I'm a psych nurse, solitary should be drastically changed to be more humane. At least have dimmable lights. The other biggest missing piece is a CLOCK. When I myself spent some time in the room, the worst part wasn't the blasting lights but the absolute lack of change, lack of connection to new stimulation, and the suspension of understanding the passage of time. Really easy for the facilities to buy a simple clock to put in the rooms, but they don't. The "professionals" are also told not to talk to the patient so it's just the patient alone in a blinding light while an unresponsive good who is supposed to be a mental health professional stares and documents. How are paranoid patients supposed to take hours upon hours of this treatment without any permanent emotional/mental damage or PTSD?
Amen! I was in there for “protective custody” after I was arrested and only spent a night in solitary but oh my gosh! There is absolutely no change at all! A clock would be astounding. I’m still receiving treatment for PTSD. Part of that is the assault followed by false accusation that landed me in jail in the first place but my psychiatrist said the arrest and overnight in solitary exacerbated it. Fun times. (Not fun times). It’s unbelievable how dehumanizing solitary can be.
a person can only know what it feels to be involuntarily put into a bright room, strapped down without any source of information or time, watched by people taking notes as if the person is a lab rat etc if the person actually goes through this. It really is life changing to experience this.
I'm a psych nurse, solitary should be drastically changed to be more humane. At least have dimmable lights. The other biggest missing piece is a CLOCK. When I myself spent some time in the room, the worst part wasn't the blasting lights but the absolute lack of change, lack of connection to new stimulation, and the suspension of understanding the passage of time. Really easy for the facilities to buy a simple clock to put in the rooms, but they don't. The "professionals" are also told not to talk to the patient so it's just the patient alone in a blinding light while an unresponsive good who is supposed to be a mental health professional stares and documents. How are paranoid patients supposed to take hours upon hours of this treatment without any permanent emotional/mental damage or PTSD?
Amen! I was in there for “protective custody” after I was arrested and only spent a night in solitary but oh my gosh! There is absolutely no change at all! A clock would be astounding. I’m still receiving treatment for PTSD. Part of that is the assault followed by false accusation that landed me in jail in the first place but my psychiatrist said the arrest and overnight in solitary exacerbated it. Fun times. (Not fun times). It’s unbelievable how dehumanizing solitary can be.
a person can only know what it feels to be involuntarily put into a bright room, strapped down without any source of information or time, watched by people taking notes as if the person is a lab rat etc if the person actually goes through this. It really is life changing to experience this.