During my eight days and nights of psychiatric hospitalization they didn’t give me what I actually needed. They focused on containment and surveillance. They monitored every move and tried to fit my suffering into their categories. They didn’t understand trauma, nervous system overload, or the realities of living in a world that keeps piling on. It didn’t give me relief. It didn’t give me connection. It didn’t give me dignity. It was a place that existed to manage liability, not human beings in crisis. And that's why I came out in far worse shape than when I went in.