I was stuck in a mental hospital as a child because I didn't go to school. It seems basic but I just didn't. When I was admitted they told me that I would notice that out of everybody I had the least of the problems. They were right.

What was it like? I'm not sure they were 100% honest about the reports they gave my parents. For instance, I attended their in hospital school regularly but they told my parents that I wasn't attending 100%. The padded cell was interesting and they got to use it a time or two while I was there but not on me. For a child that was misbehaving and uncontrollable they'd lock him in there to keep him from hurting himself or others. It felt weird not to be able to keep shoelaces in my shoes.

Several of the girls were there because of anorexia and bulimia. Any time one of the girls used the rest room they were not allowed to flush until it had been reviewed by a nurse. I'm sure this was embarrassing for them. None of the girls there for this seemed sick. In fact they looked very healthy, as in they were properly weighted for their frame.

There were some boys there that had suicidal issues and behavioral issues but none of them seemed to be too bad.

One thing I noticed while there was the fact that they didn't try very hard to keep people from harming themselves. They practically had live wiring hanging out of the walls in my room. The mirrors were unbreakable stainless steel but there were sharp objects all over the place. I made note of these things while I was leaving the hospital. I didn't want them to think I was suicidal while I was there so I didn't mention it. It would have been just another reason for them to convince my parents to let them keep me.