Many days, Ashley from mentalhealthathome.org, writes thought-provoking posts, and today was no exception.
The topic was on the presence and absence of violent thoughts in people with severe mental illness.
I found it fascinating to engage with others about what makes them (and me) think, what I call violent or “obtuse thoughts.”
The consensus was that these thoughts, when we have them, can be cathartic, and are NOT indicative of who we are as individuals.
In fact, no one can control their thoughts, which leads me to the point of THIS post.
As I think about the days when I needed admittance to inpatient (and it has been awhile since then), I am questioning just how bad was I?
Well, it would seem that I did have everything from racing thoughts, to psychotic thoughts, to suicidal ideations.
I even tried to leave a moving vehicle on a few occasions on the way to the hospital.
So, the point of my taking this trip down memory lane was in fact to see, were my loved ones correct, those times they took me to the ER?
And thankfully, I believe they were!
I also want to mention a statistic that has been proven over and again, that mentally ill people are no more violent than that of the general population.
That said, were you ever hospitalized and feel you didn’t need to be?
Mentally Ill In America 
Any time that I was hospitalized, I absolutely needed to be, but being involuntary makes me angry, which makes me fight back against the treatment team.
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That sucks. I was almost involuntary once. It sounds like you got that designator removed, if I understood right.
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I was voluntary for part of my last stay, but involuntary for parts at the beginning and then again near the end.
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I understand now.
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I’ve never been hospitalised, but that’s mostly because I would have been abused worse by my family. I’m fortunate to have not met criteria for inpatient despite chronic suicidal ideation due to no firm intent or plan.
I would consider voluntary inpatient if I needed it. Came close last year. I’m fortunate that my mental health professionals understand inpatient can be difficult or even traumatising for some people AND it’s still an option due to no crisis centres etc. Gotta make do with what’s available.
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Nothing about this stuff is easy. Thanks for your comment.
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You’re a fiercely kind person, and it shows. Thank you 😊
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I think working retail helped that along. Lol. Thank you tho.
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We’ve never worked retail but did tech support haha. We always thank customer service staff, especially retail folks. ❤
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Yeah, it’s important to be kind. 🙂
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