philpo

@philpo@feddit.org

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Are there any documentaries on what government mental hospitals are like when a defendant is found Not Criminally Responsible/Insane/Not guilty on account of medical status?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩:

  Each patient had either a double (2 patients per room) or single (one patient per room). Each room is a regular psych ward room if you do not account the doors and windows. (We still had iron bars but these are phased out in favour of high security glas). The doors are similar to prison doors, the windows are shatter proves high security glas.

  This is a good representation: wz.de/…/w709_h483_x354_y241_bed737e9084c58b2.jpg

  Additionally there are multiple “special isolation rooms” per ward. These contain nothing but a ground integrated toilet (which can only be flushed from the outside) and a matress - and a lot of cameras. Patient who are in crisis can be seperated in there as an alternative to bed bound fixation.

  In terms of activities: Patients have some form of therapy almost every day - either group, individual, work, ergo, etc. - as the main goal is healing/making people so healthy again that they are either no longer a danger and can step by step be released or can be transfered back into the prison system. (Tbh, both goals do not happen that often) Besides that: They can go into the yard, we also had a little veggie garden (which technically was illegal as the veggie were not allowed to be used for human consumption), meet with other patients in communal spaces, we had a open kitchen so they could cook. (Similar to prison they could order things every other week from a store) and well, if they have a TV (must be rented by the patient) can watch TV or borrow a book from a library(more on that below). The lower security wards also had a small gym and “communal activities” room with a billiard and so on, we didn’t.

  Sounds nice? It isn’t. It js far worse than prison for most people and besides a few long termers who simply did not want anything to change after so many years absolutely every patient I have seen would have preferred prison

  Why? While superficially the regime in forensic psychiatry sounds much more relaxed it isn’t under the surface. Almost half of all patients face measures under direct force (e.g. isolation, forced medication, fixation) within the first 4 months upon being admitted. That is MUCH more than regular prison (afaik their percentage in max sec is 5%).

  Unlike prison it’s it’s much harder to get drugs in, as patients and visitors are screened much more and, even if you do, you get drug tested regularily (daily on drug rehab wards, weekly as a new entry on others) and due to staff being medical professionals (and there is much more staff per patient) the chance of getting high without anyone noticing is slim. And if you get caught ones liberties are gone, therapy will change,etc.

  For medication it’s the other way around: We would monitor very very closely if patient take their medication (up to checking patients mouth with a dental mirror, regular blood tests,etc.) or switch to i.v./i.m. medication. A small percentage (afaik around 2-5%) are also medicated against their will.

  The lack of activities is also an issue: Unlike prison where most people will try to get a job this is not an option in forensic psych. So if you don’t have therapy, you don’t have much to do and that is something that bothers a lot of people. This is especially valid as the access to media is also much more restricted compared to prison and that is much more individually regulated. In prison everything that is not seen as security risk must be allowed by law in terms of books. That is not the case here - it’s the opposite. Everything is forbidden unless it’s deemed that it is not impending the therapy goal - makes a big difference and is also a common source of trouble because some people are allowed things others aren’t. Another issue is the lack of education options. While I hear that has improved recently back in my day there was not much to do in that regard - while in prison you can regularily get apprenticeship, GED or even distant education uni degree. Overall basically everyone described the boredom as much worse than prison (but to a certain degree this is required for therapy to work). Adding to this is the lack of perspective - in prison you know how long you will be there. Life sentence here is 15 years and then they decide how dangerous you are. Only very few people get preventive custody or “special gravity” which means they get indefinite sentences/prolonged sentences. This is different in forensic psych. You will only get out once you are considered “healed”/sane. That can be in 15 months. Or 15 years. I had an arsonist on my ward who in prison would have had a max sentence of 5 years. He was there for 15 years and I am not sure he will be out by now.

