Last May I was hospitalized for what I now know was a manic episode. I ended up in a very small (16 person) adolescent ward, which was attached via a flimsy door to an adult ward full of pedos. I was released after 8 days because I “seemed optimistic” (was displaying and describing symptoms of a manic episode) with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder. I was placed on an SSRI (Prozac) about 4 days into my stay. The day after I got out of the hospital I took the entire bottle of Prozac. I also relapsed in self harm for the first time since I was thirteen (I was 17) and started experiencing psychotic episodes. I had NEVER experienced that level of mania before and didn’t know how to handle it, but couldn’t go back to the ward because I felt unsafe there (I was choked out by another patient and the staff just watched, plus pedos banging on the doors every day and night isn’t exactly comforting). 


Psychiatrists need to learn how to listen. They automatically default to prescribing SSRIs regardless of how damaging it may be to the patient and tell them to “wait it out”. I have yet to have a psychiatrist who has actually listened to either me or my therapist about my diagnoses and needs, and often times they just lack basic empathy. Do better.