What Is Visitation Like at a Mental Health Facility?

Mental health institutions, psychiatric hospitals, and residential mental health facilities in Ohio are meant to provide patients with a safe atmosphere in which they can receive mental health care.

Admission to a mental health facility may be feared by some people. People with mental illnesses may be concerned about being away from their familiar surroundings and routines, as well as not having complete control over their daily life while in the hospital. Others may be concerned about the others staying there.

What Is It Like to Spend Time in a Mental Health Facility?

Mental health hospital experiences range depending on the individual’s condition and the specific mental health treatment and facility.

However, before you visit a mental health facility, it’s essential that you learn the facts about what it’s like inside. Movies and television don’t always portray the complete picture, so you should be prepared.

Types of Mental Health Treatment Facilities

Residential Mental Health Treatment Centers

Individuals are usually treated in residential mental health treatment centers for a longer period of time. Medical care is provided in most residential treatment facilities, although they are meant to be more pleasant and less like a hospital ward than inpatient hospitals.

Examples:

• Psychiatric Residential Centers – People with a persistent psychiatric disease, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, or who have a dual diagnosis (i.e., a mental disorder and drug addiction issues), who are unable to operate independently, will benefit from this program.
• Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation Facilities – Addiction treatment facilities that may also provide detoxification treatments. Patients usually stay in this sort of institution for 30 days, however this might vary depending on the policies of the facility.
• Treatment for Dual Diagnosis – Those suffering from both a mental health disease and an addiction or drug use problem might benefit from dual diagnosis therapy, which provides comprehensive mental health care. Both disorders are addressed and treated simultaneously in dual diagnosis therapy.

To increase the possibilities of a full recovery, both illnesses must be treated at the same time. If an addict has a co-occurring anxiety disorder, for example, they may relapse in order to self-medicate the uncontrolled anxiety. Preventing relapse and maintaining long-term sobriety requires addressing the underlying mental health disorders and traumas that lead to addiction.

Outpatient Mental Health Centers

Outpatient mental facility come in a range of shapes and sizes, but they all require office visits and no overnight stays. Some are housed in community mental health clinics, while others are found in general hospitals, where patients can make an appointment at an outpatient clinic.

Furthermore, many people in need of mental health counseling or therapy visit private clinics to consult a mental health doctor who works alone or in a group.

Example of outpatient mental health centers:

• Partial Hospitalization Programs – Outpatient programs that last six or more hours a day, every day or most days of the week are referred to as “day programs.” These programs may focus on psychiatric diseases and/or drug misuse and are less rigorous than inpatient hospitalization. Group therapy, instructional seminars, and individual counseling are all popular services they provide. A PHP can be a standalone facility or part of a hospital’s services.
• Intensive Outpatient Programs – These programs are similar to partial hospitalization programs, except they only meet for three to four hours and frequently meet in the evenings to accommodate working people. The majority of IOPs are geared toward either substance misuse or mental health disorders. IOPs can be a component of a hospital’s services, or they can be self-contained.
• Outpatient Clinics – Patients get therapeutic services from a range of mental health providers in these venues. Individual counseling, group therapy, and medication management may be provided depending on the clinic.

Psychiatric Hospitals and Facilities

Although physicians are present to treat medical ailments, psychiatric facilities only treat mental diseases. A few mental institutions provide drug and alcohol detox as well as inpatient drug and alcohol rehabilitation and lengthier stays.

Specialty units for eating disorders, geriatric problems, child and adolescent care, and drug misuse treatments may be found in a psychiatric hospital.

Why Would Someone Admit to a Mental Hospital?

People enter mental health facilities for a variety of reasons. People at mental institutions often suffer from a range of mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, and dementia.

These patients are in a mental hospital because they are unable to handle their disease on their own and require 24-hour care. Being in a mental institution is not anything to be embarrassed of. It’s a place where individuals go to become better, and going to one may be viewed as a huge step forward.

What Happens in Mental Health Facilities?

Each mental health facility has different procedures, but most individuals who are hospitalized have a consultation with a doctor – most often a psychiatrist as well as a general medical practitioner.

These medical professionals will examine the patient’s physical and mental health and state. The patient is also briefed about how everything works. The patient will next collaborate with either their personal doctor or a doctor from the mental health institution to determine treatment options, which will almost always include psychiatric medication.

During the day, mental health patients are usually exposed to the following:

Attending to Visitors

The mental health facility decides when a patient can have visitors, however for many, visiting hours are open throughout the day. Patients who are accompanied by another individual may be permitted to leave the institution on weekends.

Individual Therapy

Individual therapy is one-on-one counseling with a professional, such as a psychiatrist. Talk therapy or a specific style of treatment, such as dialectical behavior therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy, may be employed in this setting.

Group Therapy

This is a group conversation with other patients that has been facilitated. A medical expert or a social worker usually leads this sort of group.

Treatment problems such as treatment objectives, concerns, and so on may be discussed in group therapy. It might be centered on teaching skills or on a specialized therapy, such as art therapy.

Private Personal Time

Patients usually have a lot of free time in between activities. It is up to individuals to decide how they will use this time, although relaxing and pondering, as well as working or studying if feasible, may be beneficial.

Looking for Residential Mental Health Facilities in Ohio?

One of the best treatment facilities in the region is Georgetown Behavioral Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. We promise to provide a full continuum of care, meaning we’ll be there for you before, through, and after your dual diagnosis therapy at Georgetown Behavioral Hospital.

To learn more about how to start your recovery, please contact us online or call our admissions department at 937-576-8012. We have a high success rate of getting you admitted the same day.

You don’t have to be suffering from a mental illness. At Georgetown Behavioral Hospital, you may begin your recovery right now.