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Comment by stephen | Hacker News Reader

I really don't understand the comments here. "Lie better"? Wtf?

The gal has obviously sick. Yes, Yale sent her away, but is there any actual psychiatrist here who would recommend keeping a suicidal/self-harming patient in any school/job situation?

If anything, Yale should get some credit for not black balling her; they, including this awful "won't see the students" Dr. Siggins, readmitted her when she was recovered.

Sounds like a horrible, unfortunate situation worked out as well as can be expected.

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You have a point, but this is definitely not an example of it working out as well as can be expected...

> There I was taken to the locked ward of the ER — guarded by officers with guns — stripped of all my belongings, including my pants (they had a drawstring), and shunted into a cubicle containing nothing but a bed. I was here for my own good, they told me.

> Upon arrival, I was taken into a small room with two female staff members, forced to take off my underwear, spread my legs, then hop up and down to make sure nothing was hidden “up there.”

Yes, well, unfortunately but realistically, this is just standard admittance practice for psych wards (per the article this all happened at Yale-New Haven, not Yale itself).

I'm sure it's horrible and humiliating, but a) it's not torture (a word another commenter used), and b) you're admitting known-unstable people into very close quarters with doctors and nurses who will care, feed, and bathe them over the next several days/weeks.

So, yes, hospitals have decided this safety check is warranted. "OMG covering their ass!". Yes, exactly. They're probably covering their ass because sometime ago, someone did get something in, and bad things happened.

If I were a doctor/nurse working in a psych ward year around, I would appreciate the safety check.

The author says, sarcastically, "I was here for my own good" (with various dangerous items removed). She was actually right. They take precautions for a reason, not just to be assholes.

> I'm sure it's horrible and humiliating, but a) it's not torture (a word another commenter used), and b) you're admitting known-unstable people into very close quarters with doctors and nurses who will care, feed, and bathe them over the next several days/weeks.

In theory you are right. In reality, you run a huge risk of triggering a bigger problem if the patient have a sexual abuse history.

> In theory you are right. In reality, you run a huge risk of triggering a bigger problem if the patient have a sexual abuse history.

Depending on the intake procedure, that can be part of the 'flowchart' to deal with.

I've been there when a suicidal person pulled a razor blade out and started trying to slash us as we were trying to take a chest x-ray after an OD with vomit inhalation. I do not believe that any search risks a bigger problem - it is lucky that no one was hurt (patient included). The later search (including x-raying the patient top to toe) found more razor blades, some internal. Edit: missed word.

Wouldn't a metal detector do the job?

Possibly, I have never used one. A razor blade is very small, and the consequences of a miss could be high so that may be a factor.

Metal detector sensitivities can be turned up to where they detect even pins in a bone. The bigger risk with the metal detector approach is sharpened plastics or glass.

I agree with you on Yale's actions and the suitability of those actions. That does not mean the lesson she drew from her experiences is incorrect; In the real world the only person who always has your back isyou. If you're fortunate one of friends or family will actually be there for you if you need them, if lucky both. Institutions are inhuman and they protect themselves Bureaucracies do not give a shit.

> In the real world the only person who always has your back is you.

When suffering from mental illness, this belief can be simultaneously helpful and devastatingly incorrect.

> In the real world the only person who always has your back isyou.

In context of this post, from personal experience, I can tell you only one thing: This is almost never true.

> The gal has obviously sick. Yes, Yale sent her away, but is there any actual psychiatrist here who would recommend keeping a suicidal/self-harming patient in any school/job situation?

I would be reasonable surprised if the first round of advise from a psychiatrist to recommend quitting a job or stopping school. In the cases where it would be recommended I would bet it only happens after there is a strong alternative support network in place.

So yes Yale sent her away, but it is not obvious a psychiatrist would have made the same choice.

> If anything, Yale should get some credit for not black balling her;

Do you think they deserve credit for making a reasonable decision? Or that Yale did a better job relative to what is standard for other Universities?

She's talking about more than that, about the inability of Yale students to talk about and get help with their problems, perhaps before they escalate and become more serious.

While that may well be true in some cases, in my own experience I've never felt like I couldn't get help with my problems, minor as they might have been. Long story short, a serious of unfortunate circumstances led to me having a period of anxiety/insomnia that was affecting my studies. I talked to my freshman counselor who referred me to my college dean, who in turn extended deadlines for several of my assignments to decrease my stress. He also referred me to Yale Health, where I had a few counseling sessions and was prescribed a sleeping aid.

The counseling itself was nothing to write home about, but at no point in the experience did I feel I had to filter my problems to avoid repercussions. Granted, the issues I was dealing with were quite mild compared to the author of this article, and her experiences may well be representative of students facing serious mental health problems. I merely wanted to post to say that, in my opinion, most Yale students are able to talk and get help with their problems without fear of repercussions.

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