PTSD inpatient program question

[m211calvary]

.

Edited December 15, 2019 by m211calvary

[vetquest]

@m211calvary, I am not sure about the PTSD inpatient program but I am familiar with inpatient in the VA MH ward.  I was invited to spend two weeks at the MH ward in 1995.  The VA had stated that I was a high suicide risk and a drunk.  They treat you depending on how you act.  I was working full time in a job and they treated me very well.  I had a run in with another patient (I asked him what he was drawing and he said none of your fing business) then they moved us in together.  I still do not understand that logic but we became fast friends and spent time together until he died at the VA five years later.

You start out as a flight risk and move up levels of control where you can be allowed to leave the ward with another patient and then on your own.  There are several sessions daily for the groups they break you into and there is time spent with a nurse or doctor.  They will try to push your buttons to see your reactions.  It was not too keyed up in the groups though.  You will see some reactions from people that see you are in civilian dress and wearing an arm band.  They can all go pound sand as far as I was concerned.

If you have any further questions please ask. 

[m211calvary]

Vetquest thanks for the reply.  It is at the VA mental health hospital in Biloxi so it's more than likely part of the mental health ward there.  I go to the VA in Mobile, AL and Biloxi VA hospital is the closest inpatient to us.  I'll more than likely make my mind up to go voluntarily soon before i'm voluntold to go like I thought was about to happen the other day. Got to get myself together first. Also not sure what the doc meant by "red flagging" me.

Thanks again for the responce

[broncovet]

Are you SC for PTSD?  If you are seeking compensation for PTSD, my guess is that being put in a PTSD hospital for a month will help to document your symptoms as well as a diagnosis.  

I suggest you comply with your doctor.  You have been "red flagged" likely because the doctor judges you a suicide risk, given that you mentioned SI.  A doctor does not want to see one of his patients take his own life.  

You are unlikely to take your own life while in the hospital, and it gives the opportunity for doctors to tweak your medications so that you dont take your own life.   Some of these meds really do help some people, but its even possible they have a reverse affect on others.  

I suggest you go, as the doc suggested.  There is a reasonable chance you will get help there that is unavailable as an outpatient.  Dont try to treat yourself and "get yourself together" before going to the hosptial.  If you could deal with your issues on your own, its likely you would have already done so.  

Get the help you need.  

[ShrekTheTank]

As Bronco and Vetquest have said above if the doctor is saying to do this then you should do this!  They do not take this kind of thing lightly and you should not either!  When you are gone to this point there is no waiting for things to get better.  Sounds like you need some help and It does not cost you anything but time.  

I have see a few people here go through their treatment program and it is structured each day and they have time for you to do what you need to do!  It can be a very healthy place to see what is going on and how to deal with it real time!   

I know I was raised as I don't need this you are a man type of crap!  I am a man and I know my limits.  Do I accept them all the time? No!  should I?  Yes much more than I do!  It is hard for some of us to accept help or to even admit there is a problem and we are tough!  What I had to realize is Am I tough enough to ask for help?  That is the real challenge to open up to others and let them help you!  

It is good to ask for help and to take it!  You have been through a lot in life and you need to take care of yourself right now!

[Berta]

Broncovet asked the same question I had.Are you diagnosed with PTSD?

My husband was in the PTSD program long ago.It was excellent.He said it was the first real help he had gotten from VA since his 1983 PTSD diagnosis, in addition to months before the inhouse, he was finally being seen by the actual PTSD shrink at the local VA and that was what the PTSD doctor suggested.He had been seeing, for many years, their VA  employee psychologist, and that never changed after he ceased being a VA employee.Until I raised hell. He was obviously getting worse from the PTSD by the employee psychologist had no training in dealing with PTSD veteran.

But my point is that every veteran in the program team he was with had a PTSD diagnosis and rating already, except one vet. (They were all incountry Vietnam and the program was geared to that fact and to Vietnam)They all told me they thought the vet was a wannabee trying to see what their stressors had been. He was very silent about his Vietnam experience, but none of the others were.

That vet was very anxious to get the 21 day 100% compensation, but he didn't get it.

After my husband died he contacted me and sent me his BVA denial. There was not a single thing in his record that could establish a PTSD stressor. I spent quite a bit of time trying to find proof of anything he told me.

Stressors he relayed to me were so startling that the info would have been in his Unit records and morning reports. I really dont' know if he was wannabee, but after talking to the vets in the program, I felt they would know one better than me.

But this sounds like a very good program you should definitely be in. However PTSD is far different from Bi Polar , and this concerns me. Maybe your doctor has diagnosed you with PTSD, and this is why he mentioned that specific PTSD MH inhouse program.

I am not suggesting in any way at all that you are a wannabee- not at all-and the program my husband was in was not really a lock down- they went on a few trips ,had pizza parties, and could call home and their head MH person kept me up to date by calling me often, but the program did keep "the world" out, if you catch my drift-as the reception many of these men ( and women) got, when they came back to the "world" (what Vietnam vets called the USA at the time), certainly was a mitigating factor and a precursor to their PTSD.

One of our best friends was a BiPolar veteran and it took him over a decade to attain SC for it. He was often here with some Vietnam vets we knew, and their experiences were far different than his in the Military so I do hope that maybe the doctor has seen PTSD as a basis for the PTSD program, rather than a different MH program.

The comradery of being with other PTSD veterans was an enormous benefit for my husband.

There certainly are vets with both Bi Polar and SC PTSD. Are you service connected for the Bi Polar?

Do you feel it is possible that you do have PTSD? It seems like your doctor might hve diagnosed you with PTSD?

I feel that it will help you a lot to go to any MH program the VA feels is appropriate.I am very critical of the VA in many ways, but they do have an excellent way of dealing with all MH issues. It just takes getting the right help from the right people and VA is extremely concerned about anyone with suicidal ideations. Your doctor is doing the right thing-and these MH inhouse VA people, in my opinion, are always putting the veteran First!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[m211calvary]

1

Edited November 22, 2019 by m211calvary