A stay at Kolob Canyon RTC

This testimony was found on Yelp. All rights goes to the original author

I am a previous girl from Kolob and i will say i had the worst time ever.

My basic rights as a human being were taken away from me, I was forced to take various amounts of psychiatric drugs (which is against my religion) I also do not agree with the drugging of children teens adults or of the elderly, most if not all "medication" (drugs) that are given are in the same category as heroin meth and coke and have the exact side effects that you are trying to get away from. Don't like how you feel on them, too bad you have to wait for the "Doctor" to come back in and talk to you. They give you the wrong dose or give it to you at the wrong time and you fall asleep due to it, to bad you will still get in trouble.

There have been numerous girls who have had medical issues ignored just because staff did not want to deal with it. Girls that were sick had to deal with it by themselves and staff would not help unless it was basically to the point of death. I've seen girls twist and sprain joints even a few dislocations without even a single glance from the staff. I understand "safety and super safety" (when you first come in to make sure you are not a run or suicide risk) but a lot of times girls would have to do early morning horse chores in nothing but slippers and just sweats and a light hoodie while there was at least 4 feet of snow on the ground, that's around half an hour out in that condition to make sure all the horses water is broken and they are properly feed.

There is no real dietary care for each girl individually, when i was there we were put on the dietary needs of the biggest girl that was there ( around 200 pounds) i gained a tremendous amount of weight to the point where i had to go on a diet when i get home cause i was considered obese. I was lied to by my on site therapist and i was made to take punishments for things i did not do. The girls there have no say in anything and will never be listened too.

If anything it is a sever state of Stockholm syndrome, and they "get better" due to the fear of punishment that they will receive. I am actively working to get Kolob looked into and investigated. I have sever night terrors from my stay at Kolob and wake up screaming almost every night. I would highly recommend that you find alternative methods to helping your child.


Sources:

• The original testimony on Yelp
• Factsheet about the facility (Fornits Wiki)

Arbour Survivor – In Their Own Words

This testimony was found on the Watching UHS blog. All rights goes to the original author.

Thank you for following this story.

I am a survivor of Brookline’s Arbour. Before I went there, I kept being told by optimistic nurses that I’d be sent somewhere that could help me get to a better place in my life. They were optimistic. I was optimistic. I figured I’d come out of the mental hospital a different person than I’d gone in!

I did. Their “care” came closer to killing people than their own suicide attempts.

The head nurse was a sadist (and unfortunately not the only one) who would call the police dispatchers to tell them not to bother responding to calls whilst she restricted physically ill patients’ medications – and while they told her they were legally required to respond to them – they listened. One person’s family called 911 twice, and had to wait outside the second time to make sure they actually came.

One woman had been there for over a month, who was clearly as stable as she could get in a place like that. She didn’t have a strong support network – maybe a mother, who resented taking care of her. She was mentally challenged: she didn’t have the ability to argue her way out of being further pathologized, and they exploited this. They broke down her sense of self. Like me, they likely tried to intimidate her by yelling at her and claiming she couldn’t function well enough yet to return to society.

I suspect “code blue” only came several times because you did not receive treatment unless you were already nearly (or as recently noted in the news, *completely*) irretrievably dead. Everything but psychiatric medications needed excessive approval: they tried to give you medicines you were *allergic* to to cut corners. On top of that, if you have a common name – prepare to get someone else’s meds from the overworked pharmacists.

I am traumatized. My family is traumatized. After not being able to hold food down consistently (sometimes at all for days), or even DIGEST it properly due to restricting necessary medications, I got a pinched “sorry for the inconvenience”. The “inconvenience” that put me at risk of DEATH.

My experience is not unique. These guys are pathological liars and use mental illness’ stigma to the max.


Source:
The original testimony (The Watching UHS blog)