A FORMER patient at Albury's Nolan House has pleaded for an overhaul of the psychiatric unit, saying it can hinder recovery from mental health woes.
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Mira Mimic has had three recent stints in the treatment centre, with two of those voluntary and one forced which saw her housed in the high dependency unit.
She contacted The Border Mail to give her views after articles on Saturday highlighted concerns over the mixing of patients and the environs of Nolan House.
"It's very scary, it's very frightening," Ms Mimic said.
"I think what they need to do is change the system, they need to change what they do, because they're incarcerating people into cells and creating angst for people.
"I don't believe I needed to experience what I experienced, maybe they could have put me into an open ward and I could have been an unscheduled patient and recovered quicker."
Ms Mimic, 54, a former teacher, said she was concerned for those who believed a stint in a psychiatric unit can be a cure-all.
"I think some people think a hospital stay is going to solve their problem and I don't think it is," she said.
"The consequences of going in there are that you sometimes get worse before you get better.
The consequences of going in there are that you sometimes get worse before you get better.
- Mira Mimic
"You really need to recover in your own space and your own time."
Ms Mimic, who did not want to reveal her mental health condition, said she believed there needed to be more individual focus on patients and activities to occupy their time in Nolan House.
![Left feeling alone: Former Nolan House patient Mira Mimic says being treated at the psychiatric unit is an experience to avoid. Picture: ELENOR TEDENBORG Left feeling alone: Former Nolan House patient Mira Mimic says being treated at the psychiatric unit is an experience to avoid. Picture: ELENOR TEDENBORG](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/XJLgPnEdnKaFugZzKyL6Sw/d0e56270-b2e0-4a65-92d5-6bf21b0a2b4d.jpg/r1428_0_4919_3456_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
She said she saw sessions on mindfulness and sensory modulation which failed to engage and called for more grooming and make-up activities for patients.
She said it was "too easy to dismiss people as crazy" but she wanted to give the community an idea about what occurred in the unit.
Ms Mimic said, as a patient in the high dependency unit, she had two hours daily supervised leave and was housed with others who were "quite volatile" and verbally abusive and threatening.
North East and Border Mental Health Service executive director Michael Nuck said he could not comment on individual's cases.
However, he said there was a focus on personal service.
“There is an activity program – we are constantly reviewing this - with input of our nurses, psychiatrists, OTs, psychologist, consumer advisors," he said.
"Activities are individually tailored."
Mr Nuck said staff tried to make the unit hospitable.
"Admission to an acute facility is not a treatment decision taken lightly – it can be difficult for anyone coming into hospital – regardless of the reason for admission or which part of the hospital," he said.
"Staff work hard to ensure individuals are helped to be as comfortable as possible."