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.
Part XV (b)...Once realising I was now in a makeshift mental ward in the Philippines the question was, when do I get out? This decision is not made up to me, but in the past in Australia I get confined for at least a week before I am allowed in the open ward. Spending at least 6 weeks in hospital in all. Was it going to be the same in the Philippines? I simply didn't know.
The thoughts of them siphoning my bank account whilst I stayed there came to mind, as well as the thought that they were holding me to ransom.
When I'm faced with the unknown it really exacerbates my condition. I wasn't drugged as much as I am usually and I still had my senses, although I was finding it hard to come to terms with reality, especially when I was still hallucinating.
My bed stank of urine, and my cell room was filthy. The toilet didn't have a flush so I had to use the bucket there and filled it up with water and tip it down the toilet to flush when I went to the toilet. The first night I was there I urinated a lot and I wasn't flushing it with the bucket, the smell became unbearable before I figured out how to flush the toilet.
A number of people on the open side would come to my cell door and talk to me (fellow patients). One in particular would come to my cell door all the time, then sit down and hook his feet under the cell door and do sit ups. He would keep this up for over 10 minutes without taking his eyes off me. When he finished doing his sit ups he stood up and we began talking, thankfully he could speak english. He told me people in the ward would want things from me, and that it was best to keep to myself and to do as much as I could on my own, otherwise I would be in debt to them. As I was talking to him, he seemed to morph in front of me, he looked taller and took on the image of Mike Tyson. I told him that he had the spirit of Mike Tyson and I stood back and said I wouldn't "mess" with him. As soon as I stood back he took on his natural form, and from then on in I called him Mike.
Where that cell door was, was the "open" side, and a bloke called Chris would sleep on the other side of the bars. We spoke also, along with the bloke that had a bed aside him. The bloke that slept along side him spoke english as well and he seem to be ok. He helped me out with washing powder to clean my own clothes in the bucket and I also used this to clean my cell floor the second night I was there. He also gave me soap to bathe myself with a hand cloth out of the bucket as well.
He would bring me food from down stairs which mainly consisted of rice and some sort of soup to go with it. I ended up losing my appetite and I began not eating my meals and leaving them under the cell door. Instead I would munch on the biscuits my wife had sent me.
The third day they opened my cell and I walked down stairs where the lunch room/basketball court was. There I met the doctor, I was with him for a couple of minutes. All I told him was the medication I was on and that I was flying back to Australia May 14. That afternoon the owner came into my cell (which was no longer padlocked). I have no recollection of the conversation whatsoever, except for when in mid conversation I noticed a bee on my bed and for some reason the owner kicked it. Thats all I remember and the fact I was now free to roam around the crowded ward, but not allowed down stairs which was also locked.
That night they gave me 100mg of Seroquel for they had had reports I was not sleeping at night. My current dose was 25mg. The nurse would come from the other side of my cell to give me the medication. This worked and I ended up having a decent night sleep.
On the fourth day they opened my cell door that led into the into the office, there I saw my wife, who had been visiting every day but wouldn't allow me to see her. She noticed I had lost weight and we didn't really talk about much instead just holding hands. She told me that our Landlord wouldn't let us to stay longer in our residence for the problem I had with security and that we had to make alternative arrangements for our accommodation. Our landlady would come into out residence once a week to clean, and when she went into our residence to clean recently she found my wallet in the freezer. My wife had been in close contact with my the landlady, my parents and sister the whole time I was in "homecare" and because they thought I lost my wallet they had put my cards on hold. I told my wife when she left to try and withdraw money from the account to help with her expenses.
That night I woke up in the middle of the night to a worker padlocking my cell door again, I quickly got up as he was walking away and I rattled the door. I told him to please keep my cell unlocked, which thankfully he did. The next day I went down stairs for my breakfast and lunch. After lunch we played basketball but I soon ran out of "puff" and had to sit down. There I spoke to a number of people including the half Australian/Filipino lady before going back up to my cell/room. I borrowed pen and paper from Chris and began writing my wife a letter. After I had finished someone came to my room and led me back to the office where my wife was. The front door was closed and I felt so close to freedom. I told them I wanted to go outside for a smoke. I calmly opened the door only to find that too was padlocked. I was locked in with my wife. I told them I had no where to go and that I would just want to be with my wife. My wife told me she had try to withdraw money but the ATM had swallowed my card.
I told staff there that I needed to open my cards again so that my wife (who is now solely reliant on my income) could get money out. They told me I wouldn't be able to leave until I had paid my bill. They had sent my sister an invoice for my stay up to the 14th May when it it was only the 28th April. My sister thought this was a daily charge and even so just wanted me out, so I took a photo of the invoice with my phone and sent it to her. My sister sent through the payment and gave me a receipt number. I also rang up my bank and got them to release my account, after a few security questions this was done.
