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25 Horrifying (And Heartbreaking)

True Stories From The Psych Ward
By Lorenzo Jensen III, September 25th 2017

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Flickr / Chrissy
Found on AskReddit.

1. She set herself on fire a!er losing her baby.

“I have spent time inside a few different psychiatric
facilities. I met a lot of interesting folks. Many years
ago, there was a lady with horrific burns scars. From
her head down her entire body. She was chronically
depressed. She was very badly disfigured. She was
just the sweetest person ever. Always a kind word for
anyone and happy to listen. I bugged one of the
nurses to tell me why she was covered in burns. I
was told she set herself on fire after losing her
baby.”

—GandalfThaGhey

00:00 / 29:57

2. He said he talked to the voices inside his head

because they were his only friends.
“When I was doing psych clerkship as a med
student, there was a schizophrenic patient with the
usual signs: auditory hallucinations, disheveled
appearance, no expression on his face.

He admitted to voices talking to him. The resident I

was shadowing, asked him what the voices say to
him, and he refused to answer that question. Then
she informed him that they can give him some
medications to make the voices go away, and he
immediately rebuked that option (mind you, still
displaying no expression on his face the whole
time). When the resident asked him ‘Why?,’ he
replied, ‘They are my only friends.’

That hit hard.”

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—ThisWasAWasteOfTime

3. Kid was completely dissociative. Would

randomly just start screaming asking his mother
to stop hitting him.
“Kid that was completely dissociative. Would
randomly just start screaming asking his mother to
stop hitting him. He was pretty low functioning so it
was really hard to process. He would look at me and
tell me how she beat him with chains and belts. The
doctor believed that the young man felt like he was
in safe environment for the first time in his life and
his mind was allowing him to re-remember past
trauma.”

—jgoods77

4. She wanted to be a better wife and mother…

even though she had no husband or children.
“In a day treatment facility I volunteered for, I led a
writing group to help people develop goals and
motivation to continue in treatment. One woman
gave really strong and compelling answers about
wanting to improve her health to be a better wife
and mother (have the energy to run around and play
with her kids, etc.).

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Several weeks after beginning the group, I mention

this to another therapist, who informs me this
woman has no husband or children, and never has.”

—theYoungLurks

5. Nine-year-old child calmly and purposefully

drowned a toddler because the toddler’s mother
had refused to allow the nine-year-old to have
another lollipop.
“Child psych, acute inpatient.

Nine-year-old child who calmly and purposefully

drowned a toddler because the toddler’s mother had
refused to allow the nine-year-old to have another
lollipop.

There was no spark of anything in that 9-year-old’s

eyes. No life, no humanity. It was stark-cold
terrifying.”

—JaydeRaven

6. My worst was a 4-year-old with extensive

physical and sexual abuse. Social services found
her tied to a tree. She did not meet any typical
milestones and would grunt to communicate.
“I worked as an RN in an inpatient psych unit. We
admitted any age (youngest was 2) and would have
some violent individuals with minimal staffing. My
worst was a 4-year-old with extensive physical and
sexual abuse. Social services found her tied to a tree.
She did not meet any typical milestones and would
grunt to communicate. I left three times during the
admission process to choke back tears. It was the
beginning of the end for my career working in psych.
I had the thickest skin and could tolerate the
toughest of situations. I couldn’t take how an
individual could corrupt something so innocent.”

—OiCu8ONE2

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8. At home, he had beat up the family cat to the

point of its bones breaking because he liked the
sounds the cat made. He had raped a younger
sister with some of his toys. He was five.
“I’ve worked at a psych unit for teens/children for a
couple years. I think the scariest for me personally
was a five-year-old we had. He was well behaved and
actually really cute. At home, he had beat up the
family cat to the point of its bones breaking because
he liked the sounds the cat made. He had raped a
younger sister with some of his toys. He is the
youngest I’ve ever encountered with sociopathic
tendencies :(”

—09cjones1

9. He kept babbling in Spanish about demons

coming to get him.
“I had a kid once that kept freaking out during the
night shift. He was from South America and kept
babbling in Spanish about demons coming to get
him, and I barely understand Spanish so there
wasn’t much I could do to calm him down.

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He abruptly stopped screaming and went dead silent

with huge eyes… looking directly at something
behind me. I turned around and there was nothing
there but he kept staring anyway.

I didn’t get much sleep after that shift.”

