When I checked myself into a psychiatric emergency room for suicidal thoughts, I didn't expect to spend a week in a mental hospital. Twenty-three years old, I was initially placed in a geriatric mental ward because there was no space for me elsewhere. Later in the week, I got inextricably caught up in some fellow patients' scheme to smoke in a smoking-free hospital. This piece follows my hospitalization and eventual recovery from severe depression.
Narratively is an online magazine devoted to original, in-depth and untold stories. Each week, Narratively explores a different theme and publishes just one story a day. It was one of TIME's 50 Best Websites of 2013.
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