Experiencing a mental health crisis can be traumatic – both for you and your loved ones. When you return home after receiving mental health treatment, you may feel scared and uncomfortable. For many people, returning back to your home and job can be so difficult that you don’t even know how to talk about it with others. If you don’t know what to do after mental health hospitalization, you’re not alone. As you are discharged and return home, here are five tips to make the transition as smooth as possible and to maintain your mental health.
Looking for inpatient mental health care with a solid aftercare plan? Contact Georgetown Behavioral Hospital to get started.
Discharge Planning for Going Home from Psychiatric Hospitalization
Your treatment team understands the challenges you are facing while recovering from a mental health crisis. That is why we work together, using all our knowledge and resources to pave your way to a healthy transition from inpatient mental health care.
The psychiatric discharge process is not just a matter of someone on the hospital’s staff giving you a list of resources, although that is a part of it. Yet, there is so much more, and it is an evidence-based process designed to help you avoid being readmitted. In planning, we recognize both your mental health needs and address other issues, including housing and work.
Actually, the discharge planning process begins as soon as you are admitted. As your doctors, nurses, and therapists work with you in the hospital, they recognize and document your needs. Then, they work with you to discover the specific resources you can benefit from as you leave the hospital and get back to your daily life. By being an active participant in your discharge planning, you can ensure that you get the right support to manage your life once you get home.
Use These Five Tips for a Healthy Transition from Inpatient Mental Health Care
You might feel very alone when you first arrive home. While you had abundant support while being hospitalized for mental health, you may now wonder what to do after mental health hospitalization. Yet, there are many things you can do for yourself to feel better and manage your daily life more effectively. Here are five tips to make the transition as smooth as possible.
1. Get help with managing your work and daily living needs.
Knowing what to do after mental health hospitalization has to include what to do about work. This part may present special challenges for you. That is why it is best if you rely on help from your inpatient team before you go home. They will guide you in making decisions and finding out how to access help while you get back to life on your own.
In some cases, you might decide to return to work but to do it gradually or with support. In other situations, you may feel that you are not ready to go back yet. If that is true, discharge planning can help you determine how you will fund your basic needs while you are off work. This might involve helping you take the first steps to get SSI or other disability payments. After the help you get during discharge planning, you will know what to do once you get home.
We also help you plan for all the things you will need to do for yourself, such as grocery shopping, cooking, having appropriate housing, taking care of your finances, getting to doctor appointments, and more. Whenever you are in doubt, you can refer to your discharge plan or reach out for help. If you have a case manager once you get home, be sure to ask them for help with these things whenever needed.
2. Continue therapy to keep your progress going.
You likely saw a great benefit from the therapy you received during your inpatient stay. After all, you are well enough to go home now. One of the most helpful things you can do after going home from psychiatric hospitalization is to continue therapy for the long term. During your therapy sessions, you can continue working on the original problems that brought you to seek inpatient care.
Yet, you can use therapy for so much more. Your therapist can help you deal with all the disruption your mental illness caused when it necessitated a trip to the hospital. They can help you overcome the trauma it caused. What is more, they can help you learn how to manage all the issues that come up in your daily life, whether they concern work, school, or relationships.
3. Take your medications as prescribed.
Taking medications as your psychiatrist prescribed them can boost your ability to stay on track and avoid another hospitalization. Therefore, if you and your doctor decide medication will help you, it is best to stay on them and take them exactly as they were ordered.
Often people feel better and decide they don’t need the medications anymore. Usually, though, the good feeling is happening because the medication is doing its job. If you drop it, that good feeling could go away quickly. The best thing to do if you feel you do not need the medications is to discuss it with your psychiatrist at your next appointment. They will evaluate your situation and help you make the right decision.
Another issue some people have with taking meds is that they haven’t developed the habit of taking them yet. Here are a few things you can do to be sure you take your medication when you need to take it.
- Get a multi-day pillbox and fill it with your meds on the first of the week.
- Use a reminder app to make sure you take medications on time.
- Ask someone close to you to help you remember.
4. Take advantage of family resources.
Before you leave the hospital, we can help you prepare for building support within your family. If you feel a little distressed about dealing with family problems or worry about letting family members down, you are not alone. Many people do feel that way after being hospitalized for mental health. However, the good news is that you can take advantage of family resources to make a healthy transition from inpatient mental health care.
If you and your family are facing lingering issues within your relationships, family therapy can help you reconnect in more positive ways. Your discharge team can help you arrange for family therapy so that you can have this ongoing care. During family therapy, you not only get opportunities to address your individual and family issues, but you can also work on ways to support each other.
In addition, do not forget that your family might be a resource themselves. They can help you remember to take meds, recognize symptoms if your condition begins to worsen again, help you get to appointments, or even just offer you comfort or laughter. Plus, if they do not know much about your mental illness but are willing to learn, they can use community or mental health resources to find out how best to help you.
5. Know how to get help quickly if another crisis happens.
No one wants to believe that their mental illness will worsen again after being hospitalized for mental health and discharged. However, remember that it is always a possibility. Although your goal is to handle your daily life with the help of all your support networks, sometimes things happen that are beyond your control. In that case, it is essential that you know how to access the help you need immediately. One example is using a mental health hotline; another is having someone on your care team to call.
Quick action may help your doctor make changes to your medications that will curtail the problems before they become severe. By seeking help, then, you may actually avoid another hospitalization. On the other hand, if your problems have become too difficult before you are able to get help, you may choose to go back to the hospital for your safety and to improve your condition. Either way, getting the help you need when you need it can make a huge difference in your mental wellbeing.
Choose a Mental Hospital with an Excellent Aftercare Planning Process
When you are considering a voluntary admission to a mental hospital, it makes sense to seek out the best inpatient mental facility in Ohio for your needs. One of the things to look for is what they offer in terms of discharge planning. At Georgetown Behavioral Hospital, our most important goal is to empower you as you go home, mentally healthier and prepared for the road ahead.
We help adults who come from Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, or Pennsylvania to receive care at our beautiful facility near Cincinnati. If you are considering seeking help for yourself or your loved one, you will find a highly professional, caring team waiting at Georgetown Behavioral Hospital waiting to assist you. We are committed not only to providing effective treatments in the hospital but also to helping you find out what to do after mental health hospitalization.
Looking for a mental health facility that helps you with next steps, too? Contact us at Georgetown Behavioral Hospital to set up an appointment today.
