Hospital calling basic human needs "privileges" breaks my heart.

Being mistreated after being sent to a hospital for treatment is ridiculous. The hospital staff took advantage of the fact that they knew no one was present to support you.

For a 52 yo who has gone through all that crap in his youth….he looks really good! 👍🏻

Your parents failed you. They didn't put you first. I'm so sorry you had to endure this. 😔

No punishment on earth is enough for the doctors, nurses, administrators and others involved in this horror. The fact that the doctors tried to sue him for defamation after the law suit against them shows what monsters they are.

I hope this man is no contact with his "family", what a betrayal

What I am hearing is that if you aren't crazy before you go IN a mental hospital, you surely will be when you come OUT of one!

Jesus... how tf does putting someone in a chair for hours a day help their mental health recovery? I am so sorry you went through this 😢

I can relate to so much. I was hospitalized at a mental hospital at age 17. My parents were very provincial. Doctors were next to God. I am now age 70. I believe to this day the "professionals"made me more ill, over medicated me and kept me there until the insurance ran out, (months). Evil.

That facility was actively participating in child abuse! I hope they were closed down!

No child deserves to treated less than being loved, housed, clothed, fed and protected. AT ALL TIMES.

A mental hospital is no place for a kid. They are still growing their brains and to put them in such an unnatural place is damaging!

Of course you are suddenly "cured" when the insurance runs out. Clearly they never learned "First, do no harm."

What a sadistic place. My heart goes out to him and all those who suffered at the hands of such vile people.

Imagine your parent looking you dead in the face and telling you that your staying there with them is a privilege. After YOU got put in the position to fill his empty space because he found a new life. 💔

Omg I’m in shock that this hospital exists in our lifetime. That is torture treatment and parents go to jail for treating their children like this. And jail is better than this! Absolutely horrific!

He is very articulate and bright! Best to your future.

I was 16 when my evil mother and evil grandmother took me to a mental institution and left me there. I'm 51 and will never forget it.

This man has such a beautiful youthful disposition. "People would talk through me"😢 This is why I am SO big on listening and communication. That is the least you can offer anyone, much less children.😔

Poor man. Being shunted around like that as a teenager. Inflicting a lifetime of pain.

I can totally relate to this. I had a nervous breakdown when i was 18 and it was entirely a result of my emotional needs never being considered by anyone. I normalized everything i experienced until then, until it was more than I could deal with and my mind kind of broke. Really crazy looking back.

I like that, "people that are wounded tend to find each other", & ," our wounds, when we share them, unite us". Great sentiment.

I think it’s awful that people are treated so terribly in a hospital. I feel terrible.

I respect you Banning. After all you have suffered you have become a lovely human being without self pity.

What a horrific place-- As a teen going through challenges, this is the LAST thing he needed. These teens were treated worse than many prisoners. What about human rights? What about the rights of children? This was about making MONEY on human lives, not about healing anyone. He only got out when no more money was going to come into the institution for his "treatment". I'm glad this survivor has managed to OVERCOME the abuse he endured in the mental hospital. Here's to all of us who are also survivors. 🌿

This guy is incredibly eloquent, self- aware, intelligent and meticulously descriptive. He is emotionally expressive. He is a winner in life as he is narrating an episode in his life. He is not a victim but a survivor and thriving. God bless him.

The sin committed against children is so evil. Lord heal these wounds, in your name we pray 🙏

There should be a law against such treatment, such institutions should randomly be investigated. What kind of monsters run such places. Sue them! God bless you sir.

That hospital was willfully obstructing any healing to take place. In fact they behaved like gangsters. Wishing this articulate, kind and very handsome man all the success with his book and endeavours.

We have different circumstances but I can relate so much. My mom was physically, mentally and emotionally abusive. At 7 I became a caretaker for my younger siblings. My sister is mentally delayed and still has the mind of a toddler. I remember crying wondering why I even existed. I too had to dissociate to survive. It has left me feeling like I have no identity. I then became addicted to drugs. That's where I met Jesus. I had tried to kill myself. I screamed,"help me." And He did. He showed me the love He had for me and it had changed everything. I hope you know that you too are loved by the Most High God, Jesus.

Spent my youth in and out of Mental hospitals, damaged me permanently

"Each feels like this individual jigsaw piece" This is the best description of the loneliness that traumatised people feel.

