my experience by telling me that most of the patients on the ward have suffered the same ordeal.
Anyone who ever faces this predicament can feel ostracised and that they have no one to turn to.
This video hopefully will show those affected by the subject matter that others share their experience and it's especially helpful to see psychiatry and schizoid related topics on RUclips told from a subjective viewpoint as most other channels are objective accounts, told from those who work in the profession.
Even if a person absolutely needs "forced medication " as a last resort, people should be treated humanely. Throwing a person on a bed, stretched out and stripped of their clothing shouldn't be on. Hearing about your clothing being stripped off before medication made my flesh crawl. It sounded like something boarding on, I hate to say it and I hesitate in saying this but it sounded almost pornographic. It sounded utterly and totally degrading. And I speak as someone who's a Carer for a husband who had to be "Sectioned " once due to severe depression and anxiety and being extremely agitated and not act rationally at the time. He thankfully never endured what You unfortunately went through though....... ☮️⚛️🌻🌏
Unfortunately, as long as Lauren continues to identify as "mentally ill" this is how she will be treated -- as an occasion for sick people to use her body and her dignity for their sadistic fantasies, without concerns about criminal or civil liability. Let's be blunt -- to drug or strip someone comes down to a subjective judgment call -- and if the patient is at the mercy of someone in a very sour mood, working a 24 hour shift -- then, well, they are out of luck, if the clinician feels like taking out their frustration on someone. There are plenty of organizations that help people with psychosis to deal with their symptoms through non-traditional or non-clinical methods, like the Hearing Voices Network and various types or "peer-based support". There are even mental health practitioners who adopt a staunchly non-coercive position with respect to their patients. Until Lauren moves far, far away from the "mainstream system", she will be getting much of the same, unfortunately.
It's horrible what they did to her. I wonder if she thought they were gonna rape her or something. That's what I would think if a bunch of men restrained me, took me clothes off, then tied me to a bed.
@@jessicacharlton7347
It is not so important what she "thought" during her suicidal episode, but what really happened is all that is important. She was prevented from harming herself and committing suicide. Once the episode has passed, she is thankful for being alive and glad for the medical help she received that prevented her from committing suicide.
@@tienmou68 It does matter what she thought and felt at the time because she is a person and deserves basic dignity and respect. What really happened was disgusting and caused undue trauma to a woman already suffering from mental illness. There was no reason she needed to be naked while being restrained. The result is not the only thing that matters. The method is every bit as important as the result.
@@jessicacharlton7347
You are delusional. My God, "The result is not the only thing that matters."
IF SHE IS DEAD THEN NOTHING MATTERS.
When a person is suicidal strangling themselves with their clothes is a common occurrence. That is why they are stripped naked and either placed in a padded room or restrained if it is suspected they may do further bodily harm - gouge their own eyes out, rip off their ears, mangle their genitals, break their necks etc. All of these things have happened in the past so hospitals take precautions against such actions by suicidal people during their episodes.
The hostility of hospitals makes it so hard to the patient in acute psychosis to except the medication. My son was in The ER (first time) and agreed to go to psychiatric hospital and take medication until he got there and got mistreated. Then he never agreed again got out got to another one few weeks later never accepted medication and in the US they can’t force medication. Just sedation. Still in psychosis and now I got his temporary guardianship and looking for a human clinic to put him. The only lockdown human private ones are 50k dollars a month.
The mental health system is so behind. They wouldn’t treat a cancer patient like that.
This video was so hard to watch for me and I am so sorry you had such a traumatic experience.. I work in a mental health institution and I see this all the time. I only go on the units to serve patients food, but it breaks my heart that the mental health workers just don't want to help their patients and when a patient gets aggressive that is their first move to give them sedative medication. It hurts me to come back later in the day and see that the patient can barely stand up and talk. I agree that in some situations it is necessary when the patient is a threat to themselves or others, but I also totally agree that there are so many other options in between. I think that it is so easy for people to see these people as their illness rather than them as a human being. I wish I could be a stronger person so I could be more involved, but it just hurts me so bad... I am so sorry to anyone who has had traumatic experiences while trying to get themselves healthy again. You deserve compassion, trust and understanding always, but especially in times like this. I also wish I could help fund your page. It is so educational and insightful for people who would otherwise have no experience with this, as soon as I can I will support your page. Thank you so much.
Steph my problem is MHMR tells me they need blood tests twice a year so will that check if I’m taking the meds cause I’m detoxing & I don’t want them to find out
t uuuuu
I am forced medication in the community last 6 years been on a community treat ment order. If I don't have my medication they will put me in hospital . I have been thru same thing as you In hospital to. Being forced medication makes me not motivated it has effectied me. Bless you princess
I can totally relate to your experience
I am 67 and I was comitted to an adult psychiatric when I was only 15
Over the years I was put in seclusiobn several times, put in restraints, and receive painful and humiliating IM injections
By thr way the World Health Organization and also many foreign health services strongly warm against giving IM injectuons in the buttocks because of the danger of hitting the sciatic nerve and the surrounding veins and adipose tissue that feed it
I was misdianosed for many years and I am now diagnosed as Bipolar I Mixed and I am compliant and doing well on Depacote
The laws about sterilizing the mentally ill are still on the books in California although they are usual not enforce
Great presentation!
thanks for the amazing description of your experience. My mother had Schizophrenia from when I was little, I am in England across the 'pond'. I am now 69 and her experience of being sectioned 60 years ago was as dehumanising as your experience. The drugs 'zombified' her and just made her imprisoned in this semi- stupor state with Parkinson's disease symptoms as one of the many side effects. They did not stop the hallucinations just stopped her from being able to function.
