Dr Walter I attended group therapy

Build Up dribbling down my dressing gown. not because of its colour, that of mashed potato, with a texture much more sloppy, but because I hated the tasteless food. This is my main memory of Churchill Clinic 34 years ago.

Patients on Deep Sleep Treatment were fed this for every meal. We were druggedup with narcotics for over a week and then up slowly. We wandered around like Zombies. We were kept on the ward and had our meals on a table in the corner of the lounge.

I have Bipolar Affective Disorder but I had not been given the diagnosis then. That wasn until 5 years later on at Severalls Hospital and the treatment was now Lithium, a lifelong drug for the same symptoms. There must have been about 5 of us on Deep Sleep Treatment which seemed to be the universal treatment for depressive illnesses. It was effective though and my stay at the Churchill Clinic was relatively short compared to subsequent stays at Severalls.

The senses leave you with powerful memories. Mine are of the stench of urine and the overwhelming heat of the ward.

I can remember the embarrassment of having my boss coming to see me and being very conscious of the smell on the ward and the contrast of sitting outside. I wonder what he thought? His daughter had been treated for eating disorder so I was only slightly embarrassed by him seeing me in the Churchill Clinic. I don recollect the same times at Severalls or more recently the Linden Centre.

Luckily there were a few chairs and a coffee table at the entrance for visitors to sit with patients. We were not shut on the ward in the same way as at the Linden Centre now and there wasn the same secure reception area. Indeed. I can remember there being any reception staff.

I have the impression that the range of patients was wider than the usual adult ward.

Downstairs on my first stay there was a man who was paralyzed and with communication difficulties. One of the patients on the upstairs ward was a man who had brain damage and patients were protective of him, especially going downstairs. On my second stay on the ward I was on a dormitory with some older women. One night one woman got out of bed and urinated on my knitting pattern which was on the floor. One of the men spent time trying to organise a coach trip for the patients!

The downstairs ward was Hopkins, named after a metaphysical poet, Dr Walter my psychiatrist, told me. I vaguely recall it was built around a quadrangle with two lounges.

Once wreaths from a funeral were donated to the ward for decoration on the coffee tables. They looked like coffins! The thought was well intended but an unfortunate gesture. The other lounge was much smaller and it was a quiet place as nobody else used it. I took up residence as it was a good place to try and do revision for the course examinations which were due. It was doing my thesis which had caused the www.2013cybermondayuggs.com episode of illness.

Christmas at the Churchill Clinic was memorable because we had a dinner at lunchtime followed by Christmas Tea on the ward. I felt very well fed at the end of the day!

Winter weather brings back two memories. I was in the process of being discharged and started staying in my flat in Chelmsford. There was a power cut I became very frightened and instead of going to bed and waiting until morning I decided to drive back to the hospital. I got about halfway to Harlow when I got caught in a snowdrift. Other drivers got hold of the corners of the car and lifted me over the heap of snow I made the rest of the way to Harlow and the safety of the Churchill Clinic. The next day I tried to get back to Chelmsford but I only got to the outskirts of Harlow. Traffic was nosetotailing and every time I tried to move the car skidded. The staff at the hospital were not best pleased to see me back again when they thought I was discharged.

Nurses always make an impression: A support worker I remember most favourably at the Churchill Clinic was a man who worked parttime on the ward and parttime as a lecturer at Harlow College. He said this was the ideal combination of work. He spent his time talking to patients and came over as a very balanced person. Another male nurse was the son of one of the female nurses on the ward. He was young and rather immature, trying to embarrass me when I became very constipated by giving me a Mars bar: he had used information gained at staff changeover unacceptably but I was too embarrassed to complain.

I can recall having to wait outside the nurses office, a common complaint nowadays. Nor can Cyber Monday UGGs On Sale I recall the sound of alarms and the rush of nurses when there is an incident as there is at the Linden Centre. Everything was much calmer. There was no knocking on the door to gain entrance to get onto the ward, a constant irritation on the Linden Centre wards

There was another ward upstairs together with offices so there was nowhere for any therapies to take place. Treatment was by medication such as the Deep Sleep I have already described. It was the first psychiatric hospital ever built on the same campus as a hospital the Princess Alexandra Hospital as Harlow was a new town and everything was purpose built. The car park was shared but I can remember any problems parking, a surprise to those who use the site today: more people drive today.

While under the care of I think this took place in part of the outpatients Clinic of Princess Alexandra Hospital. It was led by a man and a woman and was a forward group without the formal practices of a group I have attended subsequently. I found it quite effective. There was no long wait to be allocated this treatment.

The Churchill Clinic served its purpose well at the time at the time I was there. However I can understand why it would be unsuitable for a later generation of medical care. Treatment has changed and the need for therapies seen as essential nowadays. Home Black Friday UGGs treatment has changed the range of patients so has the different medications and therapies available in psychiatric care. Wards have to be more secure to cater for patients who are a section Having been a patient at three psychiatric hospitals I would rate my overall experience of the Churchill Clinic highly.