Forgot to post this.

This happened only recently. From another confessor at IMH Confessions 

Lack of Autonomy

Most possessions taken away

No freedom in choosing what food to eat

No access to phones or laptops 

A fucking ugly uniform 

Lack of Social Support

Only have a certain period of time when the patients are allowed to call home 

Spend most of the day simply trapped in the ward with nothing to do. Most simply sit there and stone 

If no relatives visit the patients, they won’t have anyone to really talk to the whole day. In fact, for majority of the patients, I do not see anyone visiting them

Lack of Leisure Activity

Limited activities inside the ward

Only have a television that is very small and can’t even hear the volume 

Has a radio 

Some board games 

But most patients simply sit there and do nothing the whole lack

Lack of Sanitation

Toilet paper is not readily available. You must ask it from the nurse. I had no idea that I had to ask at first, so I went to pee without being able to wipe 

Toilet and floor was stained with poop 

When showering, only one bottle of soup was available. The label writes ‘shampoo’. Where is the one for the body, then? 

The pillow was a hard thing wrapped in plastic. So I put the pillow aside and simply lie on the bed without it

Abusive Nurses

Case One:

Patient: I want to eat breakfast! 

Nurse: Later. If you make noise again, you’ll eat shit

Case Two:

Patient was confiding in me about how she wishes to call her sister to ask her to buy her medical oil but the nurse refused her. I recalled that last night, she was indeed begging the nurse to let her call her sister. Even though the patient explained that her sister is flying off to Malaysia, and will not be contactable if she waits till the “calling time”. But the nurse insisted that “calling time” is over.

She was simply crying quietly to me, which was very okay for me. After all, I’m a psychology student and ready to counsel her if needed. But the nurses walked by and called her attention-seeking, and tied up her. 

And that was when started screaming and crying and kicking. 

Along the way, the nurses taunted her with:

“Attention-seeking only. No tears from your eyes.”

“You shut up.”

“Cry louder. Cry louder.”

“Somatic la you!”

One of them even started to mimic the way the patient was wailing.

Case Two:

I was reading my lecture notes while eating breakfast slowly. I was eating slowly because I had no appetite but I know I had to eat because I need energy

I suddenly felt a nurse jabbing my shoulder roughly, and shouting at me to hurry up and finish. When breakfast time was not even halfway over. I lost my appetite competely and only ate ¼ of it

As I observe her further, I later realises that she likes to shout at patients needlessly

 Case Three:

Patient was wailing and being slightly violent

Nurse was like, “Come, beat beat beat. You beat me, I got MC then I don’t need to come to work. I give you beat, why you don’t want to beat?”

Case Four:

Patient pooped in pants. Nurse call her a pig. Another nurse shouted at her to wipe the mess herself. Patient doesn’t want to wash her butt. Nurse threatens her with ‘no meal’. 

They let her walking around the place with shit on her butt. Then, she changed her butt and started wailing that she wants to wash her back side. The nurses all ignored her. One nurse mimicked her, ignoring her request 

What I felt:

Treated less than a human

Felt that even though I came into the hospital without any suicidal thoughts, I will end up having suicidal thoughts if I stayed any longer

Traumatic to hear and listen to all the abuses and mistreatments happening, and yet unable to voice out about it. Because I need to play the role of a model patient in order to get discharged as soon as possible