I was taken to Washington Adventist, and placed under the care of Dr. Cyril Hardy, for an emergency psychiatric evaluation in 2005. I remained in the ER for four hours, during which I was repeatedly asked questions like "Do you know what today's date is?" and "Do you know where you live?". None of the nurses or doctors attempted to have a normal conversation with me. After four bizarre hours I said something odd to my parents - but not to the staff - which was enough to get me committed to the psych ward against my will. Thus began a 7 day experience unlike anything I had experienced in my life. Dr. Hardy gave me a cocktail of powerful psychotropic drugs that make it difficult to remember every detail - but one thing I cannot forget: Immediately after getting admitted into the psych ward, I demanded to know why I was being held against my will. When staff refused to provide an explanation, I banged on the glass partition dividing the staff from the patients. Rather than coming into the ward to talk to me about my admission, or at least warning me of the consequences of continuing to ask for an explanation, two security staffers escorted me into a room and held me down while a third staffer injected me with a sedative-filled syringe. I am currently writing an article about my experience for MadInAmerica.com. If anyone has had a similar experience with Dr. Hardy at Washington Adventist's psych ward, please reach out to me: msimonson@madinamerica.com or 201-572-1030 read more

Although Dr. Hardy is a gentleman, he is not unlike other doctors I've met. He was the only doctor accepting new patients at the time and the wait to see him wasn't a month long. I didn't have much of a choice. I had see him once a month or every two months for 15 minutes. During these 15 minutes, he asks me how I'm doing. There is not much discussion. My previous doctor was extremely knowledgeable and informative, and would suggest certain techniques to ease my symptoms. He showed some concern, but not enough. Unfortunately, Dr. Hardy was not as helpful. I did not like coming in for 15 minutes and paying $20 each time just to get two prescription refills. He gave me only 2 weeks worth of prescription for Chicago. I don't think I can find a doctor within that amount of time, especially when my health insurance does not cover doctors in Chicago. I have little respect for doctors who are quick to write prescriptions for their patients. It shows lack of commitment and interest. However, there are some patients who are perfectly content with 10 - 15 minute "med checks". I'm not one of them. read more

I just called Dr. Hardy's office to make a first-time appointment. I have to wait two months. The staff person was polite, which is in itself unusual. Dr. Hardy comes highly recommended by Diane Hull, psychotherapist. Also, he's nearby for me. I'm glad for Jade T.'s comments, so I can feel prepared for the letdown. Psychiatrists as a rule are extremely lazy and greedy. They tend to fall into a routine, and perhaps forget that they are charged with alleviating our suffering. They are not very useful, and yet, they are somehow in demand because we allow ourselves to be persuaded to continue to visit them. Our best defense is to learn to advocate for ourselves. Speak up; try to become educated and pro-active. If we as mental health consumers take an active part in our healing, perhaps the rest of it becomes tolerable. :) read more

Dr. Hardy F-ing Rocks No doubt, he is no spring chicken -- but the man knows his craft. Roll in for the mystery, and you won't be disappointed. Solid. read more

He's fine if you need someone to refill your Lexapro every three months. And he might give you Klonopin even if you don't want it. I guess Dr. Hardy is a very old-fashioned psychiatrist in the sense that he doesn't want patients asking questions or having ideas about their treatment. For instance. I saw him today to talk about what I believe are side effects from medications I am on. However , Dr. Hardy told me it was all simply anxiety although most of my symptoms are not typical anxiety symptoms (e.g. extreme chronic thirst). Anyway, he's not the kindest, or the brightest, but he works Monday and Tuesday and takes insurance. read more

I agree with Jade. I saw Dr. Hardy because he was accepting new patients and there wasn't a wait. He spent about 10 minutes with me my first appointment. My follow ups were about 5 minutes, mainly just to say hi and to give me refills. If you just want meds, he's your guy but if you want to actually treat the problem, I'd keep looking. read more

I would like to echo what Jade and April posted. I have actually been to five psychiatrists in my six years in the area, and have not been blown away by any of them. I keep moving on thinking I'm going to come across one who at least acts like they care about my mental health, but have yet to find one. Dr. Hardy is a very nice person, but he just seems dismissive like the rest. Always ready to write you a prescription, not ready to really figure out why you might need it. Pros: Appointments are usually available. Appointments are quick, if you are in a rush. He listens to you if you would like to change your medication (I actually had a previous psychiatrist call me a liar when I told her that the medication wasn't working). Bobby, the receptionist, is wonderful. Cons: Appointments are quick, so don't expect to get much talking in aside from the basic "How's the weather"-type conversation . Dr. Hardy seems dismissive and uninterested if you talk about why you are there. You get the feeling that he just wants to move onto the next patient. You have to go back to the office every month or two to get the prescription refill. Dr. Hardy will not fax it to the pharmacy even if nothing has changed. Parking is extremely difficult on the hospital campus. He only takes cash or check. Dr. Hardy placed me on a drug that had a number of side effects when first taken. He only asked one or two questions before giving me the drug. I only knew about these side effects because I looked the drug up before taking it . Overall, Dr. Hardy will do for now. I've had worse, but I'm settling. After an extremely long career, I get the impression that he's practicing out of habit, rather than being truly invested in his patients. read more

This doctor is gentle, listens to patients, is experienced and is a strong emotional support. As for the other reviews-----to each their own. read more

