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‘I Didn’t Even Have A Bed’: 18-Year-Old Opens Up On ‘Inhumane Conditions’ At Mount Carmel Hospital

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An 18-year-old mental health patient has opened up about the “inhumane and disgusting conditions” experienced during their stay at Mount Carmel Hospital.

The Maltese teenager explained how they’ve been admitted to the mental health facility a number of times and had a terrible experience each time, making them even more panicked to be back there.

“I have trauma from previous experiences so being admitted again was very scary and caused me to be in a panicked state the entire time,” they explained. 

“When I arrived there I didn’t find help with my panic attack. I was given pills to calm me down, which didn’t work, and I was surrounded by care workers and not given my proper space to calm down.”

When they eventually calmed down, they were taken inside and left to wait in a room full of beds until their COVID-19 test result came back before they could be placed in a ward.

“I again got another panic attack and I was met with the workers yelling at me to calm down instead of using proper calming techniques.”

“Because I was being ‘uncooperative’ they took me to this ward that was like an isolation ward. They gave me scrubs to put on, consisting of shorts and a shirt, and I wasn’t allowed to wear underwear or my chest binder underneath them,” they explained.

“Then they took me to this room that looked like a literal prison cell. I have a drawing of the room as I’m an illustrator and I was able to capture it on paper,” they said, sharing the illustration with Lovin Malta.

“In the room, there were eight cigarette butts that weren’t mine, a gym mat to sleep on with very worn out and stained blankets along with a toilet in the corner of the room.”

Illustration of Mount Carmel room

Illustration of Mount Carmel room

They detailed how there was no padding on the walls, just old chipped paint, along with a hole in the wall leading to the outside where the staff were. At the back of the room, there was a window with bars on it where night workers could keep their eyes on them.

But when the first night came, they did not find any help from staff when faced with another panic attack. 

“Throughout the first night, I had a very bad breakdown and I kept panicking. I kept begging and yelling for someone to come and help me, or at least just have someone to talk to – but they didn’t do anything and just left me in there, screaming.”

“I was yelling out how I need support and I was met with other patients screaming from their rooms that there is no support.”

“All the while the staff that was constantly watching me were just looking at me through the window and laughing because my shorts kept falling off because they were too big.”

The morning after, the patient was taken to shower and get ready, and was finally given new shorts after insisting that they did not fit them. Afterwards, they were taken to a common area where they met other patients.

“The people in there were 40-year-old men that had been to prison and were heavily addicted to synthetics and other drugs, I know this because I heard them talking about it,” they said.

“They had even said things like how prison is better than that ward and how they can’t wait to get out and go smoke like ’10 grams of synthetic’.”

They went on to explain how one of the men took a seat next to them, asking if he could draw something on the paper that they had.

“I was scared to say no so I let him, and on the paper, he drew an image of Satan on a pentagram and on his finger he had a swastika tattoo. He asked me if I knew what he drew so I told him,” they said.

“He started telling me about third eyes and other stuff and reached out to my forehead, I told him not to touch me and he didn’t listen. He put his finger on my forehead and made a really weird humming sound, it made me genuinely uncomfortable.”

The patient then reported the ordeal to the staff, and they assured them that he was placed in his room and can’t do anything to harm them. 

“So I looked out the window and started drawing, and a few minutes later the same guy comes behind me, grabs me from under my arms and lifts me up.”

“I shouted at him to put me down twice and then he put me down. The staff did nothing to help me get out of that situation where I was harassed by this other patient and the memory haunts me to this day,” they said.

“Being in Mount Carmel is a lot worse than people think it is and the staff there genuinely don’t know what they are doing and aren’t educated enough about the mental health conditions that people have.”

This is far from the first time that shocking stories have emerged from Mount Carmel Hospital, especially on the horrible conditions that patients seeking help are left in.

Lovin Malta reached out to the Health Ministry about the incident, and to enquire on whether anything is being done to combat the situation at Mount Carmel Hospital. 

“Persons that are 18 years old and suffer from mental illness are a particularly vulnerable group because they are in the transformation age to becoming adults. 18-year-olds that suffer from mental illness receive treatment from multidisciplinary teams, both in the community and in hospital if necessary, like all other patients in any age group.”

“But since in this age group patients might be harder to reach and have more complicated problems than patients in other age groups, the Mental Health Services have a multidisciplinary team, called ‘Innovations Team’, specifically dedicated to such patients between the ages of 13 and 25 years. This team helps them with their cognitive, emotional and social difficulties.”

“Mount Carmel Hospital has not received any complaints of a similar nature to the allegations mentioned in your questions. It must be noted that there are instances when the patient is at risk of using their clothes to commit suicide, and so alternative, safer clothing is given to the patient.”

“It is also pertinent to note that patients in wards who are more vulnerable than other patients, including vulnerability to abuse or harassment by other patients in the ward, are accompanied by a nurse or a carer at all times.” 

“Any cases of alleged breaches in hospital protocol should be brought to the attention of the Mount Carmel Administration for the necessary internal checks to be triggered,” it said.

Is Mount Carmel Hospital in need of reform? 

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Sasha is a writer, creator, and podcast host interested in environmental matters, humans, and art. Some know her as Sasha tas-Sigar. Inspired by nature and the changing world. Follow her on Instagram at @saaxhaa and send her your stories at [email protected]

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