Psych Wards: A Lifeline or a Trap? | The Brutal Truth Nobody Tells You Before You Go In
BPD Diaries: Stories and Science with SteffShow Notes
If you have BPD, there's a good chance you've either been to a psychiatric hospital, or been told you should go. Maybe it helped. Maybe it made things worse. Maybe you left feeling more broken than when you arrived. In this episode, I want to give the full picture: • When is hospitalization genuinely helpful? • When is it actively harmful? • What does the research say? • What are your rights on the ward? • What are the alternatives? And I offer practical guidance: how to make the most of a hospital stay, what to ask for, and what to do when you're discharged. If you're in crisis, links to crisis resources are below. 🌱 Have questions, stories, or something you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] and let’s keep the conversation going. 🎧 Looking for meditations made for emotional regulation, BPD, and more? Check out Empowered Heroes Meditations on Spotify. If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT, Schema Therapy, and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation: 📩 [email protected] or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org
Crisis Resources: UK: Samaritans - 116 123 | Crisis text line: text SHOUT to 85258 Ireland: Samaritans - 116 123 | Pieta House - 116 123 Australia: Lifeline - 13 11 14 | Beyond Blue - 1300 22 4636 US: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline - call or text 988 International: findahelpline.com
📚 Referenced Research Includes: Bateman, A., & Fonagy, P. (1999). Effectiveness of partial hospitalization in the treatment of borderline personality disorder: a randomized controlled trial. American journal of Psychiatry, 156(10), 1563-1569. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.156.10.1563 Bloom, J. M., Woodward, E. N., Susmaras, T., & Pantalone, D. W. (2012). Use of dialectical behavior therapy in inpatient treatment of borderline personality disorder: a systematic review. Psychiatric Services, 63(9), 881-888. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201100311 Bodner, E., Cohen-Fridel, S., Mashiah, M., Segal, M., Grinshpoon, A., Fischel, T., & Iancu, I. (2015). The attitudes of psychiatric hospital staff toward hospitalization and treatment of patients with borderline personality disorder. BMC psychiatry, 15(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.156.10.1563 Broadbear, J. H., Dwyer, J., Bugeja, L., & Rao, S. (2020). Coroners’ investigations of suicide in Australia: The hidden toll of borderline personality disorder. Journal of psychiatric research, 129, 241-249. 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.07.007 Katsakou, C., Marougka, S., Barnicot, K., Savill, M., White, H., Lockwood, K., & Priebe, S. (2012). Recovery in borderline personality disorder (BPD): a qualitative study of service users' perspectives. PloS one, 7(5), e36517. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0036517 Knaak, S., Szeto, A. C., Fitch, K., Modgill, G., & Patten, S. (2015). Stigma towards borderline personality disorder: effectiveness and generalizability of an anti-stigma program for healthcare providers using a pre-post randomized design. Borderline personality disorder and emotion dysregulation, 2(1), 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-015-0030-0 Paris, J. (2004). Is hospitalization useful for suicidal patients with borderline personality disorder?. Journal of personality disorders, 18(3: Special issue), 240-247. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi.18.3.240.35443 Stanley, B., & Brown, G. K. (2012). Safety planning intervention: a brief intervention to mitigate suicide risk. Cognitive and behavioral practice, 19(2), 256-264. 10.1016/j.cbpra.2011.01.001 Zanarini, M. C., Frankenburg, F. R., Hennen, J., Reich, D. B., & Silk, K. R. (2006). Prediction of the 10-year course of borderline personality disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163(5), 827-832. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.2006.163.5.827
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