From 8 years old I watched her terrified of the 'demeans' that she saw and the voices she heard. At one time she refused to eat claiming she was being poisoned and went from an overweight woman to a skin and bones person.
She was forced into hospital 4 times which was awful with police carrying her out and her being put in a strait jacket and driven in an ambulance to the psychiatric hospital. She was also given ECT.
I am shocked that was over 60 years ago and nothing has much changed, really disgusted actually.
I became a qualified nurse but refused to have anything if possible to do with psychiatric treatment as I felt we have not made any progress regards to compassion and meaningful drug treatment as well as proper understanding about the illness.
I always worried that I might become like my mother, but no I am fine, yes sometimes get depressed like most but no hallucinations or anything like that. What I got from my mother was love, creativity, and warmth when the illness wasn't dominating her outlook.
Sorry about this massive write up, You are Amazing
The lack of empathy is baffling and just... Awful. If any of us thought we were being forced to consume something poisonous, we would rightfully be terrified and probably refuse whatever was being given to us. Whether or not this is occuring in reality is moot point when you're perceiving it to be *your* reality at that point on time. This warrants a lot of compassion, patience, and care. I can't imagine how hard it is to experience thoughts like that.
Thanks for doing such great things. My heart aches for what you have had to experience.
Edit: I feel like it's necessary to disclaim that I don't think it's worthless to make the distinction between what is and isn't occuring in reality, I just feel that it is unethical to immediately approach someone with ultimatums, particularly when they're experiencing an acute episode in this way.
Obviously this is not healing. These might be some part of government experiments. Maybe someone wants to make bunch of angry
people to go and eliminate the government, like an army of civilians to overthrow the government so THEY can come and take over PRETENDING to be the nice guy. !!!!!!!!!!
We need God to help us, we are in huge trouble because this is happening to a lot of people.
People are being tested on the new system of microchipped society. Brain to scull comunication.
I have a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder and have thankfully stayed out of hospital so far. I am already afraid of having to go into a psychiatric hospital if I deteriorate in the future. After hearing your terrible experiences, especially being stripped of clothes, I am now even more afraid. Well done for making this video - hopefully the more people who educate the new generation of psychiatric staff on these issues, the more compassionate acute care will become in the future.
I feel so naive that I thought our healthcare here and nowadays was so much better and compassionate. I knew we had a ways to go before 'ideal' but OH NO!
I am SO unbelievably sorry for what you went through. And everyone else in the comments. My heart and prayers extend to you all 😥❤❤
Hi Lauren,
I’ve been
on both sides. I’m not suffering from Schizophrenia or Schizo-affective
disorder, but BPD and severe depression episodes - and I’m a trained counselor
and have worked with psychiatric patients, both in closed wards and open facilities.
From what I remember when I worked with patients staying at the hospital, it
was a mix between people who were there voluntarily and those who weren’t, is
that the ward became a society of its own. Rules that applied in the “normal”
world didn’t apply there. What would be looked upon as abuse in the outside world
wasn’t considered abuse on the ward. I’m very ambivalent. Sometimes a
discussion was totally impossible. And there were instances that forced
medication (to call it “assisted” is ridiculous) was the only option. It was a
choice between to evil. My concern was never the threat to the outside world.
People with Schizophrenia are often their own worst enemy - not a danger to
others. Thank you Lauren for what you're doing
thats the problem Vivein i cant see much in the health section changing even how traumatizing it is
surely at the point she was strapped down unable to move she was no longer a threat to herself and so medication could have waited at that point?
@@ameliorated Medication could have waited? Until when? Until she stripped her skin off fighting the restraints? Until she dislocated or broke her shoulders or elbows or hips or ankles? Maybe until she escaped her restraints? All this has happened before. I'm Schizophrenic. When I have a bad episode, I can't be reasoned with. I have never harmed or injured anyone, but I have attempted to harm myself on many occasions. Especially early before my diagnosis and for a few years after while I was learning to cope better. If you cant show compassion and understanding to the people who have to deal with you in a psychotic state. Then you will never truly be better or feel you are getting that compassion and sympathy back.
@@ameliorated it would be even more terrifying to be scared out of your mind and strapped to a table without being sedated. At least once medicated (usually heavily sedated), you pass out and can have a break from the nightmare that is occurring. I think the real tragedy is the way in which the medication is administered. There's no need for such brutality.
@@ameliorated I would rather be short term medicated than tied to the bed. I am only speaking from my own experience. I am an abuse survivor. 3 times I was tied down and 2 times they never tried to talk to me or offer me medicine first. The other time I took half of the medicine they offered me and said I would take the rest if I needed it but that wasn't good enough for them so they tied me down and shot me up.
