My Experience at Center for Discovery, Fairfield CT

Eating disorders are incredibly pervasive illnesses that impact a higher percentage of the population than some may realize. These disorders can become all-consuming, leading individuals to require care beyond the outpatient level. My eating disorder, anorexia nervosa, became too aggressive for outpatient care, so I was referred to the residential eating disorder treatment program in Fairfield, CT, offered by Center for Discovery.

In June of 2020, I arrived at the facility. I stayed for a total of eight weeks, during which I learned more about myself, my eating disorder, and skills to cope with this illness, than I ever would have expected. Upon discharge, I felt that I had truly changed, and I was highly motivated to recover.

Unfortunately, life got in the way of my recovery. I was constantly moving, living in different places from week to week. My partial hospitalization program, a day program used as a step-down from residential care or a step-up from intensive outpatient programs, was not a good fit for me. Anxiety and depression, my co-occurring illnesses, kicked in. I quickly relapsed, and it was again determined that I required the residential level of care.

When I arrived back at Center for Discovery in Fairfield, I expected the same treatment that I had received the first time, which I felt would ultimately benefit me and lead me back towards finding myself, and my motivation to recover. What I received was the complete opposite.

On January 1st, I had a syncope episode and was transported to St. Vincent’s Medical Center. I was told that the head nurse from CFD would meet me there, so that I would not be alone. When I arrived, the ER staff questioned where she was, stating that patients coming from treatment centers need to be accompanied by a staff member. There was no staff member present for the duration of my treatment at the hospital, and there was no staff member there to transport me back to CFD when I was discharged. Because there was no one there to pick me up, I had to sit in the ER for 2 hours (not the waiting room—the actual ER). During this time, sitting alone, I witnessed a gunshot wound victim be brought in, surgically worked on, and pass away. This was followed by his family coming to see him. I had recently experienced loss in my own family, making this event even more impactful. Police were everywhere, I could see and hear everything, and it was incredibly traumatic. This trauma could have been prevented if the Center for Discovery staff had been diligent about keeping me safe and being there for me during what was already a difficult situation. I will carry this experience with me for the rest of my life.

After this episode, the doctor did not come to see me until a week and a half later. During that time, I passed out again. This experience was also inappropriately handled. I was left alone in a room after expressing how I felt. I was later told that I may have been unconscious for ~8 minutes, which is incredibly scary, and I was also told that my recent medication change was likely the cause of the fainting. I could have been taken off that medication if I had been seen by the doctor earlier, preventing the second episode altogether.

Center for Discovery is responsible for the trauma that I witnessed. I thought it their responsibility to help me through the PTSD following this event, and their responsibility to continue to treat my eating disorder until I was able to confidently discharge, with relapse seeming unlikely, and recovery seeming possible.

Center for Discovery instead put me through yet another traumatic experience. I was told that after the first hospitalization that everything in the staff’s power would be done to prevent my going a second time. Then, on a day that started just like any other, I was told that I was being sent. The staff put words in my mouth, saying that I had stated I had requested to go, when in fact, I repeatedly expressed that I did NOT at all want to go, nor did I need to. Despite my protests, I was sent off in an ambulance without reason, and was told I would be back in a few hours.

In the hospital, I was soon told by a nurse that a parent was coming to pick me up to take me home. I was very confused, as I was supposed to be heading back to the facility, and the staff had agreed upon my entry to the program that a discharge plan, for me personally, was necessary to my well-being (based upon what had previously happened post-discharge). Upon calling CFD to inquire about what was happening, I was met with them expressing that I could not come back. There was no discharge plan. I asked for even just one more week at the facility to create such a plan, and was denied. I spend a night in the hospital, another traumatic experience, and was sent home with no treatment team and no plan.

I was recently informed by an outpatient therapist that the reasoning behind my unexpected "discharge," which she fought against, was due to a symptom of my mental illness that CFD could not address. I was unaware of this reason. The notion is intriguing, as I knew based on the care of other patients that this symptom could, in fact, be treated at the facility. Preferential treatment was given to other individuals over myself, their value placed above my own.

Center for Discovery manipulated both myself and my care, exposed me to more trauma, and refused to take action when I contacted them about what had happened. They rejected me when I needed them most; a situation in itself that has affected myself, my mental health, and my relationships. These were professionals that I trusted, and they sent me out with nothing. I felt worthless. Upon “discharge,” I quickly diminished, and it is because of CFD’s malpractice. I urge anyone to proceed with caution if referred to Center for Discovery’s residential program. I do not normally use my voice as one of complaint and negativity, and it is sad to do so with respect to a program that once helped me immensely. However, I believe it my responsibility to speak up and aid in preventing any similar occurrences from happening in the future.