Mulberry Bush Independent School

The people here have absolutely horrid grammar. The only good thing about this place was the deck swap card in uno and the weetabix... unfortunately, King Jessica/Julian would limit my eating habits. In all seriousness, when I first got to Brattleboro I was extremely nervous from the reviews I saw online being majorly negative (which then became an ongoing joke between me, my peers, and the staff - hence the beginning). That being said, for me, I found my stay there to be helpful and a good life experience to know that there's always someone who'll be there, even if you don't know them. I had lots of fun and made friends I'm still in contact with today. The staff is wonderful and only wants to help you, but I know this could be very different for other people going in there. So if you're like me, reading reviews as you drive over, just know that the living there can be hard and sometimes the kitchen will forget you ordered a grilled cheese, but you're there to get help and the staff is there to give you help so if you're cooperative, going to groups, and working on improvement - you're undeniably going to get better. Yes, some of the reviews are right and it can be a little scary to watch people be restrained, but you need to focus on yourself there.

Do not go here or have your loved one admitted here, ESPECIALLY if they are a child (I know how hard it is to find mental health treatment for youth in VT but anywhere is better than here. There are also short term residential places in the state that the system doesn’t tell you about that will actually help especially for those under 18, like the Howard Center for example). I was here back in 2014 on Osgood 1 and from what I remember it wasn’t terrible. The bathrooms smelled like pee 24/7 and there was no real therapy going on, but overall the first time wasn’t that bad. I was recently on Tyler 2 a few weeks ago while visiting my family from out of state. I ended up having an attempt and was forced here against my will even after expressing I did not want to come back to this place. Where do I start? I was one of 2 women on the whole unit which made me super uncomfortable considering I am only 24 and most of the men were decades older than me. To make it better they literally have a LGBTQ+ unit right below it and they didn’t think to put me there even though when you’re getting admitted they ask you about your sexuality and I am a part of the community. Felt extremely unsafe. They take everything from you. My room was constantly FREEZING at the end of December and they never turned the heat on even after asking repeatedly. Never felt like I was heard. They treat you like you’re not a person just because you are mentally ill. I was admitted voluntarily and even after expressing how uncomfortable I was there and how I would rather be released and treated elsewhere, the on call doctor for the weekend immediately threatened to make me involuntary (which is illegal by the way, you cannot force someone to stay in a hospital in the state of VT if they admitted voluntarily and they are not a danger to themselves or others, which I expressed multiple times I was no longer a danger to myself!) The only reason they let me go is because my parents reassured them that I would be safe with them and they were going to help me find outpatient treatment (which I did find by the way. Just incase the people who had their doubts about me there were wondering). They do not know how to treat patients with BPD. I had to talk to the supervisor just to get a NICOTINE PATCH. Nothing to do. Food is disgusting which really didn’t help with my ED. I already have no appetite and you’re gonna feed us that slop? I feel like the food was better when I went the first time, they even had a cafeteria for patients. They don’t even have a dining room on the unit and there was no option for a cafeteria. The “game room” consists of one (1) air hockey table. Be so for real. Lowkey feels like a prison. I felt worse here than I did on the outside. I’ve been to a lot of hospitals but honestly if I ever need treatment I am just gonna stay in Massachusetts where I live now. Big reason why I moved in the first place is the lack of mental health resources in Vermont. As the biggest psychiatric hospital in the state and the only option for a lot of people, DO BETTER. Patients are humans too.

I was 15 struggling with Major depressive disorder and self isolation and checked myself in. Placed in O3 I was there for about 2 weeks, first week fantastic I loved music group with the older lady with an accent and playing outside as well as other groups focused on mental health I received insight I found helpful and never got from other institutions/therapy. Like every big institution it has some problems and being such a rural state this is the only option for most and I feel the youth ward were more used for placement of kids who have a bad home and mental health issues. I don’t agree with their isolation room I was put in after having an episode and hitting a head nurse(she was incredibly unprofessional calling residents worthless and embarrassing; many of the staff are good unfortunately just have bad people in charge) I was restricted from groups and going outside so it was just like I was home isolating again and it felt like hell my mental health declined rapidly they discharged me after three days as I was actively self harming and sciucidal. in their words I was “not the type of patient meant to be there” I partially agree but I had no where else to go and just doesn’t make sense because their site says they care for people like me. My stay was fantastic until isolation if you truly want to get better go here follow the rules participate in group and when you want to leave act normal and they’ll let you out. I hate the stupid policies and lack of resources we have in VT but you can make it benificial

Was put in this place as a child. Probably about 26 years ago. Happened to look it up to see if it was still open. After seeing other people's comments I feel the need to share my experience as well. At 10 years old I was overdosed by the doctors at the time on resperdone. To the point my throat swelled shut. They had sent me alone to my room to wait to be seen. Almost suffocated. Was bad enough that I became allergic to the medicine afterwards. It's crazy to me that even after 25-30 years clearly there is still horrid shit happening from what I read in these reviews.

I want to thank the Battleboro retreat for helping me many years ago. It's been about twenty years since I was there as a patient. To me they helped me the most out of all others that I got treatment. The stuff is wonderful and I can't thank you enough for saving my life. The name I used when I was there went by Ana Hartford. I use this name for privacy. So if you want to look me up it's Ana Hartford. IV been sober since I left the retreat.saying thank you is not enough to express my true feelings and how much you helped me.