Lauren, I'm so sorry you had these horrible experiences with mental health professionals. I can't imagine how difficult these stories are for you to relive but I wanted to thank you for sharing them. As someone currently working towards being a mental health professional these stories were horrifying to me. I can't imagine treating a person who is struggling with such little empathy and respect. I'm going to share this video with my peers. Thank you again for sharing your experiences, you make a difference.
A big giveaway that people are being unethical is when they use fluffy euphemisms instead of calling their practice what it _actually_ is. 'Assistance' is something you ask for. It's polite.
It's not treating a human being like a meat puppet.
I've been into hospital for a mix of autism/anxiety/depression and the only thing they did was make me feel worse. On the upside, I felt loads better as soon as they actually let me go!
So sorry to hear about your traumatic experience. Much love.
I am sorry for what your had to go through. Nobody should be treated this way no matter how unwell he/she is. I've never been psychotic, but I've had a couple of similar and even worse (meaning abusive) traumatic experiences in mental hospitals more than ten years ago. This even led to a suicide attempt because I was so afraid of being forced to go to the hospital again that I decided to end my life. I was suffering a lot at this time and I was kind of suicidal because I wanted the pain to stop, but I didn't want to die. All I would have needed was someone being there and listening to me, instead my doctor threatened me with hospitalization and things escalated because of all the medical trauma. What's really needed is trust and compassion and I'm sure that a strong therapeutic relationship on its own is providing the needed stability, support and companionship in most acute phases.
I've never donated to a channel or patriot before but I actually want to send you guys a some donations becuase your story and proactivity with this channel is amazing. I dont suffer from these illnesses but do have adhd. It took me 30 years to actually comprehend what executive function is (as I completely lack it), having only understood the concept of this thing almost everyone has in the last few months.
Because of this experience, I'm able to imagine the concept of thought disorder, and how much of an impact that would have on any persons life.
So i am promising you guys here that when I am able to, I will make some donations to you. Brcuase your doing something to help educate a public who are for the most part, not able to comprehend your struggle.
And even tho this isn't adhd related education, I applaud and deeply respect you and your partner.
Covid has taken away my ability to earn, but once im back on track, I'll be donating to you 50% of my first pay check.
Thankyou for being you Lauren. And thankyou to your parter for being so supportive. If it wasn't for my partner, I honestly have no idea where I would be now.
I am in the process of becoming a psychiatrist and I hope to be a whistleblower for institutions like the ones you described
So you are not really interested in helping the mentally ill. You are an activist with a political axe to grind while you blow your whistle. In your hospital the suicides would be left to off themselves while you make "gotcha" vids for your Instagram account. Oatmeal for brains. 🤦🏻♂️
@@tienmou68 Not listening to the Jordan Peterson fan.
@@tienmou68 You seem extremely angry at the idea of humane, dignified treatment and respecting human rights. Maybe you should get yourself checked.
@@jamestoliman9081
I am angry at the extreme ignorance of many of the comments in this thread - the hateful comments directed at first responders and medical personnel that are literally keeping the suicidal patients alive so they can get past their crisis and get on with their lives. As a first responder I have been in on quite a few calls where people in crisis were suicidal. I also have been on 4 calls where we got there too late. Let me tell you, there is nothing glamorous about suicide or the crazy nonsense "death with dignity" and "rights" crowd that claims we as first responders are infringing on the people's right to off themselves. Of those we have saved, EVERY FAMILY MEMBER approaches us with thankfulness and appreciation for keeping their loved one alive during their mental crisis. No one has ever criticized us for removing the things that would have facilitated their family members suicide. So all of you who blabber on about how disrespectful or undignified it is to use restraints, or forced medication or removal of clothing on a person with suicidal ideation are just plain ignorant fools. If your wife or daughter died because we left them in their clothes and they used those clothes to strangle themselves - you would blame it all on us and your attorney would take us to the cleaners. Your hypocrisy disgusts me. If you are actually saying that you would prefer we let your loved one kill themselves rather than us restrain, disrobe and medicate them, then you are an evil despicable human being that has no "love" in your heart for them at all.
For some reason YOU are incapable of seeing that a person having a heart attack is treated in the exact same way as a person trying to commit suicide. Clothes are forcibly removed, patient is restrained and force medicated. But I don't hear you even acknowledging that the situation is literally identical. It's as if you are mentally incapable of seeing the similarity because of your cross-eyed rage against first responders and ER people. Many on this thread are equally blind with hysterical irrational rage. Maybe you all really would prefer that we allow your "loved" ones to kill themselves. If that is true, then we are dealing here with despicable, callous, evil.
You should also look into the research being done in regards to niacin and zinc deficiencies and therapies for this conditions ... I know it’s so hard to believe for most people ... I truly don’t know why, except for the extreme Nazi indoctrination that might be best left to discourse about the cult mentality known as ‘scientism’ in what I presume, takes place in scholarly circles mostly. I personally, am working on a book about this... don’t let your education indictrinate you into supporting Nazi ideas... and remember, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Thank you so much for making these videos i have learned so much from this channel and it helps me a lot in understanding my sister's situation. ❤️❤️❤️
Your insight, incisiveness and sincerity are really valuable to making things better and I'm really glad for all you do. All the best!
