I recently saw a tweet about the issue of cell phones on psych wards, and it stirred up a strong reaction for me. A man was writing about how he’d been advocating for his child to be able to have their cell phone on the psych ward, but this was flatly denied due to their no cell phones on the ward policy. As a result, the child was very much disconnected from their social support network.
During my last hospitalization, the ward had a no cell phones policy, and they wouldn’t budge at all on that. I was an involuntary patient, so I had no choice in the matter. It made me feel even more isolated than I already was, and talking on the phone in the common area with no privacy was not the least bit appealing. I remember at one point calling my community psychiatrist from the patient phone and leaving a voicemail yelling “I’m stuck in this f*cking hellhole as long as they want to keep me here!” That kind of thing is really better done in private.
When I used to work as a nurse on an inpatient unit, I don’t recall us having a general rule about cellphones. Then again, that was before cell phones became as omnipresent as they are now. We would sometimes take a phone away if, for example, a manic patient was being disruptive by calling people at 3 in the morning, but it was a case-by-case decision.
Access to support
I believe that one of the arguments made against cell phones relates to the camera function. I’m not convinced, though, that this is sufficient grounds for an across-the-board ban. I completely agree that in some cases it’s not appropriate for certain patients to have access to their phones because of the particular symptoms of illness they’re having at that time. Still, I don’t think that should mean that everyone else has to miss out on access to their support network.
For many of us, having access to our phones is an essential way to connect with our main support people. Limiting us to talking on the patient phone in front of everyone else significantly impacts the ability to connect to that support network. The blogging and social media communities can be really important sources of support, and they’re generally inaccessible on a hospital ward without having the use of a smartphone.
Arbitrariness
I think blanket bans on cell phone use demonstrate laziness by hospital staff. It’s a lot easier to just say no to everyone than to make reasoned, well-thought-out decisions about what specific patients should not have their phones because of their illness symptoms, and to have to answer questions about those decisions. I think it also comes down to a culture of having rules for the sake of imposing control. Forget what’s therapeutic or not; far too often the focus is on establishing a clear hierarchical divide between staff and patient.
As a nurse, this kind of arbitrary rule-setting has always bugged me, and it’s been amplified even further since I got sick myself. It frustrates me how many mental health professionals lack the empathy to be able to imagine themselves in the place of the patient and consider what they might want/need in that situation. One of the places I work now is really bad for arbitrary rules, and it drives me bonkers.
Autonomy
Autonomy is a fundamental value held dear by most people. Sometimes, there is genuine therapeutic value in placing judicious limits at certain times and certain situations, but limitations on autonomy should not be the default when it comes to mental health treatment. When autonomy is arbitrarily stripped away, so is a little bit of our dignity and humanity.
While we may be patients, and we may have mental illnesses, we’re still human. We deserve to be treated in a way that is therapeutic rather than counter-therapeutic. We deserve to be treated with respect, and not to have arbitrary restrictions placed on our freedom. Treatment should be about healing, not about punishment. It should be patient-centred, not driven by stigma or centred around what’s easiest for the staff.
So that’s my rant. What are your thoughts on the cell phones on psych wards issue?
Related content on psychiatric hospitalization
- Creating Serenity-Promoting Spaces for Mental Health
- Is it Time for a Psych Inpatient Stay? Things to Consider
- When There’s Inaccurate Information on Your Psych Medical Record
History
- Early Insane Asylums: Bedlam and Beyond
- The Downside of Psychiatric Deinstitutionalization
- What Made You Lunatic Asylum-Level Crazy in 1864?
Involuntary treatment
Personal experiences
- Does No One Care About Crazy People? – I was hospitalized on a ward with a rodent infestation
- Postcards from the Loony Bin: Tales from the Psych Ward
- Tales from the Psych Ward (a 6-part series)
My latest book, A Brief History of Stigma, looks at the nature of stigma, the contexts in which it occurs, and how to challenge it most effectively.
You can find it on Amazon and Google Play.
There’s more on stigma on Mental Health @ Home’s Stop the Stigma page.
Hmmm, I do believe it’s vital to look at all sides. I’m not a psych patient but I don’t enjoy getting texts from my relative when he’s manic. It’s not funny or fun. It’s very awkward and I have to block him cause he’s not making sense and doesn’t seem aware of what he’s doing. Also I don’t know how common manic purchases are but I can imagine it’s tricky sometimes getting your $ back! And it can ruin your finances obviously that’s not great, especially if you have children! So obviously you probably shouldn’t have access to your phone at that time. And I have heard of psychotic people believing their phone is controlling their brain or similar things. So it’s probably best to not have a phone then either! And in the hospital the entire point is to get well enough to go home and preferably asap. So since phones are addictive and if you have an eating disorder I can understand why the staff may not be keen on you possibly using the net to make your eating disorder/body image problems worse. I do believe maybe a good rule is phones are allowed on breaks, be careful taking photos cause privacy issues unless you’re there for an extremely short time like 3-7 days. It is a pet peeve of mine when people act like not having your phone for 2-3 days is the absolute worst thing ever. Think about there’s people in a hospital who were fine but are now paralyzed, have severe burns, were neurotypical, but are now a veggie, who are brain dead and are on life support, people who find out people died in the car accident they were in etc. some people really do have it so much worse, so going without your phone for 2-7 days is not the worst thing ever. Please remember that.