  Last but not least therapy itself is something on its own. People there first and foremost are patients. Any chance of liberties are directly connected to that (unlike prison where “behaving” is enough). So if you don’t play along you won’t get that TV. Less physical contact upon visitation (e.g. no hug allowed), you won’t get in a lower sec. ward or even have supervised trips to the outside. There are ocassional patients who try to trick the staff and manage to play along even though they really are still as sick as ever - but that has become incredibly rare. Generally speaking,though, the average patient will have less liberties than a average prison inmate. And of course therapy itself, even if you play along, is taxing. Very much so for these cases. I had a grown man cry in the fetal position on the floor for hours, another shift had a man trying to cut of his genitals with kids paper scissors (afaik he had a realisation what he has done and why and his sexual desire was a big part of it) or a man who plainly told me “my dad beat and raped me daily. They say the brain damage brought me here. I hate him for not doing it properly so I would be dead”.

  So overall: It’s not a happy place and it is surely not a easy way out, not “easier” than prison.

  (And as people always think they are clever and claim “yeah I will do this and that and play like I am insane and then get out after 15 months.” It doesn’t work like that - People working in forensic psych. are highly trained to find these cases and each possible inmate is screened while still in the entry ward or prison. I have yet to see someone who has sucess with that. Additionally: If you do this and get caught your sentence starts back on day 0 under some circumstances)

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Are there any documentaries on what government mental hospitals are like when a defendant is found Not Criminally Responsible/Insane/Not guilty on account of medical status?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩:

  While it’s might not be what you might be looking for,but I used to work in a forensic psychiatry (including high security ward) in a central European country.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Yeah. You are not a nurse.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What are some cool infections?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Yeah. Worms are what I wanted to write as well…the Guinea worm (Dracunculus medinensis),sometimes also called medina worm, is one of these and was once really common. The Asclepius rod is possibly coming from it.

  If your character has a backstory that brings him to southern Europe, Asia or Africa in these times it’s basically perfect.

  Another disease to look up: Larva migrans cutanea

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Recommendation for Android File Manager⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Same

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨at what point in life it's too late to go back to school?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Never. Not what you want to hear,but hear me out. Because if it safes your sanity it is worth it.

  • I got my apprenticeship as a paramedic first and then went back to school to get my full A-Levels. Specialized school we have here,thankfully for these cases. The oldest one of my classmates was 52.

  • I studied economics with someone who was 55 and basically had already done the job we all wanted when we graduate for 25 years. He did so so he finally would get a more comprehensive background and maybe get up the ladder once more. (Which according to linked in he did)

  • I currently do another master (in a distant education setting,though) simply out of interest in the field and to broaden my CV. And you know what? I am 25 years in my field and still learned a fuckton of things, got a better network, love the research field AND got so much better at my job AND found a lot of opportunities.

  • An former paramedic trainee of mine was almost 50 when he started paramedic training. He was a C level executive before and at one point had enough - he changed careers so he would not get even more depressed and is now very happy with it. And I had multiple people do that in my bubble.

  Now,from my current perspective: Was it stressful? Fuck yeah. I literally cried sometimes. Was it a tough time financially? Fuck yeah. I am self employed/have a small company and I had month were making ends meet was really though due to the added expenses and the lost revenue. But it still was worth it. Because: For what it’s worth we all gonna need to work till 70+x anyway to afford retirement. And that’s a long time.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Insulin⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Neither it is mine,so maybe we both missunderstood each other. No hard feelings.

  But “worst” is generally,well the maximum.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨🎶 Hitting the Brown Note 🎵⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  And for hate?

  Like “I would hate to get cancer?”

  Tbh, it’s not pleasant,but also not that bad as people make it out to be if it’s done by someone who knows what they are doing. While I am male I would consider a pap smear (which is done far more frequently) far worse.

  …or a full scale STD test.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Insulin⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Other way around. The removal of the prolonged release is what would kill you right away. Hypoglycaemia kills WAY faster than hyperglycaemia. Like - one takes minutes, the other one hours to days).

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨My Car Is Becoming a Brick: EVs are poised to age like smartphones.⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Well, the AM transmitter in the old car won’t work anymore as well.