My “mother “ tried to have me put in an institution when I was 16. I got to the doctor and told him what was going on at home. I had a manipulative mother and narcissist at that. If she didn’t have her way in all things she would make our lives a living hell. Make up things and create scenarios,lie and she would try and get people to go along with her schemes. After this Dr. heard my side of the story he immediately called her and said”shes ready to go home “! Hearing this she immediately flew into a rage. The Dr. calmly said, “There is nothing wrong with her maybe it’s you that needs help”! Parents came and got me and it was a very uncomfortable ride back to their house indeed. I graduated high school and went into the Air Force. At last I was on my own! I’m 76 now and it still hurts me to think family treated me like that. You went through much worse than me. I commend you for succeeding with your life. God bless you and your wife.

It is so sad that a hospital, a place for healing, does the opposite and makes their patients worse. Yes, nature can be so healing.

I guarantee a huge reason they kept you as a patient is because the government was paying the bill and that relieves the employees of having to answer to anyone, particularly since no one in your family wanted to support you.

I am a couple of years younger than he is, and I, for very similar reasons, did a decent amount of time as a teenager in much lower security psychiatric facilities. The look on his face and the way he talks are identical to every functioning kid that I knew in the adolescent wards, and I'm sure that I still look and talk like that, too, because it's the look and the sound of abandonment, and once you've been abandoned you're never really the same afterwards. The abandoning of our youth to these houses of torture is a truly dire evil, and one that we, as a society, have very much avoided addressing. This video is an excellent start to the process of getting justice for the many victims of these monsters. Thank you.

My parents divorced my dad had brain surgery at the age of 5. My mom had lots of mental breakdowns, she was poor we lived in low in come housing. My mom struggled mental health her whole life. Choose alcoholic men so I choose same type of men. I broke the cycle, I have mental health I take meds, doing good in life. PTSD will always be there but through treatment it’s possible to live a great fulfilling life. God bless you. We all have a story and a walk. I’m so glad I never got into drugs and alcohol like most. God blessed me.

I'm a Gen Xer and before your hospital stay you sounded normal, like some of the boys I went to Junior High and High School with. When you're 15 boy or girl, no one listened to you. So sorry you and everyone at the hospital was treated horribly. It's as of the doctors and staff were the crazy ones and wanted to experiment with y'alls' minds and make y'all crazy.

That’s not mistreatment, that’s torture. So sad. I’m so sorry you had to endure that.

My Mother locked me out from kindergarten on. I was made to sit in the sun and drink from a neighbors hose. All my other siblings were allowed in and they used to name call me and say how much they hated me. I barely got fed and my siblings got as much as they wanted. I’m still very uncomfortable around women because of it and my sister always getting me punished. She took me to have an abortion and told me she wished she aborted me too.

Oh my God l could never do that. My beautiful Daughter has bipolar and lives at home for 46 years. I love her with all my heart. People say she should live on her own but she cannot. I am her mother and she needs us. I had a massive heart attack now in heart failure. She helps me so it works both ways. If this beautiful young man was my son l would love him to the bitter end. Thinking of you and sending big hugs 🤗

It is very brave for this man to relive this and share his experiences. I hope he’s ok.

"People don't listen to each other" is such a true statement. It causes a lot of needless pain. This whole story could have been so different. Also I can't believe how badly these kids were being treated! It's torture! Why??

Thank you Banning for sharing your horrific experience with us. It's beyond cruel how these institutions and individuals treat patients.. it's like they are torturing and punishing you for getting sick. You obviously are a strong, emotionally mature individual whom has made this world a better place.

As someone who is studying to become a mental health professional, this is very important for me.

This exact thing happened to me in austin. Im 54 and was 15 at the time. When you said "sit chair" at the beginning this video I had a FLOOD of emotion/ flashbacks. I did 18 months in total. I was given a diagnosis "borderline" in order to keep insurance on me there.

I’m 67 and sometimes my sisters don’t listen to me. My younger sister in particular will just start a new conversation while I’m mid-sentence. I feel invisible.

Psychedelics are just an exceptional mental health breakthrough. It's quite fascinating how effective they are against depression and anxiety. Saved my life.

The way that this guy is so emotionally intelligent and emotionally literate shows that 1) he's highly intelligent 2) he's highly sensitive and God bless him. He's amazing and I'm so sorry that he went through this. I'm glad he's sharing it with other people.

