What is it like to be in a psych ward for being suicidal?

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I can't thank everyone enough for the replies. I do plan to go next time I get out of hand. Even though my suicide plan does not involve firearms, I gave my rifles to my sister just to be safe for a while.

Although, I foolishly forgot about the pay. I don't know how I would recover from losing a week's salary, and I didn't even think about the medical bills yet! I am still insured luckily (by my father, even though I am kicked out). I am pretty sure medical insurance does not cover income lost from work. Although, money is the last thing on my mind when I get irrational.

Anyone have any tips on finding low cost health care? I can't go to the school, as I would rather not have the attention. I already went to the school when I was feeling suicidal in fourth grade, and oh man that made school much worse. Hell, I got suspended so many times in school for ridiculous s**t, I can only imagine how much those bureaucrats would over react (don't get me started how they over-react about baseless threats and fights where no one is harmed).

I liked it. I was 17. It was like a vacation.

was in one for seven days for being suicidal amongst many other huge issues including severe pyschosis before a place became available at an acute learning disability hospital.
before being sectioned was brought to what the UK government calls a place of safety, accident and emergencies have rooms equiped to deal with mental impairments,was in hand cuffs and had had strap based leg restraints wrapped all the way up legs and ankles,was laid on top of by four police officers for twenty hours due to fighting against the situation,now have severe back problems because of the length of time was left in that state but that was due to lack of placement as am considered to have mental health issues due to severe challenging behavior of autism and learning disability,not directly due to mental illness itself,the acute pysch ward didnt want to offer a bed because of this originaly.

it was very very restrictive,like being caged,unable to go outside in the garden without having it on the section seventeen leave.
there were people with mental illnesses such as severe borderline personality disorder and had ended up being targeted and bullied by one of them but was 'mothered' and defended by an older lady there.
the windows arent barred like they were years ago they use a special rock hard mesh on one side so they can be opened without anyone escaping.
it had a hall with pool tables for playing pool/snooker,a lounge with a big wide screen tv but the patient that was bullied by was always in control of it and always had the volume up full blast,the staff did not even try to understand the sensory issues of mine let alone try to accomodate them when spoken to by the social services learning disability team who was also supported by every day.
only got discharged from the LD hospital yesterday-had been held there for four months on a section three, they dont usualy hold people for this long in pysch wards because its purely about stabilising mental illness and getting out into community care as soon as possible.

it really differs depending on the staff in these units,but if are suicidal woud recommend getting help now whilst have got the insight to do so and they may probably decide to offer community based care.
they may not even decide to section,and it may be an informal/voluntary stay offered.

it really depends on where you end up and the staff

my first experiences were fine AND helpful

as time went on in an area I lived in (and most recently I had problems due to a rape and depression resulting from it) the level of care and everything had gone down in the hospitals to such a state I would prefer to die than be readmitted to that hospital.

At age 14 I was hospitalized against my will. I was forced into a little white room with a hospital bed. They came in every hour and they couldn't even pronounce "Asperger's", and they didn't understand the diagnosis itself either. They joked with me and I didn't understand, but then they just laughed at me. It was never fun to be at the hospital but at least I couldn't hurt myself.

How many people did you have to deal with during your stay? This summer I was in the hospital but not for mental illness, it was I cut my ankle with a hole saw and had chest pain and they had me stay over to "Rule out MI". I was generally treated well but I found it really stressful to deal with 45-50 people in just over 24 hours, that is all the doctors, technicians, nurses. I couldn't wait to leave because of dealing with all the people. If I was in there longer for a mental issue, I don't think I could deal with it.

This is how I feel, I'd come home feeling worse than I did when I went in...

The last time I was in hospital for surgery it was bad enough and i was on a ward with only a few other people.

It wasn't just the people interaction either, all my routines were messed about and I couldn't sleep because I was not in the right 'environment' in my own bed/bedroom etc at the time. I was also sharing a ward with a little old lady who thought I was her friend and that the Second World War was still on. Every time I did manage to get off to sleep should would wake me back up to tell me the Germans were coming!

I had to keep calling the nurse to put her back into bed again!! !! !

It was nice to get back home again. Thankfully I was only in for a few days to have sinus surgery (they sometimes let you go home the same day but there was a small complication and I ended up staying in for a few nights instead).

I was in a secure unit when I was a kid. It wasn't a hospital as such but I was there under a section, for my own protection.

It was kind of similar, in a sense that I was very restricted as to what I could do. I was on suicide watch, I couldn't go out. Everything was made out of plastic or rubber, even the windows weren't breakable (I did try and kick them through one time). I was there for 12 weeks all in all.

We got medication and psychologists and social workers and all kinds of good deed doers.

It didn't really bother me, I had nowhere else to go anyway.

I think I might have been a bit disturbed back then.