You must talk to us. Yes, we have no pills.

Visited partner at the mental health unit today. Mood low, but she was less frantic than on other days, just exhausted, a little scared and depressed.
She is often told by nurses to talk about her feelings and to ask for help.
Just been on the phone to her tonight (after 10pm). Earlier she had been crying. She goes with a nurse to her room to talk “one to one”. She says she wants to kill herself, so the nurse decides immediately to start taking things from her for her safety and suggests that she should be put on a seclusion gown. J then had to say that she wasn’t suicidal and that she was busy and asked the nurse to leave her room. The nurse respects her wishes and leaves. The sad thing about all this is that J is now having to pretend that she is okay because she’s frightened of an overreaction based on risk. I’ve just rung the nurses office and the nurse is denying mentioning the gown, but she did acknowledge wanting to tackle risk before talking further to J. I can, in part, understand how this has occurred (sometimes when in crisis J only hears the extreme statements), but at the same time you wonder how a dialogue is possible once a patient is frightened of losing possessions and dignity. I hoping that she gets to talk with her “named nurse” (the nurse who’s name is on the patient notes) because we trust him.
This has literally just happened. I’m hoping it doesn’t escalate into anything.
Damn. Silly place. Poorly J.

Edit: Not much came of waiting to talk to the right nurse, who was dispensing meds and certainly not willingly take sides in any patient testimonies about colleagues, and so actually talking about how she felt was pretty much a no-go with the reliable-but-busy-male-nurse.
Other fails today: They ran out of antibiotic pills for J’s festering legs, another pill was missing from her medication, and the pharmacy in this hospital have cut off her Zopiclone because that’s what happens after two weeks, regardless of what doctors write, this has all happened before. All hail the computerized dispensing system. Also, a special cream which was recommended by a tissue viability nurse a week ago has yet to appear, despite reminders. Notes were not made, emails haven’t been checked. Some of these things can be temporarily fixed by a junior doctor the following day, maybe if J’s lucky there will be a ward round soon, where they actually let her sit in. Day to day care can be very hit and miss on these particular wards. J is also not really at liberty to leave the ward and go looking for the absent staff with real authority. The powerlessness and hopelessness is tangible.
These things individually would be enough to wind up a well person. I think she is being remarkably restrained, all things considered.