Referring to all ages (but particularly youth in this case.)
A place that people are forcefully sent to receive psychiatric "help" by unsympathetic staff (including psychiatrists) that don't know what the fuck they're doing, let alone give a shit other than the fact that it's their
job.
Kids and teenagers are shoveled in like
dogs in a pound. A majority of the
time, nothing gets solved...If anything, it adds to your trauma with the horrors of what you
see there and how you're treated.
Also, in general, you're told that everything is YOUR fault because
friends, family, or societal influences totally had nothing to do with your illness or whatever the fuck landed you, or ANYONE in there in the first place.
It's basically one step above jail.
"My
parents sent me to a psyche ward for a month to get
better because I did (xyz).
Wow, after that helpful experience, I certainly feel
better about my life and all of humanity!"