Last updated: 31/7/6
Inside psychiatry
Here are a few files that might be of interest to anybody that is worried that they might have to go into hospital. I hope they will illustrate the sort of thing that psychiatrists and social workers look for, consider important, note, and act upon.
jeffers130303.doc
First letter about me from a psychiatrist (to my employer), of April 96.
contacts240702.doc
Social Services' contacts records relating to my sectioning in 1999. - Notes of phone calls etc to/from me/them/others.
aswrepof170599_280502.doc
Approved Social Worker's reports on me before being sectioned, in 1999.
sectionpapers310102.doc
Section Papers (ie: the papers doctors and social workers sign to section you). (Might be useful to see this file, too, if you're at all worried about what I sent through the post: practical jokes: exploding cigar tin and 'commie pinko leftie detector'.)
nmhcinformationpack030703.doc
Norfolk Mental Health Care Information Pack (which should be given to patients upon admission). I should point out that the Trust has since changed its name, and that both the law and Trust practice may also have changed. But it should give you a pretty good idea of rights and so on.
drfewof050899_280502.doc (879kb)
Medical notes made during my stay in hospital, in 1999.
admnrsrepof050899_280502.doc
Admission nurse's report of 5/8/99 from my first stay in hospital.
nrsprogrepof050899_280502.doc
Nurses' progress report from my first stay in hospital
riskasstof050899_280502.doc
Risk assessment report from my first stay in hospital (I was considered low risk to myself or others.) This might be
interesting to anyone that, for example, self-harms.
hellesdonhospital250603.doc
Pictures of the inside and outside of Hellesdon psychiatric hospital (Norwich, UK).
hellesdonhospital250603.zip
Pictures of the inside and outside of Hellesdon psychiatric hospital (Norwich, UK) as PNG files in a Zip file.
section17leave240603.doc
Section 17 leave form. S17 is a section of the Mental Health Act, which permits patients to take leave from the hospital for a defined period of time, if signed out by relevant staff - sometimes if accompanied, etc. You just have to ask for Section 17 leave, then they'll consider it. :)
nmhcdata130303.doc
Some more data I obtained under the DPA, close to the second time I was sectioned.
fowler130303.doc
Letter from my social worker, which indicates a refusal on his part to operate in writing.
skyrme180303.doc
Letter from an ASW indicating intent to apply for a warrant of entry in March 2003, with supporting document. See also, my facsimile version of supporting info (as I scribbled on the original): WOFEINF.DOC. I responded with Warent.doc, the information I supplied to the court to resist social services' application for a warrant of entry, March 2003. skyrme220303.doc
Letter from ASW notifying me of success of application for Warrant of Entry.
Kind of a lesson in the futility of challenging the opinions of 'respected authorities'. They smashed my door down, anyway. But you're free to make up your own mind about how much respect you, personally, feel like giving them, based upon their writings and actions.
helpatcourtjj200303.doc
Help at court form (Legal Aid) - just to let you know it's possible.
tribunalsreasons240603.doc
Report of a Mental Health Review Tribunal hearing into my case in 2003. (You can ask for a Tribunal to hear the legal case for your detention (if under detained under Section 2 (for observation)) and the case for your diagnosis (if under Section 3 (for treatment) - either of which could lead to your discharge.) You can also appeal to the Hospital Managers (assuming Records Office staff understand the difference between 'The Hospital Managers' and 'people that happen to be managers at the hospital').
WEIGHT4.XLS
Effect of Risperdal Consta and Olanzapine on weight over time (I was on Risperdal Consta (a depot form of Risperidone) for the first part of the graph, where my weight was very erratic, and Olanzapine for the latter, where weight gain was rapid, with a couple of rather severe fasts/diets to reduce it again - the last section shows weight stabilising after coming off Olanzapine).
acid for stress 09 01 02.doc
A passage from a science book by Isaac Asimov on the effects of LSD (ie: it raises serotonin levels in the brain - an effect sometimes desired by doctors in cases of 'stress' - with notes on the effects of LSD and schizophrenia). Worth a quick peek if you're prescribed 'Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors' (SSRIs).
MIND2.DOC
Table of side-effects of various drugs I've experienced that I sent to Mind, as part of its own 'Yellow Card' campaign - GPs use a system of Yellow Cards to report side-effects.
securities.stanford.edu/1029/ALKS03-01
Link to a comment written by Stanford University on the prospects for Risperdal Consta (a depot injection form of Risperidone).
Inside Hellesdon Hospital
From here down is the original entry for this page...
This is what it's like in Hellesdon
Here's one of the rooms I had
I was pinned to the bed (procedure, I guess) a couple of times for injections of Clopixol (ghastly stuff) as I refused to take any medication voluntarily before I finally had enough of its side-effects and resigned myself to taking something voluntarily to make the doctors feel happy
You can see I brought my own duvet in. It's bloody freezing in there!
Here's me typing one of the numerous letters I wrote on a manual typewriter that I got for about a tenner, trying to get myself out of the place!
Here's me sitting with my mum on a bench in the grounds
I look pretty zonked because of the Clopixol I was on at the time. Most of the time, if people with mental health problems look ugly, it's almost certainly because of the wretched medicine they're being given. Clopixol, for example, caused constriction of my throat, serious clouding of the brain, muscular spasms, drooling, and made my arms hang down by my side, like some hideous kind of Scooby-Doo monster. But I'm sure the doctors thought I was a lot more healthy for it!
Help! Help! Let me out! Let me out!
Here's one of my first letters out of the hospital
I didn't have my typewriter at the time, so excuse the lousy quality!
Full Word version (780kb 2mins or so to download)
Here's one from shortly afterwards that I typed. (Am still experimenting with best way to post this kind of material!)
Letter of 16 08 99
Is this an indication of true madness? Or just germs?
The Jeremy
Insanity in 1902
Transcript of an entry from a medical dictionary from 1902 for 'Insanity'. Entry for 'Insanity'. This is included here as it is interesting to see where all this came from. This predates the invention of 'schizophrenia', and focuses to a large degree on a supposed 'hereditary' nature of mental illness, as well as 'feebleness' ('hence' more women in asylums at the time!), and classification more by age of person than by anything more useful, etc. Quite a large Word file, at 181kb!
History of mental hospitals
Transcript of a paper presented in 1962, by one Alexander Walk, on the history of mental hospitals. Evolution of mental hospitals.
While I'm updating this page, I think I'll add this link to a timeline of the history of mental health by Andrew Roberts, here, beneath the 1902 Quain's entry:
www.mdx.ac.uk/www/study/mhhtim.htm
It mentions me starting my web site! :)