The psych ward can be an unbearably lonely place. We’re often alone with our thoughts and reflections on relapses, struggles, disappointments, and hopelessness. I know. I’ve been there. I’ve suffered from severe bipolar I disorder with psychosis for over 25 years. Mental health crises landed me in the psych ward involuntarily three times.
In the psych ward, there are rarely well wishes or flowers on the window ledges. Many of us have no visitors at all. We feel forgotten and abandoned—I did and was. I felt unloved. I was heartbroken. These were the lows of my struggles, of my life. I have since reached recovery, but the pain of those hospitalizations never seems to go away.
After I reached recovery, I wanted to share comfort, support, and hope with my hospitalized peers. I created a program called Psych Ward Greeting Cards. The program is simple. It is based on kind gestures. Wonderful people, very often with mental illness, donate beautiful greeting cards. Our amazing giving partners and I contribute chocolate and small gifts. We have caring financial contributors who help with the special extras. I distribute the cards and gifts through in-person hospital visits and shipments throughout the year.
Our program was inspired by my experiences living with severe bipolar I disorder, including three hospitalizations. I wanted to share an inspiring message of recovery in a simple, caring approach. Since I returned home from my last stay and until this day, my Mom and Dad have sent me the most loving cards every week. They make me feel loved and cared for, remembered and needed. I want to share these same feelings with all psychiatric patients.
We also meet patients at the time of discharge. The time following discharge is critically important. One study found that the suicide rate during the first 3 months after discharge is approximately 100 to nearly 200 times that of global suicide rates. We meet patients when they need us most.
I do many things. I am most proud of this program. Anyone who has mental illness knows that hospitalization is the most difficult experience we face. I want to help make that experience better. This year, our program is celebrating our six-year anniversary. In this time, we have reached over 25,000 amazing patients at eight leading hospitals. We are blessed.
Please support our mission by donating greeting cards with heartfelt messages. Your kindness helps remind those in psychiatric hospitals that they are not forgotten—that they are seen, valued, and loved.
Katherine Ponte, JD, MBA, CPRP, is a mental health advocate, author, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and nonprofit leader and the founder of Psych Ward Greeting Cards.
