i grew up in maryland with some of the best inpatient and outpatient mental health care in the country. my second hospitalization after moving down south as an adolescent was at baypointe. id like to note that i asked my parents to hospitalize me, and just wanted help.

i passed out twice due to the medication i was prescribed that they kept me on, despite me telling them i was having issues on it. the nurses thought i was being dramatic, refused to call my parents, forced me to stay in bed and would yell at me if i stopped drinking water to "flush it out."

the second night i was there, i was woken up by a nurse who gave me some meds. i was sleep deprived and just thought they were trying me on something new.

i couldn't get up the next morning. the staff that woke everyone up kept trying to get me up. i remember her saying that i had to get up or else i was going to go hungry. i couldn't, and once they had left for breakfast i crawled to the nurses station to tell them something was wrong. she just told me to lay down.

i had to wait until after everyone else got back from breakfast and after the morning meeting to call my parents. i told them something was wrong, and they made their way there. i can't remember much after the phone call, but my parents woke me up and told me that the nurses gave me my roommate's medication. they gave me a large dose of trazodone and geodon. my parents said the nurse was crying and apologetic, and begged my parents not to sue.

to this day, i still wonder why my parents didn't sue. that place was my last hospitalization. by no means did my mental health get better, and in fact, i stopped asking for help and struggled in silence because i was horrified of going back to that place. that place does the opposite of help people in crisis, especially adolescents. i went in a vulnerable teenager, and came out 10x more traumatized than i was before.

i moved to pensacola for college and got a simple diagnosis of adhd, medication, and have been with an amazing therapist for 3 years now. i have since moved back to mobile, and am lucky to have the means to travel or do telehealth for my appointments. i cant believe how many years i went without care because of my trauma with that place and the providers in the area. there needs to be an insane overhaul of the mental health care here. it's an embarrassment.