Terrible. I think he's so old that he's seen better days. I went to Dr. Hardy for almost a year. I saw him in June and got a prescription filled. He said come back in two months. But every time I called his office, he was overbooked. Instead, the receptionist just called in my prescription. I called in October to explain that I was out of meds again and needed another refill. This time he only gave me enough for a week and made me an appt to come in. When I came in...walked in the rain...the downstairs door was locked and I couldn't get in. The problem was that I no longer had any more meds left. I kept calling and leaving messages, but no one called me back. I even called the emergency line and said that I thought I might have a seizure from withdrawal. I got no response. Finally, my husband called and go through somehow. Dr. Hardy insisted I come in. So, I left my work obligations early. He had no idea what medication that I was on and thought that I had been taking none for the last few months. It was clear on the chart that he had been prescribing me. He was rude and basically implied I was lying. Even the receptionist told him that the charts indicated what I told him. Whew! Buyer Beware. He needs to retire. Clearly... read more

While I have never actually seen him I have heard of his reputation!!! Mainly due to the simple fact that I needed to see a psychiatrist and got stuck with one at the hospital as it is closest to me and due to it being a HOSPITAL I got stuck with some nurse resident person who I would see for the first 3 visits and THEN the actual psychiatrist!!! (I am talking about a woman who said, "Oh, I'll write down a script for 250MG of 'XYZ drug' even though the largest amount it comes in is 100MG and the pharmacy will know what I mean!!!" So, I had heard the whispers and had actually been about to run out of there in sheer horror since the lady saw three psych issues on my record (one included a manic bi-polar episode enduced by STEROIDS and like ALL nutcases like this who would be better off getting their heads examed than actually treating the people they diagnose as crazy, she read it as "manic bi-polar episode" and ignored the last half of the page that said it was caused by steroids due to the hospital having a meds mix up when they gave me a cup of pills...at the time I had just had my head examined for a minor concussion and apparently that cup looked exactly like a cup filled with anibolic steroids right next to it and a nurse grabbed the wrong one and juiced me)!!! Also, I had heard the rumors about that quack from my old psychiatrist's office, the irony of this being is he's the ONLY doctor in my life to ever say I am NOT a nutcase and that the home abuse is REAL and no amount of meds nor psychiatric treatment could ever cure it and would only make it worse!!! My dad heard this (he is a "doctor" who I thrashed on their Yelp post for illegally medicating me, saying they could break HIPPA to do as they wished with my healthcare and all other types of BS under the name "Jessie L." his office is Columbia Medical Practice. Yelp tried to bann me for the post and when my dad heard about it he told me 5 days before my 23rd birthday remove it or I am banning you from my office!!!) and said (now this was back when I was in my teens and from a doc who thought he could manage EVERY aspect of his kid's care and make money off of it!!!), "I do NOT agree with his methods and I think you need to stay on those meds!!!" (Basically, continuing to say your nuts is better than facing reality and losing the money they were making off me!!!) Anyway, that is why I would never see that quack Cyril or anyone else there! Hell, I was going there to get off my psych meds and of course since she wouldn't listen to me for a second my mood would go from happy to pissed off fast even though I had tried to keep a "poker face" long enough to convince her I actually was NOT bi-polar, but with ADD with SLIGHT hyper activity if the "hyper" tanks at the wrong moment it can make it a bit harder to show you're not hiding anything and with her not listening yet some how noticing the slight change in attitude and mood (DUE TO HER PISSING ME OFF!!!) she of course took the "shrink's eyed view" of the change and called it an AUTOMATIC BI-POLAR MOOD SWING!!! BS, especially since she had NOT read ALL of my disabilities whose symptoms combined with DAILY BS like hers could cause ANY sudden changes in mood (HELL EVEN A "HEALTHY" PERSON AFTER HEARING 5 MINUTES OF THAT BS WOULD WANNA TAKE A SWING AT THEM AND DUE TO THEIR "PROFESSION" THEY WOULD NOT SEE THAT THEY WERE "IN THE WRONG!" AND JUST TRY TO CALL THEM NUTS AND MEDICATE THEM!!!)!!! Yet somehow I convinced her to take me off of the depression meds my old psychiatrist said I never needed and were making me more psychotic due to side effects!!! I even heard whispers in his office about patients that had seen Cyril and said they will NEVER GO BACK and like me will do all they can to keep seeing my old doctor because there is FINALLY someone in the profession of treating nut cases that doesn't think that all of us are (as) crazy and our shrinks are morons!!! His name is Dr. Mahteme Selassie and I miss him so much and hate that he does NOT take Medicaid nor Medicare and the only way I could see him was on my father's CareFirst BlueChoice, but after all of the idiocy and unnessicary BS he put me through he hardly allows me to use it and I would NEVER touch anything of his with a poll long enough to reach from Pluto to the object in question!!! ***I really get the feeling that I should bring a tape recorder to these "sessions" with the shrinks and psychiatrists and record them and then play them back in the background of my next visits (just their end and filter out my part so the other patients can see how nuts they actually are and that this is why we do NOT call them "PSYCHO"-logists FOR NOTHING!!! LOL!!!*** read more

He needs to retire. He'll give you pills but don't expect much more. I squirmed in my chair during what felt like an interview instead of a session or appointment. Terrible people skills. He also made me wait for 45 minutes. read more