  Cars do age the same in terms of user experience - they are simply frozen in the state they are. (And at least within the EU can be operated fully offline)

  The author seems to be more concerned that his car might not get “new features” anymore - and that bothers hims as the “free update” culture is extending to a lot of things. Technology advances but nothing has changed about that - that was always the case and now we can at least update some things.

  While I would love to have a carnaker offer a open source plattform that would make people able to update and modify the entertainment/navigation part of their car I actually spoke to a car makers product manager about it - and sadly the multitude of regulations cars fall under in their various markets makes that basically impossible.

  More important would be that we campaign for other things in terms of laws (some are in place in the EU but are currently under pressure):

  • Manufacturers need to provide security updates for online functions for 10 years after the end of production.

  • Manufacturers need to provide navigation updates for 5 years after the end of production

  • Cars need a designated fully offline mode

  • Driving data obtained must not be used for commercial purposes. (Currently already implemented in the GDPR)

  • Important and often overlooked: Manufacturers must provide service software tools for cars for ALL repair shops and for at least 20 years after end of production. AND we need to work towards an open source industry standard.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨"Does Hitler have a right to privacy?" and other big questions in research ethics.⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  His relatives actually decided to not have children collectively afaik.

  They appeared to be fairly nice chaps - a friend of mine interviewed one of them 20 years ago for a uni research project.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Goodnight sweet prince⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  No, power line is “on top” of the normal power distribution - it does not actually change frequency, etc.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Goodnight sweet prince⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Funny enough yeah,you can trans mit data long range via powerlines.

  I am old enough to remember the older career firefighters having devices at home that basically listened to the frequency shift. If a certain signal was given (via the substations) that frequency shift was observed by the devices and an electric alarm bell was activated so people knew shit had hit the fan and they probably should head to work.

  It was already phased out,thought, back then.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Wi-Fi Extender, Long-Range, Suggestions?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s at the maximum of the specs and these are meant for straight connections and usually indoors. Potential differences,lightning strikes, there is a lot of issues that are hard to diagnose.

  Using a preconditioned fibercable is absolutely not an issue even for an inexperienced user - and the price difference is neglible in the end.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Wi-Fi Extender, Long-Range, Suggestions?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Ethernet that long and outside is a really really bad idea. Fiber is much better suited and not that more expensive.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Banana⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Get an allergy test. Banana allergies (even though that doesn’t necessarily sound like one) are associated with other allergies,including some medications.

  So…you might want to know in advance.

  If it is not that then try biobananas once. A lot of people are sensitive to the pesticides used.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨a sight to behold⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Haha. I’ve seen worse. Wait. I was hit by worse in worse areas and stool is by far not the worst thing that hit me.

  …starts sobbing

  I know why by now I prefer my desk and only ocassionally venture back into patient facing work.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨2022 vs. 2026 FIFA World Cup ticket prices⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  For the cheapest ticket you could have flown to the (excellent) womans European championship, got a CAT1 ticket,see Geneva and fly back.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Another Healthcare Professional here: I second this healthcare professionals advice.

  Don’t get strangers opinions through the internet who’s credentials you can’t verify. See a healthcare professional.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Has anyone else experienced these psychological changes after eating meat?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Please see my edit in case you haven’t before.

  And your ancestors were omnivores unless you have a lot of sudden body hair growth on a full moon.

  Seriously dude. I know mania feels great. But it isn’t.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Has anyone else experienced these psychological changes after eating meat?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Okay, okay. I know it’s a cliche right now, but can we please please please get this guy a brain scan? This sounds like a really good case for a few parasites.

  Seriously. You either had a massive massive anemia (red meat can temporarily (!) help then), you are a top shitposter or you have a major issue.

  Source: Healthcare professional. Not your HCP.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What do ambulances do with patients cars?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Yeah. Here cops are generally the “end of the food chain” legally. Whenever none else is responsible for something or the responsible department is not available they are the ones who sort it out.

  Health department outside of office hours? Call the cops.

  Building is in a possibly insecure state out of office hours? Call the cops.

