A psychiatric hospital is a very controlled environment in which people suffering acute mental illnesses can stay, for a variety of reasons, such as to keep themselves safe from harm. Hospital is often seen as a last resort, to keep someone safe or to perhaps monitor medication reactions.

The majority of psychiatric hospitals are fairly simple, and will have a dining area, bedrooms and meeting rooms – though these features can vary between hospitals. Some bedrooms are single bed rooms, and some can have two beds, separated by a curtain or wall. The rooms themselves are also quite simple, and likely to contain a single bed and a nightstand, and a cupboard to store your clothes.

Most psychiatric hospitals will run “groups” – those these are more prominent in the adolescent units, and require involvement by the patients. They can include group therapy, learning sessions, or art therapy. Programs can vary widely depending on where you are staying, but most wards will try and get some involvement from the patients.

Upon admission it is likely you will be seen by a doctor, and also a psychologist. While in the hospital, there will also be a chance for you to have individual therapy. This is likely to occur with both your “outside” professional, as well as a psychologist inside the hospital. Staff will also frequently talk with you about why you were admitted, and the plans for you. The main goal of these sessions is to keep track of how you are doing and figure out what lead up to the admission –but more importantly, what has to be done to get you back into the ‘real world’.

Staff monitor the patients frequently, and will record what they are up to on a clipboard. Information is shared between the staff about what has been happening on ward, so that they are all kept up to date with each patients status and any events throughout the day or night.

There is a lot of free time when in a hospital, and patients can spend this in many different ways, such as socialising with other patients, doing some work, reading or listening to music –just to name a few. During quiet times it’s also likely staff members might try and talk to some of their allocated patients for the day, and catch up with how they are feeling. An important part of making a hospital stay productive is being open with the staff members and co-operative, even though it might not be an ideal situation for you to be in, the people there are trying to help you.

The hospital will have visiting hours in which you can be seen by friends and family. This is a good chance for you to touch base and reconnect with your outside world, and have some time to see the people who care about you. Phone calls are also permitted by most hospitals, once you ask for permission from a staff member, and they might be time-limited.

The general idea for a psychiatric hospital is that it is a place where people can learn to deal with what they are facing, and move through a difficult part of their life. The ward itself can vary form being quiet, to being quite difficult, depending on the state of the patients in there. However, at all times it is promoted as a safe and minimal-stress environment, where people can have a break and try and stabilise what is going on for them at the time, with the help of the staff around.

	staystrong1 - September 14, 2013 i think i'm going to admit myself, ive been feeling really low lately and i don't know what else to do
	blueskies and butterflies - August 16, 2010 I think it turned out to be a lot like what you said, i had both positive and negative experiences in there, but once thing i will say, is that first thing in a long time I felt safe!
	blueskies and butterflies - August 7, 2009 thank so much for giving me this info, im thiking of admitting myself..

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