'they just had conversations around me and about me..' i understand that feeling too well

The average person thinks these institutions help the people who are sent there, but the people who have endured them and are fortunate enough to have survived know they're torture chambers. The fact that you are out and relatively normal shows how strong(and smart) you truly are.

It’s insane that anyone would treat a troubled teen like this and expect any kind of improvement.

That is horrendous what happened to you. I was in a psychiatric hospital in Houston for attempting to take my life due to domestic violence and a traumatic divorce. Thankfully, I wasn’t treated the way you were. However, that were short of staff and would ask patients to allow the smokers to go outside with the staff. I finally told the psychiatrist that I was only able to see the outside from a big window. He was annoyed at staff and from then on, we weren’t asked to let the smokers go with staff due shortage of staff. However, my kids are now 29 and 24 and never was able to get past the trauma of almost losing their mom and the violence they witnessed in the home. They have cut me off for 2 yrs now because I am a reminder of their horrible past. I am not upset at them and I understand why they cut me off. I just have to move forward in life without my kids and grandkids. If I don’t, it will kill me.

Insurance was paying the bill, when it quit paying they released you.

Beautiful soul. Those people who met you in life are so lucky. Thank you for sharing with us. I can feel your every word.

This is absolutely horrifying. So sorry that people have experienced life in this way.

I survived the old Anoka State hospital twice against my will. Sharing my story soon publicly. I can empathize with what you’ve been through in the institution. I was there in my early twenties twice and the things I went through and saw in that place still haunt me to this day and I’m 50 yrs old. The injustice of it all and being stuck in the psych system for 3 yrs of my young adult life still sits with me often. Although I didn’t experience the same punishment as you in the hospitals they were still brutal and inhumane

I was mistreated at the Ascension inpatient mental health facility in Wichita, Kansas, after a mental patient, whom I knew as a kid, called the police and wrongfully reported me as "suicidal" (I certainly was not). I was 56 at the time, and was treated like I was a terrorist...all because I told the truth about NOT being suicidal. The staff physically assaulted me and tried everything to keep me longer than the 6 days of absolute HELL that I went through after I was arrested by the Wichita, Kansas police and manhandled to that hellhole. I still have panic attacks thinking about it, and pause every time I see a cop now! When one is accused of being suicidal, one is GUILTY until one can prove innocence.

I was put in a mental institution when I was 15 because of anxiety and depression. The hospital took me without my parent's consent. There was violence, r*pe, overdoses and constant drugging. I didn't see the sunlight for months or go out in the yard. They'd drug me, poke and prod me and did endless testing. Two kids od'ed: the boy had brain damage afterwards and I never saw the girl again. Another girl impaled both of her hands with a knife. She was there for an eating disorder. When the insurance was up, I was out without any support or therapy. My anxiety and depression got a lot worse, and I developed new problems. It screwed up my friendships, my schooling and socialization. The bullying got worse and I lost all of my friends. I was completely overwhelmed when I got out, and I eventually turned to drugs and alcohol. I'm near his age and only recently started feeling better and went sober over 10 years ago. It's so validating hearing someone else tell a similar story. You do feel alone. People treat you differently when they hear about your story, they also taunt you, don't believe you or simply don't want to hear it. I'm still scared of going crazy or getting locked up again. I have not healed completely, and I don't know if I ever will. We aren't our trauma, sure, but it does deeply effect our lives. I'm so happy that guy is better, and I wish healing for everyone who has been victimized by Insurance scams as kids.

I now understand why people choose to live on the streets instead of these horrors

A relative of mine used to work in a mental hospital. She said most of the staff were on drugs or had their own mental problems

How does any of that help with mental health, thats torture

I was also abandoned at a psych ward and it was horrific. I don't talk about it. No one would believe me

I have had this experience on multiple occasions, unfortunately especially when I needed help the most. It taught me if I am ever having trauma to keep it to myself

I totally can relate to him and you. My mother died in my arms of a heart attack when I was 18. I lost it because she was my only parent and we were so very close. I will keep all of you in my prayers. ❤

100% I've been trying to explain this to people, that we are not defined by the traumatic events we've survived, for years! Some people get it, some don't, some eventually do. It is liberating to take control and to stop living as a victim. It was not your fault, these horrible things, and you can get beyond and be OK.