Lauren I'm so touched by your story and courage as you live with schizoaffective disorder and fight the stigmas that are attached to mental illness. I would feel exactly the same way if I treated with so little empathy and compassion. I just don't understand why they did this. It's so hard to comprehend how anyone could harm another person who is frightened and vulnerable and in need of comfort. I suffer from mental illness and knowing this happens is terrifying. Thank you for sharing your story. Love from Ohio!
That sounds as Violating as rape. Forcing something into your body that you don’t want. Sounds incredibly traumatizing.
I wouldn't call the police to take me hospital for help ever
I doubt she made the call lol when a person is acting crazy(sorry) someone is gonna call on them
What a true privilege to truly hear your personal experience where you were so vulnerable. Sorry it was such a traumatizing experience. Thank you for continuing to have this channel. Especially thank you for sharing this experience. 🙏
Thank you for opening up. This is very valuable for all of us that work in these fields... I'm sorry you had to go through all of this and also reliving the situations by describing them here.
I feel so angry that you were forced and stripped with men present who were security personel. This is not justified. Even being forcibly restrained without a conversation with you is horrendous. The treatment can only be described as barbaric. At that very least there should be an advocate with you and someone to explain what is happening and why, even if a degree of force is needed to contain your actions.
I was hospitalized with eating disorder and depression and anxiety and was force fed where u were forcibly restrained and a nasal gastric tube was placed thur ur nose to ur stomach and that is painful and traumatic. Also on the same mental health ward they would regularly restrain patients when we resisted any treatment. When admitted I was strip searched and all my belongings were searched and I was not allowed to keep most of it during my treatment. In conclusion I was not allowed contact with my family or friends for first 3 months of a 5 month hospitalization. I have no trust in the mental health system in the US anymore
I also have been forcibly administered medication in acute settings before.. I found it very traumatizing as well.
I found your channel recently Lauren, and I do want to say that luckily do not have mental illness. However, your content is so compelling and I’m learning about an illness that I did not know too much about.
To watch your transformation on medical keto, from where you were in this video (and what you had experienced in the past); is completely and utterly amazing! I applaud your journey to finding medical keto and how it is healing your brain through the process. The information you shared is so important to those who are dealing with a mental illness. I really feel you are changing lives! ❤
I'm so sorry you had to go through this Lauren- we can do better!
I don't think I could manage dealing with ECT in any regard. But all those statistics are rather riveting. But what you experienced is definitely traumatizing. I'm glad to finally open myself with more resources. Thank you for sharing and stay safe. 💜
I have to say while working in a psychiatric hospital as a pharmacy professional in the U.K. I sometimes felt the nursing of patients could have been better, more professional. The mental health nurses don’t have to be educated to degree level (Most modern clinical nurses have a degree in nursing now) and so it would oftentimes have nurses only educated to diploma level and I personally felt some of them were stealing a living from the NHS, doing the bare minimum.
This is such an important topic to talk about, thank you for using this platform to raise these issues. I'm loving the new haircut too by the way! Very chic.
Thanks for sharing your experiences, Lauren. Excellent video! ❤️
you know what annoys me?? that a horrifyingly large number of people who have been on psych wards have been treated this way including me and it just......doesn't stop. like people still go on thinking this is the best thing to do and i honestly......i don't know how they justify it. some psychiatrists and nurses are just straight up shitty abusive people but some?? are actually nice people?? i was in the hospital for a long time and as i got better and became a 'good' patient that didn't ask questions they were actually nice?? but then they would turn around and treat the other 'crazy' patients like absolute shit and i'm just,, exhausted. trying to say over and over again that mentally ill people are people and if someone is acting 'disruptive' and screaming it's likely because they are Very Very Terrified like?? they assume that just because someone hallucinates they're not capable of experiencing emotion? that they're just a thoughtless zombie from a zombie movie that has no other purpose but to harm and wreak havoc?? i'm just. i'm fucking exhausted and there have been times where a hospital stay would've been beneficial compared to trying to deal with it at home but i didn't even view it as an option because of a previous bad experience. and while my condition wasn't so bad the second time being in that environment with people like that present would've been so triggering i decided it outweighed the benefits, even though i just needed more closely-monitored med adjustments and could sign myself out any minute. love how they just fuck that shit up for us
Very well said, someone like you and your channel is really making change possible. I hope a lot of professionals watch this.
You have provided a wealth of information. We need to support you in any and every way possible.
You are fantastic, keep doing this fantastic work! Hope you get lots of support ❤
When you’re psychotic, I’m unsure of how many people actually *CAN* talk to you. If you are not in your right mind, a unspecialized hospital worker doesn’t know where you’re ‘at’. The MOST PROFOUND therapy I ever had was with someone else with schizophrenia... we were able to just be in that world together for about a week - no medication, no oversight, just given food and shelter - and it helped me CLIMB out of the paranoia. We were like 5 year old children - coming up with something imaginative - whatever was in our schizophrenic minds - and playing it out for however long we wanted. At one point I started believing the world was going to end, and I started panicking as usual, so my schizophrenic friend played a song that hit a very deep part of me... and I can count on two hands how many times I’ve been paranoid since, and that was 9 years ago. When you’re playing with a deep and disturbed part of your mind... you can’t be ‘talked to’. When someone with schizophrenia goes into a psych ward - they are met by people who use a different part of their minds - they understand logic - and they want you to be in that space of ‘logic’, as well. SO MANY schizophrenic people are a danger to themselves, so getting them as calm as possible, even involuntarily, may be necessary. If any psychiatric medical professional saw the way my friend and I were acting - we would have been institutionalized and forcefully drugged, no doubt. But, for me, it allowed me to work through the passages of my insanity and come out better. No drugs - just a family that gave us food and shelter while we were out of our minds. I am forever grateful. If there was someone there for Lauren to reach her in her madness - like she needed, like she wanted, like she should have had - then I think our mental ‘health’ institutions would be more effective, and more human.
