Bipolar Disorder Support Group
Bipolar disorder is not just a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders marked by periods of abnormally high energy and euphoria, often accompanied by bouts of clinical depression. This is the place to talk about your experience with bipolar disorder, learn from others' experiences, and find support.
This thread is going to be about items that are forbidden from being brought into a Crisis Stabilization Unit, or CSU. It can include commonly banned items, or really bizarre rules specific to one place. Off-topic as specified by OT, but this can be very useful for those of you CSU virgins, should you ever consider inpatient care.
Lessseeee I'll start us off
-clothes depicting alcohol, drugs, weapons, or sex
-no pillowcases
-NO SHOESTRINGS, or hoodie strings, or strings of any kind, this goes for most institutions
-several places I've been to have put a strict limit on the number of blankets or towels any one person is allotted
-razors, which I've seen handed out to people, on the condition they are given back. this one doesn't make sense to me but I digress.
-hoodies? hoodies.
-makeup sometimes
-makeup just in glass pots
-hair products
-hair dryers, straighteners, etc. more for the windy cords than the possibility of electrocution
-caffeine of any kind
-ipods, phones. etc. anything of the apple variety.
-fine-tooth comb
several weird item stories:
-stuffed animals. when I was in the Adolescent Ward a few years prior there was this kid who hid under a table because they tried to take his stuffed panda.
-everything was taken from me in the holding unit of the state hospital. I had to ask for a dollop of toothpaste to be put on my toothbrush.
-this one's embarrassing. in the suicide watch room all my belongings were confiscated and I wasn't allowed to rustle through them to fish out fresh clothes. I was given some 'hospital donation underwear' after a shower the second or third night there and... my god. they were the granniest of pannies. loooool.
Quick rules: don't mention ways 'around' the rules. even though most are pretty obvious honestly and... why would you, for short-term...?
Lessseeee I'll start us off
-clothes depicting alcohol, drugs, weapons, or sex
-no pillowcases
-NO SHOESTRINGS, or hoodie strings, or strings of any kind, this goes for most institutions
-several places I've been to have put a strict limit on the number of blankets or towels any one person is allotted
-razors, which I've seen handed out to people, on the condition they are given back. this one doesn't make sense to me but I digress.
-hoodies? hoodies.
-makeup sometimes
-makeup just in glass pots
-hair products
-hair dryers, straighteners, etc. more for the windy cords than the possibility of electrocution
-caffeine of any kind
-ipods, phones. etc. anything of the apple variety.
-fine-tooth comb
several weird item stories:
-stuffed animals. when I was in the Adolescent Ward a few years prior there was this kid who hid under a table because they tried to take his stuffed panda.
-everything was taken from me in the holding unit of the state hospital. I had to ask for a dollop of toothpaste to be put on my toothbrush.
-this one's embarrassing. in the suicide watch room all my belongings were confiscated and I wasn't allowed to rustle through them to fish out fresh clothes. I was given some 'hospital donation underwear' after a shower the second or third night there and... my god. they were the granniest of pannies. loooool.
Quick rules: don't mention ways 'around' the rules. even though most are pretty obvious honestly and... why would you, for short-term...?
One thing that always amuses me is you are allowed to have flowers brought to you, but no glass vases, and they NEVER have anything you can use as a vase. It's a mental hospital, people get flowers, you'd think they'd suck it up and go to the dollar store and get some plastic ones.
Oh and no soda cans in one place. You could have plastic bottles but no cans and there were no cans in the vending machine.
mirrors
jewelry
money
belts
leggings
Not sure why but no marijuana, personal Klonopin, condoms, boyfriends or men of any kind, cigarettes, lighters, sex toys, porn, gambling devices, alcoholic drinks, pipes, rolling papers, etc.
Looool Lily. One girl brought a vibrator lol. I honestly don't know if they let her keep it or not. I think it was confiscated because of the batteries. Lithium batteries are used in making a certain chemical *cough*
They took my O Ring collar ]: I got a funny look for that.
Coming off caffeine was pretty bad. In rehab there was a vending machine and I saved up my 'allowance' to buy sodas to help me wake up at 6am.
Everywhere I've been, technology is absolutely banned, aside from the residential landline phone.
I had to stay in the waiting area lol.
It was embarrassing because I have huge anxiety about even non-aggressive confrontations such as asking for things.
I'm one of those iffy asshole girls who sits there and waffles about what to order from the menu on a date, I hope that'll wear off with age.
In the adolescent ward when I was 15 they banned use of makeup. Wouldn't have been a priority ANYDAMNWAYS but still, I felt like a hag. I had this 'friend' I made there who made a list of "who's cute and who's not" in our group, she was kind of all "no offense but she's cuter than you. I MEAN YOU'RE PRETTY but she's gorgeous." Fffff. Rude.
I had a friend in high school who used to do that too. I think it's sort of a lesser form of narcissism/social unawareness, so I guess I shouldn't take it the wrong way.