Gacengeci David M MD,

3019 Falstaff Road, Raleigh, NC 27610

"I was put into Holly Hill in the children’s unit in November 2013. They had their information wrong off the bat. They registered me as involuntary, although it was my decision to go to the hospital because of severe suicidal thoughts. The staff was forceful physically, gave sedative shots, were aggressive, and seemed like they were not focused on your well-being. I spoke to my therapist once. That was the day before i was discharged, at my family meeting. When I was deciding to go to the hospital, my goal was to get better while I was there. At Holly Hill, I realized that I am not able to get better there. My goal switched from getting better to getting out. I said all the right things and tried my best to follow rules and be respectful. It felt like a punishment for self-harming and having mental-illnesses that I can’t control. The staff blames your illness on you. They act like you caused it. They strip search you after giving you a few minutes to say goodbye to the one parent that was able to go with you. The admission process was slow and unorganized. The rooms were not comfortable, they were not heated, and I could not see outside of the window. Over half of the day was spent watching Nickelodeon re-runs in a glass room constantly being watched by cameras. The staff seem to want to rile up the children there for anger.They took me off of my ADHD stimulant, and created an uncomfortable environment. The rules are not explained to you when you are admitted. You can’t be visited by anyone besides immediate family, and visitation lasts an hour and a half. I never received one-on-one therapy, as their website says there is a scheduled time for one-on-one therapy. I never got any school work, so I have fallen far behind and my grades have dropped. The minimum amount of time you can spend in Holly Hill after being admitted for suicide is 5 days. I was there for 9. They will probably put you on different medications. Holly Hill Hospital is not a good hospital to go to if you want your mental state to improve. The hospital has only traumatized me. I was able to speak to my doctor for a few minutes every weekday. He asked me if I was having thoughts of hurting myself or anyone else, and that was it. They do not respect your rights, your privacy, or your hygiene. The room I was in was never cleaned in the 9 days I was kept. You have to stay on the unit for 24 hours before you can have visitors, go to the cafeteria to get food, or go to the “gym” during recreational therapy. The doctors did not do anything when a child on the unit was having an unusual reaction to a sedative shot besides draw a smiley face on her arm. The “school” was simple coloring, adding, elementary readings, and multiple choice answers. Group therapy consisted of you being forced to stand up, state your name, age, why you were admitted, what you need to work on, and what you’re going to do when you get out. I was never taught any new coping skills. We were locked in our rooms for an hour or longer, it was hard to tell because the only clock on the unit was at the nurses station. The whole building is not clean, there were two nights in a row where the fire evacuation plan was ripped out of the wall to be used as a weapon. You could not read books that your family brought you. When I began to sob after a phone call, I was taunted by a nurse. When I continued sobbing in the day room, another nurse was sent in to record me crying on his chart, and questioned me crying. They assume it’s because you want to harm yourself or are sad. I missed my family and friends, and there was stress building every day I was there because my grades were dropping. The price was unbelievable, and they demanded it the day after I was released. When in the hallways, we had several overlaps with the adults, which was very dangerous. When we were in the courtyard (about a 8x30 foot space fenced in with a single tree) outside of the adult unit, they banged on the glass."