Mental hospitals

I think it probably depends what the problem is and how easily it can be treated. If it's something that one medication or another can treat AND they know what medication works (for example, if you're schizophrenic, there are loads of drugs that they can try, and not all of them are going to work...so there can be a lot of trial and error involved), then I guess you'd only need to stay for as long as it took to stabilize on the drugs...maybe a few weeks or so.

I speak about this with no experience of a) being in a mental hospital, b) working in a mental hospital, or c) having anything to do with a mental hospital. It's just what makes sense to me given what I know about psychology.

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2005: won!
2006: won!
2007: won!

http://kateness.wordpress.com

Well, my character is a schizophrenic... he's been on two medications before but right now he's kind of at the end of his rope and can't deal with it anymore and has decided to check in... so he's basically waiting for be ready to be "stabilized" and also he just plain needs a rest :)

"Man is more than fire tamed." - Nick Berg

well, it takes a couple of weeks to see if the chosen drug is working, and if it isn't, with a lot of them you have to wait for a week or so to get the previous drug out of your system...and there are a lot of drugs out there...you can get lucky and pick the right one the first time...and for some people, none of them do. And for some people, drugs work for a while and then stop working.

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2005: won!
2006: won!
2007: won!

http://kateness.wordpress.com

It honestly depends on how serious his condition it is, and how effective the therapy and medication is. He could be in there anywhere from days to years, it's really up to you. And even once he's released, there are quite a few half-in half-out programs where the patient may stay at the hospital some nights and at home on others, or even with a carer. Particularly for a severe case, reintegration into society may take a long time. The character can also expect to have regular sessions with his psychiatrist depending on their current state of mind, which may continue for years following his stay in the hospital.

Also, just in general, I found the mental hospital that I went to visit the person more or less like an ordinary hospital (the only difference was there were more recreational facilities, many art related). You could even walk straight out the gate if you wanted too, and there were some people there with serious schizophrenia. (Just putting that out there, because the gloomy "people chained to beds" stereotype I sometimes encounter in fiction is so completely wrong for most mental hospitals. It's just like a hospital that treats any other illness, except the illness one is an illness of the mind.)

Most mental hospitals look at patients as "emergency" (usually 48-72 hours) or longer-term. To stabilize medication you're probably looking at something more like 4-6 weeks (though it could be longer). Psychoactive drugs take a few days to get out of the system and even longer to really reach their effective state, so you're probably looking at 2 weeks minimum in a perfect scenario. But if the insurance was there and the patient was willing, the hospital would probably try to keep the patient longer just to make sure everything is okay, deal with any issues, etc. If they're trying out a new drug they also have to account for the fact that the drug may not work, or that they will have to adjust the dose - and every change adds a few days to the treatment. Usually a psychiatrist will start with the minimal dose and increase it every few days until it's effective, but if the patient was in crisis, they might go the opposite direction, starting with a high dose to make sure it works, and then reducing it every few days until they find the minimally effective dose.

So.. 4 to 6 weeks is probably realistic, but you can easily make it longer if you need to. You can make it shorter if your patient is itching to get out, but a clinician might aim to keep the patient there for awhile.... unless it's something that can be handled as an outpatient (which med changes often are, if the patient isn't in crisis). So, you could also put the patient in for a few days as a crisis patient, and then have the medication changed as an outpatient, if that works better for your story.

i would think 30-60 days would be a good base start for a stay in a mental hospital. I myself take anti-depressants. I was told it could take up to 2 weeks for my medicine to kick in. Fortunately, my meds kicked in right away. since this stay is for treatment and rest 60 days would be a good start.

for treatment i think there would be meds, one on one therapy, group therapy and artistic therapy (music, art, sculpting) and exercise.

i hope these help.

i love the suggestions and help everyone offers.