"Hell on earth"

I was a patient at Redwood 2 for 3 weeks. I referred myself as I didn't want sectioning. From the moment I got there it was hell on earth.

They checked on me every 10 minutes in the night putting the light on everything, how on earth is anyone supposed to get sleep? My husband complained so they did it every half hour, I was not suicidal but they still had to do it, I was only in with depression. At night there were people screaming and making such a commotion, I had to have my door locked every night as you didn't know who was roaming the corridors.

Every minute of everyday someone was clocking you where you were, you couldn't go to the toilet for more than ten minutes without someone checking you. Plates, mugs and cutlery were all plastic, they watched you eat your food, it felt you were in prison, no door on your bathroom just a soft plastic thing against the wall, everything was horrible, your worst nightmare.

There was supposed to be activities during the week which involved colouring books and jigsaws, this was not stimulating and how does this make you feel better? OT came in for an hour, also you had to be watched doing everything, even if you went out in the garden. You could not go in the garden if the male unit was out, and there were 8 foot fences around the building which also made it like a prison. I was lucky my husband would pick me up in a morning and deliver me back after tea.

The whole was a complete utter joke. Patients could call for take outs etc even though food was provided. I pity people on the ward now as they didn't get help, no one seemed to care, you were just a number for statistics, how on earth do people get better when they are treated like criminals?

I live with this experience everyday now , flashbacks keep coming back and all the doctors/psychiatrists want to do is put you on more tablets, the system is broken.😫