@Farzad Matin I think there comes a point when prophecies of doom only scare people into thinking them into existence. While everything stated could be true - it’s better to think of the emancipation of the human soul. The best medicine is love. The best medicine is human. If you are too asleep to see the bigger picture, then you will be culled, no doubt. I claim no higher status, but will not be a messenger of doom when there is beauty beyond the chaos. Blessings, friend.
You are amazing! I am an attorney and patients rights advocate in California. In California, when a doctor wants to involuntarily medicate a person against their will (which can only be done if they are an involuntary patient which is time limited), they need a court order. I defend patients who want to keep their right to refuse medications. I will be showing this video to my colleagues. When people weigh the risks and benefits of involuntary medication, they never talk about trauma and they don't appreciate the seriousness of side effects, or even fundamental changes to a person's personality, motivation, etc. What you're doing on this channel is so needed! THANK YOU! P.S. I have bipolar, so I'm in the club. :)
really enjoy your videos!! totally agree on de-escalation. too many providers are quick to medicate without talking to patients. i think we need to really look at what we are doing in these situations and how we can actually improve things for both patients and healthcare providers.
Your story is so moving. It helped me to form an opinion on this topic. Keep creating inspiring content 😊💕
Thank you for this video, Lauren. So often clinicians take the expedient route instead of taking the time to develop that therapeutic relationship. And in BC where I am, ECT can be given involuntarily. :(
Hey there. I just discovered your channel and really appreciate your content and willingness to share your experiences. I’m a psychologist in CA and I’ve worked (interned) at a acute psychiatric hospital and with people with persistent mental illness in a residential program. What you’ve shared about forced medication is horrendous and I’ve seen similar things happen when interning. I know you’re in Canada so the system there is probably different but I think a lot of these problems are a result of systemic issues with healthcare in general. I absolutely agree that the aggression used with patients who are in psychosis and refusing meds is barbaric. A trained professional should have tried to talk with you and show empathy and patience. But I know from my experiences that, at least in the US, hospitals lack the resources for that kind of thing. There’s no time for something like that and even if there was, it’s unlikely someone is on staff who’s trained to de-escalate a patient in a psychotic state and able to spend the time to do it. They have to subdue the person asap and move on to the next task. Similarly, the minute a patient no longer presents a danger to self or others, they’re discharged to open the bed for the next person. It’s a revolving door.
I also know that fear of being poisoned is a common delusion and I can’t help wondering if it’s because people have had experiences with forced medication like you have. Like a dog chasing it’s tail, basically.
You are such an important voice for people who don’t have anyone to speak up for them. Thank you.
Thank you so much for speaking on this topic, as I know it couldn’t have been easy. I want to say that as a graduate student working toward my master’s degree in mental health counseling I am thankful that I got to hear your experience. I hadn’t previously given much thought on the subject, as medication isn’t necessarily in my field of study. However, I am already very weary of psychiatric hospitals, and the mental health care system in general. I see so much need for actual patient-based therapy and staff with progressive, open-minded attitudes. There is no doubt that this archaic practice is unethical. Compassion and empathy have already been empirically proven to go a long way in treatment. The field of psychiatry needs to catch up. The use of forced medication is a thoughtless, easy, dehumanizing fix to a complicated issues that undoubtedly requires extensive communication, trust, empathy, and understanding. Just because a person is experiencing an episode of psychosis does not mean that they have lost their fundamental rights as a human being. Again, thank you so much for sharing your experience, and opening my mind up to this issue. You are the first person I have heard speak on this and I think it is so so so important.
The way they did that is wrong. I'm sorry that happened to you. Thankyou for spreading awareness on this important issue. Much love 🌹
Good for you for raising your voice on mental health issues and creating a platform to educate and promote dialogue and possible change. You come across very well.
As someone who works as a community mental health clinician tasked with monitoring one's mental illness & treatment via Kendra's law (Assisted Outpatient Treatment), our team is very sensitive to the rights of those we are tasked to help. Each person we work with is treated with respect, dignity, and we are mindful of the stigma. Most folks we work with have long histories of mental illness. The one's who don't and are not symptomatic, we diligently advocate for reduced medication and even a diagnosis change. We find some who are given a diagnosis that may be related to a one time (acute) event without following the DSM or ICD guidelines is terrifying. I totally appreciate your personal perspective. I personally never threaten anyone. I ask questions, use redirection, and use motivational interviewing to help reduce one's stressors. I've personally seen both the good and the bad of AOT. Besides the safety aspect of AOT, there is a financial impact as well. You may already know this, but another reason for AOT is to reduce cost on the tax payer. If our countries health care system was better maybe AOT would not be a law. Thank you again for your personal experience.
