Back in 2000, I was in the Bengs unit of Mayview. I was sent there due to multiple hospitalizations for my Bipolar Disorder. I remember being scared to death. I meet the Dr. G on my first day there and he said that the Dr that sent me there was a idiot for sending me there and that this was not a place for me. I remember having to sit in a day room all day with barely anything to do. There wasn't much therapy, or activities for the patients to do. Dr. G told me if I follow my treatment plan he would have me out in 30 days. The Dr. that sent me there wanted me there for 90. I meet a wide variety of people with many disorders. I was 19 when I was sent there. I am stable now, but I can remember talking to some of the other patients about how long they have been there and most of them where there for over ten years. Some because they were not getting better, others because there families gave up on them. I can see why some of them never go better, just being in the day room for 14 hrs a day would drive a normal person crazy. What do you think it would do to some one that had a mental illness? I think that residential programs need to be more available in all counties that use Mayview, and that Mayview needs to re-evaluate how they treat patients. It could be a better place if the DPW cared more about helping people rather than hassling them. I don't think people should be allowed to stay more than a year in a state hospital unless they are diagnosed as Criminally Insane.
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