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Rydon Ward 2019-12-13 Person 1 5 0

I was taken in this god awful place at the end of 2017, handcuffed and escorted by 2 policemen, like a guilty criminal. Taken upstairs to rydon 2 and dumped into an almost full to capacity ward of extremely sad, anxious and at times violent patients, i myself was attacked by an extremely disturbed lady on the 2nd day i was there and threatened on a further 2 occasions, the whole experience of the first 3-4 days was just confusing, traumatic and very upsetting, with seemingly no-one listening to you or your wishes or even basic civil rights as a human being. I was not told why i was there for almost a month, they just kept saying 'you know why you are here'. I was not made aware of any of my rights?, how long i may expect to be there?, what they thought the diagnosis was? and the medication was enforced, not mutually discussed and based on what may work for me. I had an allergic reaction to risperidone and then they changed me over to an oral suspension of haloperidol which gave me severe legs cramps and the first dose made my heart rate go up over 150bpm, at which point some 'real' nurses started running around pluging me into machines, testing my blood and urine and thankfully they gave me 'something' to bring my heart rate back to normal, it felt like i was going to die. It was at this point i was transferred to the halford ward, a place where, some of the in-patients said that this was the place they held the most dangerous and seriously disturbed patients, the section 3's... The following morning when i woke up i was totally disoriented,i didn't know the layout of the ward or any names of the members of staff or names of the patients, although most of us would introduce ourselves and get talking from there. The exercise/smoking yard was no larger than 8m square, i remember one of the patients pacing up and down for hours on end mumbling to himself, like a caged tiger he was fearsome and big and strong, he was also known for being very volitile and when it kicked off the staff response was always the same - the syringe full of a heavy sedative, sometimes when it got really bad, 6 staff/bodyguards would descend on the patient and often pin them down, 2 people on the arms, 2 people on the legs and 1 holding the head or holding the thumbs behind the back so as to prevent any movement, you could see they were all trained in restraint techniques. It was at this point i knew i had to get out, i was lucky i had the support of my family both my mum and dad and my sister came to see me on a regular basis, which was the highlight of my week but also the saddest, as i used to see them walking out to the car park back to their cars and back to the comfort of thier own homes, sundays were the worst for me, i used to miss a roast dinner and the poor excuse for food they gave us was limited to what looked like mass produced ready meals, but as much fruit and biscuits in the evening as you could grab before someone ate the lot. I did what i had to do to get out of there, i took the medication which made me feel nauseous and the tablets for the side effects, i agreed to their conditions of release and finally i was FREE !!! This place is not a care home, it is not a place where the staff genuinely care about the patients, it seems like a money making scheme created to employ uncaring students from Plymouth university, who walk around with condescending looks as they look into the computer/activities room and they look as if they are looking at zoo exhibits, arrogant with not a drop of compassion. They over - medicate far too often and are far too quick to medicate rather than the CBT approach to treatment, which can work for some people. It seemed more like we were like lab rats, giving us a whole cocktail of anti-phsycotics to see which worked best and very little care, compassion or opportunity to talk to someone. If you are thinking of self admitting to this place - don't. If you are concerned for a family member do not send them there, it could be something you'll regret for the rest of your life. Please seek alternative help, go somewhere else, look around, please, let's stop funding them by sending people there, if they have no patients they will have no business, this place needs to be closed - permanently. And finally i met this nice guy there with PTSD, i wish i hadn't, he swallowed a razor blade that night and later died in hospital from internal bleeding. THIS HORRIBLE PLACE MUST CLOSE SOON !! Their suicide rate is very hard to pin down, but i believe it to be more than they say it is.