The staff got my stuff from my room/cell and handed it to me. They unlocked the front door and my wife and I were free to leave.
Ref: www.boxrep.blogspot.com
The thoughts of them siphoning my bank account whilst I stayed there came to mind, as well as the thought that they were holding me to ransom.
When I'm faced with the unknown it really exacerbates my condition. I wasn't drugged as much as I am usually and I still had my senses, although I was finding it hard to come to terms with reality, especially when I was still hallucinating.
My bed stank of urine, and my cell room was filthy. The toilet didn't have a flush so I had to use the bucket there and filled it up with water and tip it down the toilet to flush when I went to the toilet. The first night I was there I urinated a lot and I wasn't flushing it with the bucket, the smell became unbearable before I figured out how to flush the toilet.
A number of people on the open side would come to my cell door and talk to me (fellow patients). One in particular would come to my cell door all the time, then sit down and hook his feet under the cell door and do sit ups. He would keep this up for over 10 minutes without taking his eyes off me. When he finished doing his sit ups he stood up and we began talking, thankfully he could speak english. He told me people in the ward would want things from me, and that it was best to keep to myself and to do as much as I could on my own, otherwise I would be in debt to them. As I was talking to him, he seemed to morph in front of me, he looked taller and took on the image of Mike Tyson. I told him that he had the spirit of Mike Tyson and I stood back and said I wouldn't "mess" with him. As soon as I stood back he took on his natural form, and from then on in I called him Mike.
Where that cell door was, was the "open" side, and a bloke called Chris would sleep on the other side of the bars. We spoke also, along with the bloke that had a bed aside him. The bloke that slept along side him spoke english as well and he seem to be ok. He helped me out with washing powder to clean my own clothes in the bucket and I also used this to clean my cell floor the second night I was there. He also gave me soap to bathe myself with a hand cloth out of the bucket as well.
He would bring me food from down stairs which mainly consisted of rice and some sort of soup to go with it. I ended up losing my appetite and I began not eating my meals and leaving them under the cell door. Instead I would munch on the biscuits my wife had sent me.
The third day they opened my cell and I walked down stairs where the lunch room/basketball court was. There I met the doctor, I was with him for a couple of minutes. All I told him was the medication I was on and that I was flying back to Australia May 14. That afternoon the owner came into my cell (which was no longer padlocked). I have no recollection of the conversation whatsoever, except for when in mid conversation I noticed a bee on my bed and for some reason the owner kicked it. Thats all I remember and the fact I was now free to roam around the crowded ward, but not allowed down stairs which was also locked.
That night they gave me 100mg of Seroquel for they had had reports I was not sleeping at night. My current dose was 25mg. The nurse would come from the other side of my cell to give me the medication. This worked and I ended up having a decent night sleep.
On the fourth day they opened my cell door that led into the into the office, there I saw my wife, who had been visiting every day but wouldn't allow me to see her. She noticed I had lost weight and we didn't really talk about much instead just holding hands. She told me that our Landlord wouldn't let us to stay longer in our residence for the problem I had with security and that we had to make alternative arrangements for our accommodation. Our landlady would come into out residence once a week to clean, and when she went into our residence to clean recently she found my wallet in the freezer. My wife had been in close contact with my the landlady, my parents and sister the whole time I was in "homecare" and because they thought I lost my wallet they had put my cards on hold. I told my wife when she left to try and withdraw money from the account to help with her expenses.
That night I woke up in the middle of the night to a worker padlocking my cell door again, I quickly got up as he was walking away and I rattled the door. I told him to please keep my cell unlocked, which thankfully he did. The next day I went down stairs for my breakfast and lunch. After lunch we played basketball but I soon ran out of "puff" and had to sit down. There I spoke to a number of people including the half Australian/Filipino lady before going back up to my cell/room. I borrowed pen and paper from Chris and began writing my wife a letter. After I had finished someone came to my room and led me back to the office where my wife was. The front door was closed and I felt so close to freedom. I told them I wanted to go outside for a smoke. I calmly opened the door only to find that too was padlocked. I was locked in with my wife. I told them I had no where to go and that I would just want to be with my wife. My wife told me she had try to withdraw money but the ATM had swallowed my card.
I told staff there that I needed to open my cards again so that my wife (who is now solely reliant on my income) could get money out. They told me I wouldn't be able to leave until I had paid my bill. They had sent my sister an invoice for my stay up to the 14th May when it it was only the 28th April. My sister thought this was a daily charge and even so just wanted me out, so I took a photo of the invoice with my phone and sent it to her. My sister sent through the payment and gave me a receipt number. I also rang up my bank and got them to release my account, after a few security questions this was done.
The staff got my stuff from my room/cell and handed it to me. They unlocked the front door and my wife and I were free to leave.
Ref: www.boxrep.blogspot.com
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