Patients with a variety of mental and emotional illnesses are treated at psychiatric hospitals. Inpatient primary care physicians and nurses and psychiatrists, and other mental health specialists are on staff to confer with patients, educate them about and offer them medication and therapy options, and provide a spectrum of medical care.
In psychiatric institutions, prescribing appropriate therapy is difficult because healthcare providers must examine patients’ mental and physical health.
Going to a mental facility for treatment
The majority of persons with mental illnesses will never need to be admitted to a hospital for treatment. However, if you do need to go, the hospital may be the ideal location for you to rest, feel protected, and get the treatment you require. The hospital staff is trained to assist you and your family through what may be a stressful period.
What is the point of going to the hospital?
When you can’t cope with your mental illness symptoms at home and require more intensive help, you need to go to seek professional help.
The reasons are multifold:
- If you are troubled, severely anxious, or if you feel out of control
- Have been harmed or are experiencing physical symptoms as a result of self-harm, alcohol or drug abuse, or if you have an eating disorder
- Having delusions or hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not there)
- Having constant suicidal thoughts or have attempted suicide
You can feel safe in the hospital, be in close contact with doctors and nurses, obtain the medications you need (if you need them), and receive therapies.
Admission
Admission to a public psychiatric hospital usually is made through the emergency room or the community mental health team at the hospital. You’ll need your GP (family doctor) or a psychiatrist to help you get into a private hospital. The hospital can arrange for an interpreter if you require one.
Intake and evaluation:
You will be shown about the hospital and given information about what will happen during your stay. You’ll meet with a psychiatrist or a registrar (a doctor in training to become a psychiatrist) who will discuss your issues with you.
This could involve the following:
- Discussing with you about your feelings, thoughts, and emotions
- Enquiring about your current situation
- Figuring out where your strengths lie, what has worked in the past, and what resources are available to you
- Enquiring about your medical background
- Questions will be asked to see if you’re in the present moment and if you’re paying attention.
Your doctor may want to speak with your family, partner, or friends as well. They will first seek your approval. Then they will run blood tests, brain scans, and additional testing may be performed. The length of your stay in hospital is primarily determined by the reason you’re there, the treatments you require, and how you’re reacting. Some visitors merely come for a day or two. Others may stay for two to three weeks or even longer.
People who have never been in a psychiatric hospital worry that they will never be able to escape. That doesn’t happen very often these days. There is a huge demand for psychiatric hospitals, hence the good supply is also there. Hence, one needs to be very specific when it comes to making a decision.
