Most of the participants had been admitted to locked wards for varying periods. Admissions to locked wards were described as very difficult, especially if patients were put into seclusion. A 46-year-old single woman, with a bachelor's degree in arts, who was secluded during a manic episode, described it as follows:
'It is hell. Life can be hell. Life can be hell. At times you feel: God are you still there, are you still there ...' (Int. 19, [translated from Afrikaans])
An elderly lady, in her second marriage for 29 years and a Grade 10 qualification, was immediately admitted to a locked ward following an outburst of anger:
I
'What had happened when you broke the window of the psychologist?'
P
'He carried on about my son's death [due to suicide] and the more I said, I do not know, the more he said, but I should know. When he repeated that again, I became furious; I initially wanted to hit him, but I then broke the window. Then they locked me up.' (Int. 9, [translated from Afrikaans])