You know how you feel when you come out of a movie at midday? you blink and you realize that you had forgotten there is this other world out there. You see it in a new way. At least for a little while.
That’s how I felt two years ago today, after I was unnecessarily kept in this place for a week. This is Rockford Center for Behavioral Health degradation. There I endured a protracted ordeal that included: confiscation of personal items, strip search (can you say “tramatic”?), heavy medication, electronic beacon on the wrist, violation of patient rights, neglect, abuse, filthy conditions, horrible food, underqualified “group therapy leaders,” NO treatment plan and NO individual treatment, as well as threats to commit self-admitted patients who wanted to leave before their insurance coverage ran out.
Two years later I still struggle to recover from their #PsychAbuse. I went in because a doctor at ChristianaCare assured me I could find help for my Complex PTSD ( janked-up nervous system). “It’s a gateway to services like a psychiatrist and expressive arts therapy,” he promised. But I came out with a MORE janked-up nervous system, plus several weeks of withdrawal symptoms from the imposed polypharmacy. The “care” I received from the system set me back a great deal and affected my physical health, as well. It’s impossible to participate in activities or exercise regularly when been flattened by trauma upon trauma upon trauma, with far too little time or assistance to recover.
Rockford Center is owned by Universal Health Services (UHS), which “operates 26 Acute Care hospitals, 328 Behavioral Health inpatient facilities, and 42 outpatient facilities and ambulatory care centers in 37 states in the U.S., Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom.” According to the Buzzfeed News investigative report, “What the Fuck Just Happened?,” UHS owns about 25% of the facilities in the US and “more than a third of the company’s overall revenue — from both medical hospitals and psychiatric facilities — comes from taxpayers through Medicare and Medicaid.” UHS turns a 30% profit by cutting staff and services, tricking people into coming, keeping them as long as possible, and milking medicaid and medicare. THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! They harm people every day. But this is apparently A-OK with Delaware and pretty much everyone else. I’m here to help #MakeItStop
#TraumaAwareAmerica
#PsychAbuseSurvivor
#StopPsychAbuse
#HelpDontHarm
#MedicalProfitsIndustry
#HarmedByChristianaCare