TEENAGERS WITH mental health problems, who are placed in adult psychiatric units, cope with the fear and unpredictability of living on these wards through “self-imposed isolation” that can damage their health further, a new study claims.
Boredom is a problem for those admitted for long periods as they are less motivated to attend groups, or to use or relax in common areas because they often do not wish to interact with adults. Many adolescents face the option of engaging in activities for older people such as bingo or doing nothing at all, says the report by the University of Limerick.
“Changes such as access to computer games, more television channels and easier access to television were deemed important by all participants,” it says. “More access to outside space and time away from hospital was identified as particularly important for those participants whose hospital stays were over two weeks.”
In most circumstances, teenagers feel they are a burden on an adult ward because of a requirement to assign a one-to-one nurse to them and the impact this had on the care for other patients, the report says.
The research paper by Dr Patrick Ryan and Dr Marcia Ward was compiled following in-depth interviews with 10 adolescents, who have been placed in adult psychiatric facilities in recent years. It concludes the “young people accurately perceived that Irish mental health services did not meet their needs, in quantity or quality”.
All said they would have preferred to have been treated in a child and adolescent unit.