He is the youngest looking 52 year old I have seen. I wish him a really happy life.

Incredible story. You made it. Thank you for sharing this.

Very similar experience for me here in South Australia. I was institutionalised many times in my teens and early 20’s. I’m in recovery now and give back as a disability and mental health support worker and first responder.

People have to stop calling kids "man of the house". That phrase alone just comes with so much pressure..

SO much of your backstory sounds like mine, it felt like you'd hacked into my existence! I'm working on a book now about my experiences as a child in a mental institution and a ward of the state, after my mom was unable to provide me the care I needed when they split up and my dad left for Alaska. I saw no fireworks at the 1976 bicentennial because I was in a facility, a classic Kirkbride stone mental hospital with underground tunnels, and mingling with actual lunatics. I was only ten years old...

Your story is amazing. A true survior. I can identify. I'd had a mental health crises a decade ago and got caught up in a hospital drama similar to yours. After a month of my family trying to get me out we were finally able to stage an escape. If one is ever trapped by a facility.. look for the areas where there are no cameras and watch to see which workers are slackers . Know the lay out and when you see your window of opportunity take it and run like hell. Stay off the roads and public places until your able to find a phone to call someone you trust. I simply jumped a fence in the smoking yard , ran about 100 feet where my brother was waiting . Got to our home county and met with our Sheriff (A family friend). They tried to get me back by court order but our attorney had it quashed .

I have been hospitalized several times for depression and each time was traumatic. I came back with more trauma than i went with. I endured being restrained to a bed, being strip searched for no good reason, being yelled at, accused of manipulation because I asked for help, being sexually assaulted (the nurses said he didn't mean it), being made to sit on a dirty floor because they had no chairs, not going outside for weeks, and having my husband's life threatened by an obsessed fellow patient. One time my husband brought my young children, who hadn't seen me in weeks (I had been told I'd be there three days), and my daughter hit her head on something and started crying so hard she passed out. She did that several times in her toddlerhood, her pediatrician said she was fine. The nurse gave her a breath and she was ok, but then the nurse immediately took her from me and made them leave. My daughter now has trauma to process from that and it has affected our relationship for years. I also witnessed people going through electroshock therapy and one lady defecated all over the bed and the techs didn't cover it or clean it as they wheeled her back to the unit. Another lady had seizures that they couldn't find a reason for, so they constantly mocked her and told her it was in her head and she was manipulating them. One hospital would sedated anyone who got out of bed. They didn't have soap in the bathroom. They wouldn't make eye contact. The doctors were on the other side of a glass wall but they wouldn't look you in the eye. Another place had one bathroom for all the females. The women's bathroom was on the way to the men's. The shower was at the end of the bathroom. If you showered and someone opened the door, men would see you as they walked by. There was poop on the floor for a week and the nurses refused to get someone to clean it. I offered to clean it myself if they gave me cleaning spray and they got mad at me. This was all about ten years ago, not 30 or 50 years ago. There was so much trauma I could not recommend it to someone unless they were about to kill themselves. You are dehumanized and made to feel like a criminal, even if your only crime is against yourself. They don't allow you to exercise or get fresh air and they try to stuff you full of unhealthy food, and they take away "privileges" even when you first get there, even if you signed yourself in. Several places had no classes at all. Just tv. It was very depressing and numbing. I wasn't a teenager but i mentally felt like one, especially the way they treated us. My brother was checked into rehab as a teen because my parents thought he was on drugs. He tested negative but the hospital kept him for several months anyway. He still has unresolved issues from that.

I saw staff purposefully provoking patients, but in a twisted way, that couldn't be proved. I'm SO GLAD you can tell it ALL now!.

You look fantastic for a 53 year old! You certainly appear way younger 👍🏻

❤ God Bless you❤ Sorry you went through so much emotional trauma ! I am SO glad YOU OVER CAME your struggles !❤ ,.

One of my worst nightmares is if people restrain and declare I’m insane sending me to the nut house despite me trying to prove that I’m not. Eventually you will become insane anyway

Those restraints are not allowed anymore like that!!! So sad.😢

I’m always shocked at how inhumane psych wards are. People often leave worse than they came in. This man overcame great odds.