—Badloss

10. She was so suicidal and distraught that she

was biting chunks out of her own shoulder.
“I worked on a juvenile psych unit. I had to put a girl
in restraints that included her head because she was
so suicidal and distraught that she was biting
chunks out of her own shoulder.

Maybe three years later I took a bus to interview for

a graduate psych program. When I switched buses, a
nicely dressed girl asked me if I was from Colorado. I
said ‘yes.’ Then she asked me if I worked on a psych
unit. It was her, all better. We chatted for a while and
I told her how happy I was to see her doing so well.
She smiled, thanked me, and we said our goodbyes.”

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—omnichronos

11. The look of sheer terror in his face and the

shaky voice have stuck with me.
“Young man who was suffering from drug induced
psychosis. He had smoked some spice and was taken
to out hospital with involuntary status. He stayed
for over a month with no signs of remission. He
covered the entire spectrum of psychotic behaviors
during his stay but the worst was when he would
pop into reality for a moment. The look of sheer
terror in his face and the shaky voice have stuck
with me. His family broke down during visitation
and only his father could manage weekly visits
afterwards. Chemically induced psychosis, from my
experience, is game over most of the time. I’ve seen
a few people recover to a degree but never fully.
Don’t fuck with spice.”

—MrMcScruffles

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12. He had in a way started to assume the

identity of his little sister and he considered the
girls in the pictures he cut out his friends.
“I worked in the dental clinic of a psychiatric
hospital for a bit and I’ll never forget a patient
named Terry. Terry loved to wear little girls’ clothing
and would have pictures of little girls that he had
cut out of magazines on a string around his neck.
When I first encountered him I automatically made
the assumption that he was some sort of pedophile.
I later learned from the dentist I had worked with
that Terry had witnessed his little sister being
brutally raped and murdered by their stepfather
when they were children. He had in a way started to
assume the identity of his little sister and he
considered the girls in the pictures he cut out his
friends. I felt horrible for jumping to conclusions,
especially after I got to know him more and saw
what a gentle, kind soul he was.”

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—sweepingpines

13. The very definition of hell.

“Had a dementia patient, among other things I
imagine, but I was just the nursing assistant. I don’t
get much for patient histories just whether they can
walk unassisted or poo on their own.

She was a very kind sweet old lady. She thought of

herself as a young mother, so she carried a doll with
her, wrapped in a blanket. She was even allowed a
baby bed and every night she would tuck her baby in
beside her bed. Then she would talk about the baby
growing inside her belly. She would go on very
coherently about her pregnancy and her child. She
had me believing she lived in this sweet fantasy land
that was set on repeat.

But it would all abruptly end and start over once her
baby was due and there was no new baby. She would
mope for about a month, super depressed, not
eating, nonstop crying she could not be consoled,
she’d get fairly violent…then it would start over,
she’d just wake up one morning and as happy as
could be, ‘Did you hear the great news!? I’m going to
have another baby!’

One night she got all tucked in and forgot to tuck

her baby in. I noticed and said, ‘I can tuck Susan in
for the night’ and reached in to get her baby. The
woman throat punched me hard. I dropped the baby
doll when I fell over gasping for air. She then started
to lose it as she was trying to further assault me,
yelling at me about driving too fast and destroying
everything she loved.

Once the dust settled it was shared with me that she

was pregnant once upon a time, and she already had
a 1 year old. The husband and the 1 year old got in
an accident on the way to the hospital, they both
died. She was so distraught over it she gave the
newborn up for adoption. That’s why her delusions
start over after the due date and she is so mad in
between. I imagine some residual guilt/anger for her
loss is what cause her to throat punch me for taking
her doll.

When I first started working there I just thought she

was some fun old delusional lady. I never expected
the delusions to have back stories. It’s
heartbreaking…Dementia seems horrifying enough
when its described as ‘being confused, or losing your
mind,’ but it seems so much worse when it’s, ‘repeat
your worst life experience over and over until you
die.’…To constantly be stuck in the time leading up
to your most traumatic experience and reliving it
over and over…the very definition of hell in my
opinion.”

—Penetrative

14. A butt-naked little old lady tried to corner me

while swinging a commode at me.
“Not specifically at a psychiatric ward but had a
patient at the hospital with severe dementia. I had
gotten her up and out of the bed to the bedside
commode (bedside toilet) and while trying to get her
back in bed she demanded I get my hands off of her,
she took a step back away from me, ripped off her
gown and was completely naked, grabbed the
commode and started attempting to swing it at me
while accusing me of making racial slurs towards
her. I had to end up calling the charge nurse who
proceeded to call security. Well, about a minute later
security comes running in the room and busts out
laughing as he seems a butt-naked little old lady
trying to corner me while swinging a commode at
me.”

