• Question: what kind of people so you look after in wards?

    Asked by lailaxomurphy to Psychiatry Ward Team on 24 Jan 2019.
    • Photo: Sheffield Psychiatry Ward Team

      Sheffield Psychiatry Ward Team answered on 24 Jan 2019:

      Hi Laila, Emma here.

      We look after lots of different people from all sorts of walks of life! We have had people that run their own companies, through to professionals like teachers or doctors, as well as students. Mental health problems can affect everyone, so we see everything. No day is the same!

      The patients we care for on a ward all have a serious mental illness and are too unwell to be looked after at home. They have conditions ranging from severe depression to bipolar disorder to schizophrenia. Sometimes people are admitted because we don’t know what is causing their illness so we need to observe and assess them. Some people may be too poorly to be able to agree to come into hospital, so they may be admitted under a law that enables mental health workers to admit them to keep themselves and others safe, also known as “Sectioning”.

      We also have people that can be extremely vulnerable, such as those who might want to harm themselves, or who are unwell due to drug or alcohol use.

Comments

  • Photo: Neel - Psychiatrist

    Neel - Psychiatrist commented on :

    Hi there, it’s Neel.
    Psychiatry is a great subject because you can get to see so many interesting people. You can see depression, anxiety, self harming suicidal people, or those having bipolar and schizophrenia. I work with people with learning disabilities and also with those who are deaf so I use sign language. They can have autism or a brain injury. I’ve always wanted to do a job where I wasn’t just doing the same thing day in day out, and I certainly found that being a psychiatrist.

  • Photo: Home Treatment Team

    Home Treatment Team commented on :

    Many people admitted to the wards are as mentioned above. Admissions are considered as a last resort to support a patient who present with deteriorating mental health and the ward environment can provide a safe place to support the patient during this crisis. The home treatment team works closely with the wards and we often can arrange admission and accept discharge of patients from the wards to help support them in their recovery.