Thank you for opening up and explaining this is very helpful. .
I am so sorry you went through this! I was hospitalized and had forced medication therapy once. Afterwards I, like you, saw why I needed meds, but feel that the way it was done was just wrong!
I'm so so sooooo sorry that those things happened to you... I just have no words. I actually needed to take a break while listening to all of this, because it was absolutely horrifying to me. I really hope things will change in psychiatry. It is outrageous that people, who are supposed to help you, take good care of you, do so much harm 😢
I'll just add, that I suffer from depression and I was at psychiatric hospital for one day, and I never want to go back there. Never.
Thank you so so much for this video. Thank you for your candor and your vulnerability.
I found your channel a couple of weeks ago and have spent hours watching. Of all of your videos this my be the one that has taught me how important it is not in insist (or try to coerce) my adult son to take medication. You have been a wealth of information and I thank you.
Exactly the same thing happened with my sister. I trusted the doctor and got her admitted but they didn't talk to her at all whenever she got suicidal or anxious they gave her Haldol and they didn't talk to me too..........it was horrible.......i love my sister a lot and wanted her betterment but i have lost all hope .......i am never doing that to her again.....i am sorry you had to go through that...i wish humans were more humane and less selfish.....
@Divas&DollsBeauty i think families at that point are thinking more about their comfort and it's sad. I am not like that i can live through hell with my sister but not let her go through it alone
@Divas&DollsBeauty i am lucky to have an amazing loving kind intelligent beautiful sister like her who has guided me through so many rough times of my own and she still does
There are some decent mental hospitals and treatment centers out there. Look places up and read reviews about them. It's best to finds reviews on a website that isn't affiliated with the treatment center so that you can get honest feedback. It'll probably be hard to trust again but not all psychiatrists are like this. I know that you love your sister but I don't think you can help her alone. I think you should try to get professional help for her. I know it's hard but she needs treatment.
@@jessicacharlton7347 hi thanks yes i did find her a good psychiatrist and she is doing so much better
@@sadiaanam8634 Good. I'm glad she got help.
I’m so sorry, Lauren. This is just awful. I’m glad you are doing well now. I now understand more why someone might refuse treatment.
They aren’t being treated, they are being sedated. Treatment should start with an analysis of vitamin deficiencies and getting people on some nutritive therapy. That’s treatment.
Thank you for opening your heart to talk about this traumatising experience. My mother saw a psychiatrist yesterday and refused to do further tests to help her. The doctor suspects it is schizophrenia. I found your channel - is so helpful and interesting. So important for people to hear this to improve the service!!
I am so torn on this topic. I have Bipolar Disorder however I have never been hospitalized. I also work on a psychiatric unit where I have been involved in the forced medicating of patients. Thank you for making this video and being brave enough to tell your truth about the experiences you have had with forced medication. I will take what you have said to heart and put what I have learned into practice while I am at work. I am a mental health technician so I am the front line in trying to mitigate situations before they escalate to the level of forced medication or restraints. As someone working in the field as well as suffering myself from a mental illness I really really appreciate your videos and sincerely hope you continue doing what you are doing. Wishing you and your family love and wellness. Also, congratulations on your pregnancy!
I am so sorry that you experienced that. I can only imagine how much an approach like this would only confirm and exacerbate symptoms of paranoia. I hate that this happens to people.
Lauren, if you ever again think of suicide please remember that your channel helps me and many other individuals. And at the Public Health level you are a positive force for improvement in mental health care. Your growing interpersonal relationships are are inspiration to others (that they can do the same). It would break my heart if anything bad ever happened to you.
Lauren you are not alone, you have Jesus. Do you believe that. ?
I appreciate you making your videos so much. Thankyou. I too have been held down by 4 huge male orderleys and force injected by a nurse in my thigh with a tranqualiser. It still causes me trauma thinking back. I can understand why it was needed though. I also have been injected with anaesthetic and given ECT with NO discussion. My mother gave the hospital authority to do it but it was never discussed with me. I have also been force injected with an antipsychotic against my will as i had been on that antipsychotic for 10 years and it was NOT helping me and i had discussed this with psychiatrists. It is all traumatic and made me feel very scared and uncared for. I have Schizoaffective and have been hospitalised 8 times. I finally got a helpful psychiatrist and he gave me a choice of 5 medications for treatment and i got to choose my medication. I really found this fantastic and i felt listened to for the first time in the psych system. There are improvements being made in the system all the time and i have seen a lot of changes since i fell unwell in 1999. In Australia there was a Royal Commission into the Psychiatric System and much has improved since, Thankfully. Still much room for improvement though and i hope positive changes keep happening.
Its amazing how honest you are with your experience and talking about it. It takes guts and bravery to talk about your illness
That's why I'm scared to go back to the hospital because it feels like they treat anyone like a burden almost and they act like your a criminal when they should respect the patients and help them better
Jennifer White Yes, sometimes they do and it bothers me greatly! We need to have a conversation about our attitudes towards psych patients!
@@uniayang definitely it's terrible and scary and it feels like they're not helping a patient there treating them like criminals and don't respect them as they should and they forget that there patients and that's the problem
This is very sad to hear...You deserve support and help not abuse and accusation!
