Woman, 34, trapped in China psychiatric ward for a decade, family refuses to sign her out
- Shocking discovery of patient who should have left hospital long ago but whose family refused to sign discharge papers
A 34-year-old woman in China – who was admitted to a psychiatric hospital when she was 20 – remained confined for more than 10 years after she had recovered because her family refused to release her.
The incident came to light via an anonymous online post by a person with inside information who revealed that the woman was initially sent to Xiamen Xianyue Hospital in Fujian province, southeastern China, by her parents.
Despite meeting the discharge criteria and her repeated pleas for release, she remained there because they refused to sign the discharge documents.
Red Star News reported that the insider, whose wife suffers from bipolar disorder and had been treated at the same hospital since 1996, took him to meet the young woman.
“About four or five years ago, when I went to visit my wife, a young woman greeted me, saying she recognised me. I then learned that we were from the same village,” he said.
“The doctor told me she had recovered and could be discharged, but her family never came to take her home.”