  They can of course get other departments like ambos,firies,etc. to help,but in the end, it’s their job.

  Public safety officer is very much part of their job description here.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What do ambulances do with patients cars?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Paramedic and former ambulance service director here: In my jurisdiction the car is the sole responsibility of the police - in theory. So basically we call the police and let them handle it. They will decide if it’s safe to leave it where it is (e.g. if it’s on a highway, post accident or otherwise a traffic hazard). They will usually ask the patient if they should call a specific company or,if the car is still roadworthy, if they should call someone like a relative to get it - within certain limits of course, they won’t do that on a highway and if the relative is two hours away the patient is also SOL.

  If the car is stationary as in a safe and legal parking spot it’s a bit different, then in theory we could still call the cops,but they would hate us for it when the patient is conscious. In these cases most crews simply lock down the car and give the key to the patient - the same way we lock down an apartment when we leave with a patient.

  The only case when we might leave a car unlocked and unattended is an unresponsive patient that has a transport priority,aka we need to go NOW. We will still call the cops (and they will either find a way to secure the car or tow it),but we sure as hell won’t wait. While I might have a minute to spare waiting for the cops for an average unconscious patient e.g. post seizure there are a lot of reasons where I don’t have that - and might not have the time in some awake cases as well. In these cases a car might be left unlocked - especially in times when the key rarely is still required in the ignition anymore where I can easily find it. But in these cases the life of the patient takes priority over any material assets.

  (To give you a more practical example: The last guy I left the car unlocked was a gentleman with sudden onset of massive pain between the shoulder blades and a large difference in blood pressure values between the arms - a good sign of a thoracic aortic aneurysm, a very deadly condition. That’s a “fuckfuckfuck we need to go now” condition. I looked for the car key once for around 5 seconds,the car was a mess, I couldn’t find it. Dispatch sends the cops,but they often take a long time here once they know we are no longer on scene. Sadly he didn’t even make it to the hospital alive. But we tried).

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why can't countries with vast deserts make solar farms to power the world?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Yeah, but by now the much lower cost and higher efficiency of panels vs. the drawbacks of the location has shifted the cost/benefit ratio quite a bit.

  It’s far cheaper to build the panels where the energy is needed and compensate for bad weather by building more panels (and other sources) instead of having the drawbacks of the north african location. Solar panels in the desert are an issue - as noted here multiple times, sand does not mix well with panels, neither does too much heat. Solar reflector plants have never really taken off due to various issues as well. And transport remains an issue by itself and so does political stability in these countries.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Shh⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Tbf, I remember the times we reused everything, even tubes.

  And it was a mess and there is so much evidence that the whole process of reusing is even worse for the environment.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Between Codeberg, Forgejo, Gitea, etc., which do you prefer and why?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Gitea once now Forgejo.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why is the human body so incredibly bad at responding to colds?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Not really. While COVID does indeed go through the roof atm in the northern hemisphere, bacterial supra infections are fairly common for flu patients.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Awooga⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Well,patients do get asked for consent before these pictures are taken (and usually are again asked for approval again when the whole thing is layouted).

  But,tbh, most patient I got to know with similar, rare, cases are often more than happy to help science and help other patients who experience the same right now or in the future.

  I personally had a case I worked with peripherally where a breast implant basically exploded after a road traffic accident and the poor, rather young, patient suffered from a catastrophic infection and bodily reaction before that. As in: “She nearly died,was on ecmo, needed her sternum replaced”-catastrophic. (And no, not a cosmetic breast implant, just making sizes equal)

  Tbh, despite extensive plastic surgery the final result was…really grim. I have seen third degree burns with a better cosmetic result… Especially for such a young woman. Further correction would need to be done much later, at least 5 years from then. She was nevertheless very keen on appearing in the case report and did willingly take part in photos(and even provided pre incident photos), appeared in front of medical students and interns, etc. It was part of her way of dealing with it,of making sense out of this freak occurrence.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Awooga⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Shit. That’s a terrifying case in so many aspects.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Awooga⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  My condolences to your spine.