Life in a Psych Ward: What is it really like ?

An interview with Kat Beck

By Margot Duga

February 29, 2024

@katbeck

Meet Kat Beck - a dedicated advocate for Mental Health awareness on TikTok. After being admitted into a psych ward, she began documenting her journey on her platform, aiming to break stigmas and educate others about mental illness. In this interview, she shares that she wants people to stop glamorizing psych wards, especially after seeing comments on Tiktok comparing her experience to a "holiday vacation”. In the future, Kat plans to continue using her voice to empower and support those facing similar challenges. 

You can find her on TikTok at @katbeck.

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You've been documenting your journey on TikTok, shedding light on your experience in a psych ward. What inspired you to start sharing your story on this platform ?

This is going to be a very boring answer but I’d just come out of my first admission and there was a trend going around on Tiktok to write your own lyrics to a beat. I thought “hmm i could do this” and wrote one about my time in the psych ward. It blew up and got over 100,000 views and I thought “Maybe I’m good at this” and kept on creating content from there. I wanted there to be a mix of funny, tongue in cheek content for people to laugh at, and then also more serious videos where my aim was to raise awareness, particularly about borderline personality disorder (BPD).

Can you tell us about a specific moment during your time in the psych ward that shaped your perspective on mental health ? How has it influenced your advocacy work today ?

This isn’t from the psych ward, but I remember the mental health liaison team in the general hospital coming to review me and I heard behind the curtains : “Oh God, not another borderline”. It then hit me how stigmatized BPD is and it made me want to try and raise awareness about the condition. I also remember being shouted at by the nursing team during my third admission. The team that was on one night had no clue how to deal with me and ended up shouting at me things like “Why are you doing this?” when I was in genuine distress. It hurt me a lot and showed me how misunderstood BPD is as a diagnosis.

What are some common misconceptions people have about being in a psych ward, and how do you hope to clear up these myths through your content ?

I get a lot of comments from people saying it’s like a holiday camp or “where do I sign up”. People need to realize it’s not a vacation, it’s a truly traumatic place to go. I’ve had some good experiences there, but I’ve also had a lot of traumatic ones. I think the glamorisation of the wards needs to be stopped. People don’t realize the horrific things that happen to people there. You are restrained, forced medication against your will, locked in for weeks on end without going outside. Each time the alarm goes off you wonder if the other patients are going to die and it’s terrifying. Every aspect of your life is controlled and hearing my friends screaming and crying is something I’ll never forget.

Your videos show a raw and honest portrayal of mental health struggles. What message do you hope viewers take away from your journey, especially those who may be facing similar challenges ?

I want people to see you CAN have a life, despite your mental illness. Even though I’ve been through a lot, I am trying to build myself a life I love and I want other people to see they can do that too. Your life doesn’t end once you’ve been sectioned, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and if I can do it, anyone can. Hopefully people can see that you can do anything you set your mind to, and there is hope, even during the darkest of times. 

How do you navigate the balance between sharing your personal experiences on TikTok, while also maintaining boundaries and taking care of your own mental health ?

This is a difficult one. I have 2 rules when posting : is it helpful to me or is it helpful to someone else? If it doesn’t answer yes for one of these I don’t post it. For me, I try to keep a balance. If I wouldn’t tell my friend something, then it doesn’t go on the internet. Although it may look like I share a lot of my life online, realistically it’s only about 30%. Anything that could be triggering to other people I do not share and I think this is partly why I gained a large part of my following. I want my page to be a safe space for people so I pick and choose what goes on it very carefully. If I ever thought Tiktok was impacting my mental health negatively I would step away, which I have done in the past. Especially during the first month or so of admissions, I needed to focus on myself so I don’t tend to post during times of mental health crisis.

Looking ahead, what are your goals or aspirations for your TikTok platform and mental health advocacy ? How do you envision continuing to make an impact in this space ?

A personal goal to me would be to reach 100k followers, that’s my dream. I would love to do more work speaking up for people that have been in psychiatric hospitals and using my experiences, both bad and good, to help others. I will continue to share vlogs and “day in the life” content to prove to people things do get better, and there is hope even when it feels like there isn’t. I hope people can find comfort in my videos and even if it helps one person, then that’s amazing to me