Welcome to the “Bangkok Hospital Mental Health Center” to accommodate psychiatric patients
Thais unknowingly suffering from depression
The mental health of people today faces stress and various problems, leading to an increased rate of mental health patients. Sometimes, the government sector cannot accommodate the large number of patients. Moreover, many patients lack knowledge and understanding, or feel too embarrassed to consult a psychiatrist, leading to worsening mental conditions, sometimes even leading to suicide. From these problems, Bangkok Hospital was inspired to change this attitude and thus inaugurated the “Bangkok Hospital Mental Health Center” in a warm and private home atmosphere, making consultations with psychiatrists less intimidating.
Mental health problems in Thailand
Dr. Apisamai Srirangsan, Director of Bangkok Hospital Mental Health Center said, “Mental health problems have become a threat to people’s health in the current era. Emotional changes, disappointments, and despair after facing sudden life-changing diseases make some people seek mental refuge. The current model of counseling and mental health rehabilitation services do not stand on academic principles that answer everyone’s needs amid the world’s shift towards respecting patients’ human rights, emphasizing privacy, relaxation, and transforming the traditional hospital atmosphere into more of a home environment. In the past, psychiatric departments would have patients live together in a mental health colony without privacy or respecting humanity. Obviously, someone suffering mentally already desires beauty, peace, a place where they feel comfortable, and self-rehabilitation, which initiated the establishment.”
Bangkok Hospital Mental Health Center
Bangkok Hospital Mental Health Center or Bangkok Mental Health Rehabilitation and Recovery Center (BMRC) is another effort by Bangkok Hospital to provide new concept mental health and psychiatric services because we believe that “good health starts with the heart.” The design considers the service users’ needs, emphasizing international standards of service delivery, choosing soothing and warm color tones like home, with understanding service.
Inside Bangkok Hospital Mental Health Center, there are examination rooms and patient rooms with a capacity of 7 beds (7 rooms,) each room covering 40 square meters. It includes a Special Care Unit with 2 beds for patients requiring close attention or at risk when left alone, a Quiet Room, and an activity zone for group recreational activities learning to cope with life skills possibly affected by mental abnormalities. The interior is decorated to feel like home, with relaxation corners, natural lighting, safety-designed furniture without sharp edges or hooks that could harm patients. High safety-level bathroom fittings, an outdoor garden measuring 3 meters wide by 10 meters long for relaxation. For outpatient services, the front area is a spacious, clean, and visually comfortable lobby with sofas and a variety of hot and cold beverages. Moreover, inside this home-like center, there are two large activity rooms.
With the goal of treatment under the new “Recovery” method, which supports each person to realize their value and potential – crucial in developing to face potentially detrimental situations to mental health firmly, focusing on academic-based treatment without coercion or restriction of rights, alongside relationship-building activities. These are part of the mental health rehabilitation process according to international principles, such as adjusting perspectives, social interaction techniques, group activities like yoga, Tai Chi, art therapy, and music therapy, learning new technologies, etc., under the collaboration of psychiatric teams, addiction specialists, psychotherapists, recreational therapists, psychiatric nurses, pharmacists, with both Thai and international experience, skilled in patient care according to professional standards, with care as though one big family, enhancing patients’ confidence and comfort in consulting with doctors more.
Bangkok Hospital Mental Health Center is ready to offer diagnostic, treatment, rehabilitation, and recovery services for patients with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, those wanting to quit alcohol or drugs. It also covers patients with physical illnesses at risk of mental health issues, such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, or other chronic diseases that need both physical and mental health care, as well as the general public facing mental health problems due to insomnia, family issues, finance, work, education, stress, and relatives of patients facing mental situations.
Depression must be observed
Currently, it is alarming how many patients are suffering from depression, and even scarier, many do not realize they have this condition. Many show no symptoms, appearing normal and cheerful on the outside but having hidden depression. Those with severe depression are significantly impacted in terms of family relationships, personal relationships, work or education, sleeping and eating habits, and overall health. Patients with depression will feel depressed and unmotivated to engage in activities they used to enjoy, obsess over feelings of worthlessness, regret, or irrational guilt, feeling helpless, hopeless, and self-loathing. In severe cases, symptoms of mental disorders (Psychosis), such as hallucinations (Hallucination) or delusions (Delusion), might appear. Other symptoms include decreased concentration and memory in patients with unresolved mental conditions, social withdrawal, reduced libido, and thoughts of death or suicide.
Insomnia and depression
Insomnia is one characteristic of depression, typically waking up too early and unable to go back to sleep. Similarly, excessive sleep (Hypersomnia) can also be a symptom of depression. Physical symptoms, such as easy fatigue, headaches, or digestive system issues, appetite reduction leading to weight loss, whereas overeating and weight gain can also occur in some cases. People close to the patient can notice the patient’s behaviors as either agitated or lethargic.
Patients and caregivers need combined mental health care, including promoting mental health, building mental immunity, exploring potential, and supporting personal achievement. Bangkok Hospital Mental Health Center also focuses on providing diagnostic, treatment, and mental health rehabilitation and recovery services according to the Recovery Oriented Services (ROS) principle, with a variety of treatment methods and activities supporting patient awareness of their own worth and participation in specially designed rehabilitation processes to match each patient’s needs and potential, by a team of psychiatrists and specialized mental health personnel.
“We support the strength of the mental health patient network and value the families taking care of patients through the Consumer and Carer Consultation and Community and Family Reintegration programs, crucial in helping mental health patients recover to their fullest potential, reintegrate into their families, live in society with value and happiness. Because good physical health starts with the heart, we consistently take care of our mental health and maintain a clear mind.”