😢this is so sad and so horrible that this happens. It mkes me physically sick just hearing. Im so sorry.

I was raised by emotionally abusive, verbally abusive, rare occasions physically abusive and not great grandparents, my mom was a drunk who was never home, dad in another state, younger brother and older sister there too (same mom different dads) I was more emotional and expressive as a kid, I was treated very different than my siblings. My grandmother would call family and lie about me saying i did horrible things when in reality I wasn't a bad kid. (Its taken me til now, 38, to realize I was never a bad kid, just manipulated to think I was) Anyway.. here I am with BPD, C-PTSD, dysthymia,anxiety disorder.. been in counseling and on meds for years. I want to love myself. I don't know how to. I don't know how anyone else could love me. It doesn't make sense. I don't even understand how to like myself. Tolerate myseif. Every moment, it feels like my bones want to walk away from my skin, it is a physical feeling how uncomfortable I am with myself. I don't know exactly how else to describe it. Like, there is suddenly "enemy nearby" battle music starts and you're like "oh shit" and scan your surroundings, heart beating fast, ears ringing, holding your breath, to see nothing, no enemy. But that enemy music doesn't stop. You can't shake it no matter where you travel on the map. You realize.. you're the enemy. You are your own enemy for no good reason. But can't change it.

Shows you what type of spirit you had, they could not break you! That’s why you survived. I hope you have found a type of happiness!

Happens more often than people can imagine

My son had great insurance...so they kept him locked up until it reached it's limit...nightmare !

Very redemptive and touching story. Happy that you are here to share it.

Every psychiatrist and mental health professional should watch this.

I was hospitalized 2x for "mental health" and found out they don't want to help; just harm. It's horrendous how people are treated in psych wards.

That poor man has a very pure soul, if anyone else had been put through that they would be very embittered. I am angry at the way he was treated. They should never have got away with that. God bless you always young man.

“Our wounds and our traumas don’t need to define us”, Thank you for sharing your story, may we continue to heal.

Thanks for telling your experience. I’m so sorry you went through all of that you turned out to be such a gracious person considering all the trauma you went through. Shame on that hospital they clearly mistreated their “patients”

What an amazing guy. He took what would have broken most people, and turned it into something that helps others. I don't know how he did it honestly, he has a very strong Spirit within him. I applaud him for his fortitude, because I have no idea what I would have done, esp at that age in time. I thank him for sharing his story with others, and doing so in a very well spoken way.

So wild! I'm about his age (1968) and my dad died in 1977 when I was 9 and my mom was left to raise 7 kids and I was the youngest. I was completely ignored and I remember one of my sisters friends took pity on my and brushed my hair, I had a lot of huge dreadlocks she took 3 hours to brush out my hair. The difference is I loved being ignored and left alone. I did all that drawing on clothes being weird and at 13 I went to live with my auntie in El Cajon CA, then to Chicago for a little while then N. Idaho then back to CA. Thankfully I wasn't put in a mental Institute, probably because we couldn't afford it lol. I've learned we need to focus on what we have and not what we don't have. If it means anything you seem like a well balanced insightful dude now! Hope you have a great life!

Thank you for sharing your story to help others..You have a beautiful soul

I was in Reliant Care Facilities for over 2 years. Those places don’t exist for the patients; they exist for the ones who send them there. I was given the wrong meds and or wrong doses numerous times. I saw people in there fall and break a bone, and then not see a doctor for over a month. A couple diabetics died while I was there. This was due to wrong dosages. I could really go on recounting memories for another 10,000 words, but I’ll just say, most of them (not all) are horrible horrible places. Something really needs to be done about it. Lots of the people in there were more competent than any of the staff, and didn’t belong there, but were abused daily. I get agitated and depressed just thinking about it again.

I hope you and your wife are able to rescue kids from foster care. You're the best person to be a father knowing how kids feel

I am sorry you had to experience all this i cannot imagine what you have been through thank you for sharing your story wishing you lots of love and healing and a full happy life ❤❤

What torture he had to endure. I am so so sorry!

What an amazing story. You are extremely resilient. God bless you all the days of your life.

I’m 47 and I’ve been in and out of psych hospital since I was 14 -I’ve been through a lot of what you’ve gone through❤

Sadists called professionals .Sadists paid to torture children and adults. This happened to a family member as well. Im glad you were able to overcome.