Restpadd

I was a patient for just a couple weeks (because I told my husband the abuse that was taking place all around me and he threatened to sue them if they didn't let me go, after we had tried nicely reasoning with them for days.) The best of the staff are blissfully ignorant and the worst are potential psychopaths. They lack even the most basic of empathy.

I was taunted by two male staff members as I pleaded with them for help because I was sleep-deprived (because they had been shining a flashlight in my eyes two nights in a row) and extremely hungry. They said, among other things, that I was "self-diagnosing" (with sleep deprivation? Really? Pretty sure we all know what sleep-deprivation feels like), being over-dramatic, "trying to control everything" (because I asked if I could speak to one of them alone instead of being berated and ignored by both of them at the same time), and hysterical.

One of them even told me that his son acts just like me (Like a PERSON?)... not unlikely that his poor son hates him too. I was literally chased down a hallway by another male staff member because I got "too far away from the group" (I was about 10 feet away, and heading where we were supposed to be going.) The food literally tastes like vomit most days because there is no cook, just staff members who think they can cook. The "psychiatrist" was either ignoring what I was saying or STARING AT MY CHEST the entire time we talked.

The "therapist" is blissfully ignorant and useless. I watched several people who didn't even need it pinned to the ground, potentially injured (They were being roughly and unprofessionally tackled, not appropriately restrained), and shot up with drugs which would leave them in an uncomfortable haze for days. Almost every patient is over-medicated and probably medicated incorrectly. I developed a severe rash from what they gave me, and when I asked to see a nurse, they told me to see "the provider" (remember the *** who stared at my chest when he was supposed to be listening to me?

Yeah. No way I was letting him stare at my upper inner thighs too.) This place needs to be shut down and/or entirely re-staffed by actual professionals who are decent human beings. Oh, and in case you're wondering if I'm some lunatic who imagined all this? Guess again.

I had one manic episode that scared me (which ended up being from a one-time environmental factor) and I did the right thing and asked for help. What I got instead was a legitimately traumatic experience that would have been a lot worse if I had not found a kind, empathetic ear in a few other patients. They were the only people who were kind or even decent to me the whole time I was here. I was terrified of "acting crazy" for months after this experience because of the absolute prison environment.

This is not how you treat patients. Someone with more power and influence than me needs to stop these people.

Please. I worry for the people who are still there every day.

On April 18, 2013 a woman was taken to Restpadd Psychiatric Inc, 2750 Eureka Way Redding, Ca. and admitted.

When she arrived she was heavily medicated, disoriented, and tried to leave the facility. Staff tried to subdue her using undue force causing several lacerations, a cracked rib and severe bruising. A witness that had gone with her was standing outside of a locked glass door and saw 3 employees knock the woman to the floor, kicking, punching and scratching her. The woman managed to reach a phone and call for help.

When she was taken to the emergency room a police officer from Redding, Ca was called. The officer stated that even tho the woman had a cracked rib, a bruise the shape of a fist in the center of her chest and a bruise in the shape of a boot imprint on her the left side of her stomach that he felt her injuries "were not that serious" The officers supervisor was called by a concerned party and the officer returned to the hospital to take photos of the injuries. There is a video of the attack yet law enforcement says they do not have the legal right to view the video without the facilities consent. This was a 5'6" woman that weighs 125 lb there was no reason for 3 employees to "restrain" her by knocking her to the floor, kicking, punching and scratching her.

This facility is supposed to be a safe place where mentally ill people go to get help, not abused. Law enforcement is supposed to investigate abuse allegations, not dismiss them as not that serious. How can law enforcement ignore a boot shaped bruise on a persons stomach that can only be caused one of two ways? Either the woman was dropped kicked in the stomach or she was knocked to the ground and stomped on.

How can they explain a fist shaped bruise in the center of her chest? The only way for that to happen is for her to be struck with a closed fist with enough force to leave the imprint.