Yes, they treat me like a huge burden. As if I chose to become mentally ill just to bother them! I realize that I am a burden to society but I would never have chosen this life for myself. So why be so mean to me?
Check out the blog Mad in America. It may help find some less terrifying options for community and support. Wishing you well!
I'm about to publish my audiobook version for mental health awareness. It holds the grim reality of the with people with mental health are treated and what they go through... The first book of the two is almost finished. I agree with you wholeheartedly on many of the topics of today's discussion.
Have you done any research about niacin and zinc and how deficiencies of these can cause the issues? If not, you really truly need to if you are going to write about these things. They are literally mistreating people by their ignorance and adherence to scientism. But mostly the Nazi developed system of pharmaceutical sales. These psychotropic drugs they use are extremely dangerous.
@@OfftoShambala Yes, more than 15 years ago and then again. I even tried it myself and it did not help. Just my thoughts.
I was forced medication while in the behavioral unit. Once, in CA where I voluntarily went to a 72-hour hold. My mom and I went seeking treatment for my psychosis and they said a hold was the only way to be admitted into the hospital so we agreed. At the time, I was recovering from COVID and was not able to eat everything. When I got there, I was fearful of other patients because I had heard that they were violent and they seemed more inclined to talk to others. I told my mom that same day that I wanted to leave. She had said maybe later. I decided to get my things and wait by the door. I knew that once the clock hit 10 pm I wasn't going to be able to leave or better yet, that my mom wasn't going to pick me up. I wasn't delusional and having symptoms. I started talking to nurse that was sitting. Then, out of nowhere another nurse came and told me okay that is enough, get up. She and other nurses forced me onto a wheel chair and held me down on the bed. She then injected me with forced medication that I did not want. Needless to say, I wasn't talking to myself, derailing, or danger to myself, or others. She just looked upset and angered for having to care for patients. She had also rolled her eyes. I screamed because it was unjust what she was doing. There are plenty of people who stay up late or past 10 pm; so why target me and force medication into my body? I reported the incident to a civil rights office in the hospital. Forced medication should be banned it violates human rights. Like protested before, it is my body therefore, I should get to decide what type of treatment I want. Some nurses and doctors just love to innate their degrees as power over other human beings to dictate a choice that should only be a personal choice. Btw, the forced medication did not help me at all.
love the hair!! you look so pretty!
This is such an important topic and such a gray area in medicine. Recently in my area, Ricardo Munoz was shot and killed by the police. He suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and his family couldn’t keep him on his meds. His family tried to get him forcibly admitted to the hospital, and when the cops showed up, he charged the officer with a knife. It makes me wonder if he had assisted/forced medication, if he wouldn’t still be alive today.
damn, hearing stories like yours really affects me deep as a health professional, especially one so interested in psychiatry, and even more so in psychotic disorders. I wish that this problem goes away very soon. Nowadays we are taught a lot about patient advocacy and controversial ethical situations like these in medical school, something not part of the curriculum before (at least where I studied which is not the USA). I hope that us future generation of doctors will do whats right for our patients. Unfortunately issues like these are so complex because of certain restrictions placed on us too ie: if we don't follow our hospital protocol we can be terminated or worse, have our licenses suspended/revoked. If the hospital wants to make a quick buck by saving time and effort and forcing medication, then a doctor may have to agree just to keep their job. Also ER docs are so overworked at times by the hospital, they end up dong horrible things such as what happened to you Lauren.
I honestly hope things get better not just in USA, but worldwide. I'm glad you're talking about it and have an open stance towards a more healthier and feasible solution. Most of the time, if a patient has a horrible experience and turns completely against forced medication (can you blame them though?), companies and institutions can just ignore them, and nothing ends up changing, as absolutely no involuntary treatment is extremely detrimental to both society and the individual. But there needs to be a reduction to ensure proper balance and to promote patient advocacy as you mentioned. It needs to happen.
It is incredibly common and happens around the world.
Please don’t waste your education by going into psychiatry - especially inpatient psychiatry. While you might treat your patients with dignity and decency, your colleagues will not - and you will be absolutely powerless to do anything. If you try to interfere or intervene in any way against your colleagues “clinical decisions” and “clinical discretion”, your life will be made into a Hell by your colleagues.
An ER doctor or nurse will typically be extremely busy - and will pretty much sign off on almost anything, without ever personally seeing the patient. When you have things like heart attacks and trauma, personally assessing psych patients takes an extremely low priority. At any rate, you really don’t want to create an adversarial relationship with your colleagues by refusing to electronically “sign off” on their restraints and forcible drugging order - and more often than not, your signature will be asked post factum.
I watched this other hospitalization testimony by this young girl with DID and she was forcefully medicated because one of her alters did not talk and the staff got angry that she wasn't talking and sedated her. This drug was administered without her parent's permission too.
ruclips.net/video/pF_p5eKhYuA/видео.html
My goodness I am so sorry for your experience. My son had to undergo forced medication because he would take off all his clothes and walk nude up and down a busy street. I was afraid someone would harm him. The police pick him up and took him to a mental facility and because my son is an adult they wouldn't give me any information of the facility. At any rate that's when they forced medication and his experience was the same as yours. I do feel that they should be more kind and loving. Animals are treated much better in my personal opinion.
