Newmarket resident Devin Singer said Southlake Health has become a source of a recurring nightmare for her.
Singer lives with a range of health issues, including bipolar disorder, carpal tunnel syndrome, as well as asthma and breathing problems.
But a January visit to the Newmarket hospital for those breathing troubles has led to Singer having PTSD symptoms, she said.
What began as an emergency department visit ended with Singer being strapped to a bed in the hospital’s mental health ward, which she said was unfair and a mistake on the hospital’s part.
“You’re treated like you’re in jail. You’re treated like a convict,” she said.
Singer said her negative experience began when she went emergency room due to breathing difficulties and a bad cold Jan. 9.
Ultimately, Singer said she was admitted to the hospital, provided a portable breathing device and was taken for a CT scan.
But her portable oxygen ran out, and she was left alone in a hallway for several minutes. Singer said she began making her own way back to the emergency department to request a refill of the oxygen, pulling her rolling bed with her.
Singer said when a nurse confronted her in the hallway, she pushed away the nurse's hand and said, “Please don’t touch me.”
While Singer does not believe she used much force, she said the run-in with the nurse led to a "code white" being called and security guards were soon confronting her.
A code white in hospitals typically refers to a situation involving aggressive or violent behaviour by a patient toward themselves or others. Hospitals have specific procedures with security to address this and other codes.
It was a weird moment for herself and security, Singer said.
Guards were confused "because I’m going extremely slow, I can hardly breathe, I can hardly move and I can hardly walk,” Singer said, adding she was calm while being escorted by them back to the ER.
But things escalated after that point.
Singer said a doctor overheard her saying she was suicidal, which she said was not accurate. She had asked for information about medical assistance in dying (MAID) out of concern that her breathing condition could dramatically worsen — which had happened to a family member. But she said it was not an active expression of a suicidal desire.
Singer said she was "formed" to be placed in a 48-hour psychiatric hold out of concern for her being dangerous. Her pleas to avoid that happening were dismissed, and the doctor-approved Form 1 hold proceeded.
“I pleaded with her not to form,” she said. “I can go home right now, I will deal with it myself, everything will be fine. I do not feel suicidal. I do not feel like harming myself or others.”
Under Ontario regulation, hospitals can place patients in psychiatric holds involuntarily for evaluation for up to 72 hours if they believe they could be a danger to themselves or to others.
Singer said it is a terrifying experience, and it led her to be strapped to a bed unnecessarily.
“I don’t believe that there was any need for it,” she said, adding that the form claimed she was a harm to others. “That hurt me more than anything because I would never, ever hurt anybody else. I try my best never to hurt anybody, emotionally, let alone physically. I’m not that kind of person.”
Southlake Health said it cannot comment on specifics of an individual case due to privacy regulations, but said it does try to limit the use of restraints.
“Southlake upholds a ‘Least Restraint Policy,’ meaning that restraints are used only when absolutely necessary to prevent harm to patients and staff,” the health organization said. “Restraints are always a last resort and are never used as a substitute for care or as punishment to maintain a safe and healthy environment for everyone.”
Singer said it was not the first time she had been on a restraint psychiatric hold, so she had an idea of what to expect. About a decade ago, she said she voluntarily went to Southlake over mental health concern.
“I didn’t feel like hurting myself. I felt like disappearing,” she said, adding that she knew she needed mental health care. “And I felt like, OK, this is not a safe space for my head to be in, so I’m going to go to a safe space.”
But both 10 years ago, and this past January, getting put in a psychiatric hold was a profoundly negative experience for Singer. She said being restrained is a very unpleasant experience, having to cry out for help to do anything, like use the washroom, and having no access to your phone or other personal belongings.
Singer said it was traumatic.
“It’s barbaric what they do, and how they treat people," Singer said. "The nurses are trained to essentially ignore you unless you’re screaming bloody murder, so in order to pee, you have to scream at the top of your lungs ...Then they wait another 15 minutes to get a security guard to unlock you from your bed.”
According to the College of Nurses of Ontario website, “Restraints should be used only for the shortest time when prevention, de-escalation and crisis management strategies have failed to keep the individual and others safe.” The college said restraints should be continually assessed and reduced or discontinued as soon as possible.
A 2015 study from the University of Waterloo suggested that while restraint methods are common in mental health care in Ontario, they are not ideal.
“They counter a patient-centred approach to care and can damage therapeutic relationships while further stigmatizing patients,” Tina Mah, lead author, said at the time. “There are also organizational implications of control interventions use, including increased costs of care, reputational harm and exposure to potential litigation.”
Singer said that she made sure to say the right things when she was re-assessed.
“I did finally talk to the psychiatrist. He was a very nice gentleman. We spoke, he took me off the restraints,” she said. “I said all my Ps and Qs to get out of there. I knew I still needed to be in the hospital because I was still (physically) sick.”
Singer challenges the state of the mental health-care system in the country.
“The mental health system is broken and needs to be fixed, to the point where more health-care professionals understand what’s going on and can defuse the situation before it escalates," she said.
Eventually, Singer said she did receive the care for her breathing that she needed, which required follow-up testing.
But she said the experience has left her with nightmares.
“These flashbacks ... people ignoring me, my own health-care professionals. People that helped give birth to me,” she said. “I was born in that hospital, and I won’t go back there.”
Mental health care is challenging for Singer even beyond inpatient units, she said. Having tried free programming available, she said none of it was effective for her and extensive one-on-one care is out of her budget.
“I don’t want to hurt people around me by telling them how I feel all the time,” she said. “I don’t want to burden them with all my life’s problems.”
The system in inpatient wards is lacking, she said, with long gaps waiting while you can be in a difficult state.
“They need a better way of dealing with it. This isn’t the way,” she said.