Sycamore Springs

Great staff and excellent dual diagnosis treatment! They truly care for the people that are in treatment and do a wonderful job of getting people started on the road to recovery.

The staff has a few hidden gems, but most of them are rude and tend to judge the patients. I was admitted EDO, which means the that the guy who checked me in had a judge force me to stay there for 72 hours. It was ridiculous, and I was not self harming or making any mention of that. The psychiatrist saw me the next day and released me on the spot. They admitted me for no reason at all other than I was having an anxiety attack. Even the doctor knew the admissions guy was in the wrong.
Most people stay for 7 – 10 days, which can seem like an eternity. The 24 hours I was there felt like a whole week. Twice in my sleep my roommate screamed bloody murder, and there was another patient who jumped others if she didn’t like the way they looked at her. They staff has no way of controlling violent patients from harming other patients.
Lastly, you truly do feel like you’re in jail. I felt like a caged bird the whole time. I would just sit there and fight the urge to cry because I kept hearing stories of how people tried to leave after they signed themselves in, and then Sycamore just got a judge to order them more time. I would not suggest anyone bringing a loved one to this facility.

Sycamore Springs is an unorganized and unprofessional disaster. I couldn’t even see a real doctor until 30 hours into my stay, and when I did, he was condescending and insulting. When I left, I was harassed by the entire staff, which is funny considering they shouted to each other through the ward constantly about their asinine personal lives; who is the adult here?
Also, when I left, they didn’t have me go through a discharge checklist to ensure I had all the belongings I came in with. So I now have some things missing, including five DVDs and $ 71 from my wallet (which was locked up, and only the staff were able to access).
They humiliated me, harassed me, and stole from me. I’ve never been through a more demeaning experience.

I brought my boyfriend out there because it is advertised as a dual diagnosis facility. He is bipolar and has problems with addiction. At Sycamore Springs they changed his meds daily and I watched him fall apart as the meds piled up. He saw a doctor once a day for 10min maximum. He was given 2 one on one therapy sessions during his 13day stay. Other than that it was arts and crafts classes and decent cafeteria food. He was threatening to hurt himself 5days into his stay and had recieved ZERO treatment for addiction. By day 11 he was determined to leave & also saying he wanted to die and he was on 7 different prescription meds. His personality changed rapidly. Everyday he called and was a different and more frightening man. They sent him out on day 13 with 7 different psy med prescriptions. He does not recall checking out and only has flashes of memory of what became of him and his Sycamore Springs prescribed 270 Ativans over the next 12 days. When he came home to me after a 12day binge he was in the beginning of kidney failure. We brought him to the ER & the doctor checked him out and said he was lucky he came in when he did. W/​O medical care he was within days of death. He had to stay at the state hospital 5 days and I am forever greatful for the care he got there. Sycamore Springs should be shut down.