—Fopom1

15. He had been raped by his father and was

going to go back to live with him in a camper by
the lake.
“I was in a juvenile psych unit. A 16-year-old kid was
in for molesting his 3-year-old sister. He was court
ordered to be there for a period of time. I found out
that he was raped by his father. I asked him where
he would be going after release (because he couldn’t
go back into his home with his sister). He told me
his father had found a camper and put it at a lake
and he would be living there until he graduated.

Yes, the same father that raped him.

His head was so fucked.”

—toethumbrn

16. She witnessed her mother’s brutal murder at

age 4…the things she would scream when
actively psychotic were truly some of the
saddest, most terrible things I have ever heard.
“This schizophrenic woman whose psychosis had
the real-life origin of Dexter the TV character.

She witnessed her mother’s brutal murder at age 4

and was not found for almost a week. The things she
would scream when actively psychotic were truly
some of the saddest, most terrible things I have ever
heard.

She could be pretty lucid on good days, and had a

real affinity for flowers. One of the things she most
liked to do was take a cab to town when all the staff
was distracted making lunch, buy a bunch of flowers,
take the cab back and waltz back into her suite
carrying an insane (literally) amount of daisies and
shit. By then we would be frantically looking for her,
and suddenly an angry cabby shows up ranting
about payment. She was pretty fantastic.”

—Aggressivecleaning

17. Told us about their marriage with Jesus, how

their 250 grandkids are doing, why we were
getting fired, and then yelling at themselves for
firing us.
“Working at a psychiatric hospital at the moment.
Honestly, it depends on the day. What’s interesting
to me is how someone is fine the next day but will
stand up randomly and shout ‘I need my kitty
titties!’ the next. One that was consistently troubled
was a patient with hallucinations and schizophrenia.
Told us about their marriage with Jesus, how their
250 grandkids are doing, why we were getting fired
and then yelling at themselves for firing us.”

—alurkerwhomannedup

18. Had a patient try to cut their tongue out.

They almost succeeded.
“Had a patient try to cut their tongue out. They
almost succeeded.

Had another patient who cycled through almost 100

foster homes in their youth.

I have seen violence and gore. I’ve seen severe

delusions. Worked with refugees. The one that sticks
with me the most is the patient who was married to
their spouse for over 60 years. The spouse was
supportive during all mental health crises. The
spouse cheated after 60 years of marriage, leaving
the patient homeless and heartbroken.”

—-Hownowbrowncow

19. Totally vacant staring eyes, jaw hanging

down with a continuous thread of dribble rolling
o" his bottom lip.
“Brain damage can be absolutely horrific. Broken
humans that don’t work anymore and nobody knows
what to do with them.

There was one guy who had brain damage from

infant meningitis. The guy is about 40-50 years old
now, but he’s exactly like what you might imagine a
lobotomized person to look like. Totally vacant
staring eyes, jaw hanging down with a continuous
thread of dribble rolling off his bottom lip. Arms
hanging down by his sides. And all he does is pace
up and down whatever room his is in, all day and all
night, until he collapses asleep after about 4-5 days
sleeps 12 hours, wakes up and resumes pacing.

He wears an adult nappy/diaper because he is totally

incontinent, and changing it is remarkably difficult
because he won’t stop pacing even while people are
trying to clean him up. He cannot eat by himself, he
cannot do anything by himself, the only verbal
noise/speech he produces is a loud ‘GU-GU-GU-GU-
GU-GU-GU-GU’ like a propeller engine starting up.

There’s nothing there in his mind, at all. He’s a husk.

He never smiles, never frowns, give no indication of
any aspiration or want. That has been his entire life.
He has no purpose, has required 24 hour care his
entire life, and I don’t think there’s a single person
who has ever worked with him that wouldn’t have
gladly taken him outside and shot him in the head if
they were allowed to.

Anybody opposed to euthanasia hasn’t seen real

brain damage. Anyone who can’t understand why
doctors give up trying to resuscitate after a certain
point where irreversible brain damage has occurred
have not seen real brain damage. Anyone upset
about the doctors ending Charlie Gard’s life haven’t
seen real brain damage. They should transport the