Psychiatric ward - is this normal?

daisychain

Bit of background, a relative of mine in his 60s was suffering with depression for about 2 months, he was perscribed valium and then xanax, both of which he wouldn't take because he said they made him too sleepy. The depression progressed and he began hallucinating and thinking that he was dying. He wouldn't get up out of bed to go to his GP and his grown up son had to drag him out of bed and physically dress him in order to bring him. Eventually his GP sent him to the psychiatric ward of an acute hospital 20 miles away (in through A&E) For the first 2 weeks he was in a ward where the outer door of the ward was always locked, we had to ring a bell to get in. Although apart from that it looked like any other ward and the staff were great. After 2 weeks he was moved out to the "regular" psychiatric ward (other patients were moved out after a day or 2) Last week there was talk of sending him home for the weekend but it didn't happen.

This week there was again talk of him going home for the weekend, his son said he didn't want to go home yet, he didn't feel ready. His wife told me yesterday that she was going to visit him today. At about half 11 this morning, by total chance, I saw him walking around town (this town not the one where the hospital is) looking lost. His jacket was open and he just had a t-shirt under it even though it was cold and starting to rain. He didn't see me so I ran after him, he said the hospital had let him home for the weekend, so he got a bus from the hospital to the city centre and then another bus home. When I found him he was nowhere near the bus stop, he was heading towards his childhood home, where his sister still lives, but when I approached him he was going into a phone box, even though there are 2 phone boxes beside the bus stop where he would have got off
I told him to get into my car and I'd bring him home, and that he should have called from the hospital and we'd have picked him up, but he said "ah sure the bus is only a few euro" I called his wife and told her just so she wouldn't get a fright when she saw him.

Is it normal to just leave someone out like that? I would be raging. I can't stop thinking what would have gone through his poor wifes mind if she had gone to hospital to visit him, only to find that he was gone. The hospital didn't even phone her, there is a problem with her landline and maybe they don't have her mobile no. but even so it just seems a bit stupid to leave him off to his own devices after 3 weeks of being in hospital and sedated.

Pete4779

daisychain wrote: »

Bit of background, a relative of mine in his 60s was suffering with depression for about 2 months, he was perscribed valium and then xanax, both of which he wouldn't take because he said they made him too sleepy. The depression progressed and he began hallucinating and thinking that he was dying. He wouldn't get up out of bed to go to his GP and his grown up son had to drag him out of bed and physically dress him in order to bring him. Eventually his GP sent him to the psychiatric ward of an acute hospital 20 miles away (in through A&E) For the first 2 weeks he was in a ward where the outer door of the ward was always locked, we had to ring a bell to get in. Although apart from that it looked like any other ward and the staff were great. After 2 weeks he was moved out to the "regular" psychiatric ward (other patients were moved out after a day or 2) Last week there was talk of sending him home for the weekend but it didn't happen.

This week there was again talk of him going home for the weekend, his son said he didn't want to go home yet, he didn't feel ready. His wife told me yesterday that she was going to visit him today. At about half 11 this morning, by total chance, I saw him walking around town (this town not the one where the hospital is) looking lost. His jacket was open and he just had a t-shirt under it even though it was cold and starting to rain. He didn't see me so I ran after him, he said the hospital had let him home for the weekend, so he got a bus from the hospital to the city centre and then another bus home. When I found him he was nowhere near the bus stop, he was heading towards his childhood home, where his sister still lives, but when I approached him he was going into a phone box, even though there are 2 phone boxes beside the bus stop where he would have got off
I told him to get into my car and I'd bring him home, and that he should have called from the hospital and we'd have picked him up, but he said "ah sure the bus is only a few euro" I called his wife and told her just so she wouldn't get a fright when she saw him.

Is it normal to just leave someone out like that? I would be raging. I can't stop thinking what would have gone through his poor wifes mind if she had gone to hospital to visit him, only to find that he was gone. The hospital didn't even phone her, there is a problem with her landline and maybe they don't have her mobile no. but even so it just seems a bit stupid to leave him off to his own devices after 3 weeks of being in hospital and sedated.

You don't know exactly what happened, but the first few lines of our post would suggest that the general practice in your area is not prescribing with established best practice. Benzodiazepines are not treatment for depression, and two benzodiazepines simultaneously is just wrong entirely.

daisychain

Thanks for the reply, I should have described it a bit better. He was perscribed Valium, and subsequently Xanax instead of the valium.

He has since been discharged from hospital and is a lot better, but still not 100%

eth0_

Strange to be treated with valium or xanax if you have depression, anxiety yes, but it would make the depression 'worse' in that it would cause/not help blunted affect or motivation to do things.

Odysseus

eth0_ wrote: »

Strange to be treated with valium or xanax if you have depression, anxiety yes, but it would make the depression 'worse' in that it would cause/not help blunted affect or motivation to do things.

Believe me its not that strange at all, to be fair there have been changes in relation to the prescription of benzos in Ireland over the past few years, but we still have a long way to come. Alot of GPs still see them as the way to go in cases like this, and the three month recommemded max time frame is pretty much ignored.