I saved a girl in a psych ward when I was 16 but now she's a vegetable. I feel guilty.
TW MENTION OF SUICIDE ATTEMPT AND SELF HARM!
When I was 16, I was in a psych unit because I was super depressed and wanted to off myself.
I was placed in a room with a really sweet girl who was the same age (this is prior to me coming out as transgender) and she was overall friendly with everyone.
About my fourth day there she has a phone call with her mom, stepdad, and therapist and came back out distraught and sobbing hysterically.
I mentioned to the staff that she seemed really upset but they said that the call didn't go well and that was why.
That night, despite them being required to do 15 minute checks, they didn't do them and I woke up at 4am to get some water from the bathroom sink as there was this one nurse who'd mark people uncooperative if you left your room after 11pm, even on weekends.
Upone entering the bathroom this girl, this sweet girl, had somehow managed to hang herself with the bedsheet by ripping it up. I screamed as loud as I could and grabbed one of the strips causing her to fall from the ceiling. Nurses rushed in and I was put in another room for the time being while they got her pulse back and her transferred to another hospital for ICU treatment.
I learned today that she's a vegetable confined to a Wheelchair due to the severity of the brain injury she had due to lack of oxygen.
I feel so guilty and need advice.
Posted Dec 7, 2025, 10:55 PM UTC