35 hours ago · The hospital’s internal report on the incident substantiated the allegations of physical abuse by the staff member. However, ULS said the hospital failed to recommend sufficient or significant corrective action in response to these findings. The St. Elizabeths report made only one recommendation — enforcing quicker response to the emergency ... >> Go To The Portal
We conclude that patient allegations of staff sexual abuse, which have powerful effects on those involved, are not isolated, rare events. Procedural recommendations to address allegations are made. MeSH terms
Top 10 Forms of Psychiatric Institution Abuse 1 Misdiagnosis. 2 Labeled for life. 3 Disregard of Consent. 4 Over – drugging. 5 Violent Restraints. 6 ... (more items)
Punishments & Isolation In most psychiatric institutions, the patients are treated as mere children who need to be punished with childish measures such as standing with the hands in the air, solitary confinement etc. While we all understand a need for structure, basic respect cannot be compromised on.
Abusive Therapies In the name of therapy, the mentally ill have had to undergo torture, physical and emotional abuse since time immemorial. Today, in our civilized psychiatrist institutions, some practices such as the use of electric shock therapies and hydrotherapy (the use of ice cold towels or high pressure jets to calm the patient) still exist.
St. Elizabeths Hospital and the Department of Behavioral Health sent City Paper emailed statements in response to detailed questions about DRDC’s report.
In Morgan’s case, DRDC found “no evidence showing that staff attempted or implemented meaningful therapeutic measures, offered her support, or tried to comfort her” after staff injected drugs to restrain her that left her traumatized. DRDC also says staff violated D.C. law by falsifying documentation—staff documents say Morgan was “anxious and yelling,” so she could not leave the seclusion room, but surveillance footage reviewed by DRDC disproves that allegation.
Staff put another patient—in the report identified as Anne Williams, also a pseudonym—in either a physical hold, mechanical restraint, and/or seclusion over 65 times in the six-month period between November 2019 and May 2020. Staff used restraint or seclusion on Williams multiple times in one day, in one case locked in a single restraint for over four hours. Williams has an intellectual disability, as well as a history of trauma and neglect, and DRDC found no evidence to support that hospital staff attempted to use less aggressive restraint techniques on her, or even that they completed the required post-event debriefing.
The psychological consequences of that practice, DRDC found, are profound. “Hospital policy recognizes that patients with a trauma history are particularly vulnerable to psychological harm from restraint and seclusion, noting that they can be ‘trauma-inducing’ and lead to the ‘potential for physical and psychological harm and loss of dignity,’” the report says. “Ms. Morgan reports that each episode of seclusion and restraint has left her feeling traumatized, frightened and humiliated.”
The experience of Lisa Morgan, a pseudonym, was documented in a new report released by Disability Rights DC (DRDC) program at University Legal Services, which monitors patient treatment at various local hospitals, including St. Elizabeths, D.C.’s only public psychiatric hospital. In the first three months of 2020 alone, DRDC’s review found, St. Elizabeths staff restrained patients 149 times and secluded patients 55 times.
It’s true, mostly the patients are kept on a high dose of medications so that they can be controlled.
But, over the years many a case of deafness has been misdiagnosed as mental retardation, behavioral changes because of allergies, toxicity and brain tumors have been misdiagnosed as Bipolar Disorder or Schizophrenia.
Under the guise of mental health, “ the person is denied basic human rights, punished and cheated cruelly and stripped of free will, which is fundamental to human existence itself. ”
In most psychiatric institutions, the patients are treated as mere children who need to be punished with childish measures such as standing with the hands in the air, solitary confinement etc. While we all understand a need for structure, basic respect cannot be compromised on. Because complains and resistance to such treatment is never fully acknowledged and it is easy to curb someone who is labeled mad, such practices continue
Since the mentally disabled are not a functional part of society, the quality of their care is barely a concern to institutions that house them. There are 450 million mentally ill people in the world (Source: WHO Mental Health Survey, 2010) and barely enough caretakers and institutions. People with no training are also employed just because they are willing. But this supremely compromises on the care that the patient gets. There is a general attitude of ineptitude amongst mental health workers. Of course, there are many qualified and adept psychiatrists and support staff, but the everyday care quality is not a concern for them.
Cases of rape, sexual molestation, rage beatings are not uncommon. Where within the patient already suffers from the pain, anguish and turmoil of being subjected to psychiatric treatment, the staff takes out its own frustration or uses the helplessness of the patients to their own advantage.
Unfortunately, many people do not realize that the right of informed consent applies to psychiatric patients, just as they would to any other medical patient. They have legal rights to be properly notified, at the right time, about the dangers of the treatment they are about to receive. But since they are labeled as insane, the institutions take it upon themselves to meet out any kind of treatment, they want to. Even if the patient complains, even if the treatment is not working for the patient, since every spoken word of the patient is treated as babble, the institution has its way with them.
If your loved one is being abused in a Philadelphia psychiatric hospital, the best way to help them is to immediately contact a lawyer. An experienced lawyer will be able to put a stop to the abuse and properly investigate your potential medical malpractice claims. Oftentimes, working with a lawyer is the only way to ensure authorities thoroughly investigate neglect and abuse claims. Additionally, working with a lawyer will allow victims to seek compensation from negligent hospitals and staff for their injuries.
Patients in psychiatric hospitals can suffer from behavior disorders and hallucinations that can cause them to become angry and violent. While this violence is sometimes directed at staff members, it can also be directed at other patients.
Most people think of hospitals as somewhere they go if they have broken an arm or are suffering from an infection; however, hospitals also help patients with illnesses that are not as obvious. Psychiatric hospitals help patients suffering from a variety of mental illnesses and operate differently than other hospitals to better cater to the specific needs of these patients. Unfortunately for patients in psychiatric hospitals, they are particularly vulnerable to neglect and abuse.
Psychiatric hospitals have a responsibility to keep patients safe from harm, including harm from other patients. Not only can patients suffer physical abuse by other patients, but sexual abuse amongst patients is also a serious threat.
Psychiatric patients often have no place to turn if they suffer abuse or neglect. Because they suffer from mental illnesses, staff, regulating agencies, and family members don’t always take their complaints seriously. Abuse and neglect in psychiatric hospitals can be reported to federal and state agencies, but unfortunately these agencies are overwhelmed and the investigation of claims often doesn’t happen promptly or sometimes doesn’t happen at all.