Lauren your story hits home so much for me. I cry half the time I watch your videos because we are living this nightmare right now too. My son is in hospital again and docs are telling him he will have to have depot injections which my son is begging me to help stop them. As his caregiver, I’m struggling too. He frequently stops his medications and we go through the cycle of hospitalization each time it happens. As a mom, I don’t want to force him, he’s an adult, but I understand the need for him to remain on his meds. Ugh this is just so difficult! He wants me to advocate for him, and I do, but this topic of forced meds is a difficult one to know what’s right for him. Thank you Lauren, your videos mean a lot right now. ❤️
Yes! I'm waiting and advocating for the moment we begin treating mental health conditions the same as any other medical condition. When it comes to physical health, there is conversation. As you said, forced medication due to one's mental state completely takes away the feeling of choice. Even if they disagree with your choice at the end, when it comes to critical physical conditions or illnesses, they may not agree with the patient either. However, the difference is still the sense of having a voice to speak for yourself and be treated humanely. I'm so sorry you had to experience this and I hope our society and medical standards begin to shift in a way that drastically reduces the chances of anyone having to go through such an awful way of treatment.
Many times nurses will take every precaution to keep a patient physically safe, because you are their responsibility and they are liable for what happens to you. If you are suicidal, nurses are expected to do everything possible to ensure your safety. I'm not excusing what they did because it is horrific and like you said, dehumanizing. I just want to provide their perspective on the matter. I believe that this is a bad practice and does break trust. Would you consider reaching out to the universities/teaching hospitals and provide education directly to them? I think your story would be really powerful and can hopefully encourage changes.
What would be a realistic treatment approach. I can 9nly think of isolation.. However when they refuse good do you let them starve yo death or enforce treatment so they can't harm themself.
Remember the patients capacity to make a good choice fir the self is definatly not present.
So freedom of choice has to be taken away. Until they can be rational about their choices.
These people are highly vulnerable and can be very distructive to themself and others, sadly.
I imagine if medics approached them kindly it would not be received because they simply don't want medicating. However because of thaw t they disrupt everyone else around them.
There is no one statement answer to fit all as each situation is individual and you do what you can and have resources to do yo keep everyone safe.
@@hilaryadele662 I would say the nurses can do a much better job at communicating with the patient. If they communicated what they were doing and took a more gentle approach, they could still be firm and ensure her safety, but do so in a more ethical way that protects her from further harm. Holding her hand and reassuring her can go a long way.
Something to also consider is that nurses are fearful for their own safety. They go through a lot, and although she is saying that she just wants someone to talk to her, they are preparing for the worst that could happen. Not everyone has as good intentions as Lauren. Everyone wants to go home safe at the end of the day and nurses fear for their own safety quite a bit. I think it would be very beneficial to have her psychiatrist communicate with the hospital staff (after discussing with Lauren) that in those distressing moments XYZ would help her, so that if she gets admitted they can trust that she's not a danger like some of the others and they can feel confident to take a gentler approach. Just a thought ☺️
@@Em99957 I agree totally with you.
People talking nicely to me has helped me many times when I wanted to hurt myself and I might have avoided being restrained 3 times. I am not saying it could be avoided in every case but the practice could greatly be reduced.
One hospital I have been to many times had a restraint room with a bed to tie people to. They learned different techniques. They got rid of that room. They still have a rubber covered room they put people in. I don't like this room but it is much better than being tied down to a bed (in my opinion).
Thank you so much for this one especially.
Thanks for making this video. It was really eye opening.
I have a loved one who experienced forced medication and hospitalization during the first major breakdown. There have been other major episodes where forced hospitalization may have occurred but family and friends supported the loved one through it. That's a very risky decision. I am sorry to hear about your experiences during that. I do hope we find more dignified ways of helping our loved ones through these episodes. Our loved one has had a much better experience with monthly injections. They are not free of voices but those that are present are friendlier. I believe in a more holistic approach that includes dietary changes, changes to daily habits and what sort of media exposure happens. And experience suggests that a big change happened when our loved one embraced a spiritual practice--they are not functioning and working in the world.
Put your videos as educational. We are here for you ❤
Hi Lauren, I’m so sorry you had to go through such terrifying experiences. You must be so strong to be able to process and even share them with your community, I’m sure it will help others who have had to go through similar traumas. Did you have any method of advocating for yourself legally afterwards to prevent such a thing happening again? It seems especially cruel, with the psychosis that goes with the disorder and the associated delusions, and I really hope you never had to question what happened to you and were able to totally heal ❤️
Thankyou Lauren for the work you do here. My mother has schizophrenia and refuses treatment. I haven't talked to her in over eight years now because she refuses to acknowledge me as being her daughter. My mother is in her 80's now and lives alone in a old beat up multifamily building. She also lives on the second floor and can barely walk up the stairs. My younger brother used to visit her on Sundays but he can no longer do that because he died October 1st this year. My other two brothers are dead too, one to suicide and the other overdose on heroine. I am alone and have asked for help for her but she refuses all treatment even if it's medical. The reason being is because of her forced treatment in the past like you talked about here. It's so heart breaking to watch someone with this illness. I know patients often times get abused when on forced treatment and society refuses to be of more useful help. It's just awful. I wish you the best and when I can, I will send a donation for your work here. Megan