suicide is a horrible thing but i dont think the response to attempts should be restraining people and locking them in a hospital room for anywhere from 3 days to the rest of their life, depending on whether they can stop being suicidal or not.
and i dont think an isolated unit with plastic furniture feels comfortable to most people. i don't think being confined into a chaotic space with no exit is conductive to healing. i don't think being cut off from almost all outside communication makes people feel safer.
i dont think it feels supportive to be surrounded by strangers with the legal right to grab you, pin you down, force sedatives onto you, extend your confinement, further isolate you in solitary, or take away "privileges" like: food you can/will eat, socializing, hobby materials, or even your own fucking clothes and underwear.
like, does any of this sound like caring medical treatment to you? do you really think a person who already wants to die is more likely to wanna live under those circumstances? why do you think it's so common for people to lie their way out of psych wards and then stop asking for help, even if they came in begging and pleading?
the institutional solution to suicide attempts is just gaslighting, violence, neglect, and torture. "its for your own good," no it isnt. that environment isnt good for anyone. its so no one has to actually sit down and talk to suicidal people, like we are real people. we are just overburdened by powerlessness.
suicide is our brain's last resort when we are suffering and see no end. more suffering or hardship is exactly the fucking opposite of what is needed. psych wards cannot avoid this or soften it with 5-10min conversations with psych ward staff or generic group therapies.
soteria houses on the other hand, are much closer to a healing environment. they are peer ran, home-like, autonomy-based environments that people with schizophrenia can go to for residential mental health care. so:
instead of psych professionals providing psychoeducation on "the right/healthy way" to think: peers and patients help each other by sharing unique coping skills, making art, learning new hobby or job skills, active listening, and having group conversations about mental health. they also dont usually use psychiatric medication (like antipsychotics), and patients still recover.
now which sounds more caring to you:
1) a suicidal person is admitted to a ward against their will, goes into fight or flight on arrival, is restrained, isolated, sedated, and monitored 24/7 by staff (even in the shower) for the rest of the day: or,
2) a suicidal person accepts a referral to a soteria house, goes into fight or flight on arrival, is calmed down by peers, invited to a social activity on site, and hangs out with a new friend for the rest of the day.
because i think the answer is pretty obvious.
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