I saw this at a friends Halloween party and absolutely loved it

I’m really sorry to hear you went through that. Negative experiences receiving care, whether it be mental or physical health, can make people want to avoid care when they really could use help. Losing your sense of autonomy and ability to make decisions for yourself while being made to do things you disagree with against your consent is also really traumatizing.

I’m glad you have the psych facility number saved instead, got connected with a therapist and other resources, and that the people there sound as though they treated you with respect.

It’s also appalling to hear how they acted when you called in during college. That is definitely against protocol these days but awful they ever thought that was appropriate.

I hope stories like these help people realize the risk. And I don’t mean this in a minimizing way as your story sounds like it was a really upsetting experience, but a lot of people aren’t as “lucky” as to get out of the hospital that quickly or end up with absolutely astronomical bills.

Thank you for sharing

I like to promote people call other, regional crisis lines that aren’t so trigger happy with calling the police or trying to get people in a psych ward when they’re looking for someone to talk to when possible. 988 is semi-regional as well, but they typically use more standardized training that is largely a “CYA” style than it is about providing support for people.

Looking up alternate crisis lines in your area is likely a good move instead if you’re not immediately suicidal. Whenever people see these posts they often think it’s a good resource to contact but if they’re not acutely suicidal it’s probably not going to be as beneficial as contacting an alternative crisis line