How to Avoid Going to a Mental Hospital
Seek treatment., Trust your mental health clinician., Be consistent in your mental health treatment., Stick with your current treatment if it is working., Follow your treatment plans.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Seek treatment.
Try to look at yourself and your situation from an unbiased point of view.
Even if the idea of going in for professional help is scary or uncomfortable, it will likely help improve your quality of life.
Try to keep an open mind on the subject, and if possible, make the decision for yourself.
Seeking psychotherapy from a mental health professional can help you avoid the more drastic measure of entering a mental hospital.
If you are not receiving mental health treatment, you can begin therapy or a treatment program.Contact your health insurance company for a list of approved clinicians, or conduct a search for low-cost mental health facilities in your local area. -
Step 2: Trust your mental health clinician.
Lack of trust in mental health professionals may lead individuals, especially minorities, to avoid seeking help.Be honest.
Many professionals may be able to tell when you are lying, and this will not help your case.
If someone asks you a direct question, answer it.
Lying may come off as paranoid and suspicious, which can actually increase the likelihood that you are hospitalized.
Tell your therapist about your concerns.
Be open about your difficulty trusting therapists or people in general.
Your therapist may have specific techniques that can help you regain a sense of trust.
Know that therapists are there to help you.
They do not wish for you to suffer, they most likely want you to feel better.
Sometimes therapists have to make difficult decisions to protect their patients, but this does not mean they are bad people or that they can never be trusted.
If you have been hospitalized in the past, know that someone believed that this was the best thing for you at the time and they were probably following standard protocol.
You may be hospitalized if you become violent, suicidal, or a threat to yourself or others.
Going into therapy and building a trusting relationship with your therapist can help prevent this hospitalization. , Research suggests that individuals who have been previously hospitalized show less risk of re-hospitalization if they follow up with their outpatient mental health treatment.Come up with a treatment plan with your mental health professional and stick to this plan.
It may include weekly therapy visits.
Ensure that you have proper transportation to and from these appointments.
If you have difficulty, discuss options with your health provider such in-home therapy or help with transportation (bus tokens, etc). , Switching treatments or mental health providers can lead to worse outcomes in treatment than committing to a specific form of treatment.Doctor shopping can also be a symptom in certain disorders, such as Borderline Personality Disorder.If your treatment is not working, consider inpatient treatment.
If you have tried outpatient treatment (therapy, medication and support) and still have symptoms that severely interfere with your life (relationships, ability to maintain a job, housing, care for yourself), it may benefit you to voluntarily seek inpatient treatment. , One of the best ways to avoid entering a locked or inpatient facility is to give out-patient care your all.
Work with your doctor, therapists, and family to deal with issues and their concerns as they come up.
Be receptive to treatments, changes of plan, and their input; see your mental health as a collaborative effort.Take your medication if you have a prescription.
For certain mental health conditions (especially Bipolar I/II and Schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders) staying on your medication is the key to reducing the likelihood that you will be hospitalized. -
Step 3: Be consistent in your mental health treatment.
-
Step 4: Stick with your current treatment if it is working.
-
Step 5: Follow your treatment plans.
Detailed Guide
Try to look at yourself and your situation from an unbiased point of view.
Even if the idea of going in for professional help is scary or uncomfortable, it will likely help improve your quality of life.
Try to keep an open mind on the subject, and if possible, make the decision for yourself.
Seeking psychotherapy from a mental health professional can help you avoid the more drastic measure of entering a mental hospital.
If you are not receiving mental health treatment, you can begin therapy or a treatment program.Contact your health insurance company for a list of approved clinicians, or conduct a search for low-cost mental health facilities in your local area.
Lack of trust in mental health professionals may lead individuals, especially minorities, to avoid seeking help.Be honest.
Many professionals may be able to tell when you are lying, and this will not help your case.
If someone asks you a direct question, answer it.
Lying may come off as paranoid and suspicious, which can actually increase the likelihood that you are hospitalized.
Tell your therapist about your concerns.
Be open about your difficulty trusting therapists or people in general.
Your therapist may have specific techniques that can help you regain a sense of trust.
Know that therapists are there to help you.
They do not wish for you to suffer, they most likely want you to feel better.
Sometimes therapists have to make difficult decisions to protect their patients, but this does not mean they are bad people or that they can never be trusted.
If you have been hospitalized in the past, know that someone believed that this was the best thing for you at the time and they were probably following standard protocol.
You may be hospitalized if you become violent, suicidal, or a threat to yourself or others.
Going into therapy and building a trusting relationship with your therapist can help prevent this hospitalization. , Research suggests that individuals who have been previously hospitalized show less risk of re-hospitalization if they follow up with their outpatient mental health treatment.Come up with a treatment plan with your mental health professional and stick to this plan.
It may include weekly therapy visits.
Ensure that you have proper transportation to and from these appointments.
If you have difficulty, discuss options with your health provider such in-home therapy or help with transportation (bus tokens, etc). , Switching treatments or mental health providers can lead to worse outcomes in treatment than committing to a specific form of treatment.Doctor shopping can also be a symptom in certain disorders, such as Borderline Personality Disorder.If your treatment is not working, consider inpatient treatment.
If you have tried outpatient treatment (therapy, medication and support) and still have symptoms that severely interfere with your life (relationships, ability to maintain a job, housing, care for yourself), it may benefit you to voluntarily seek inpatient treatment. , One of the best ways to avoid entering a locked or inpatient facility is to give out-patient care your all.
Work with your doctor, therapists, and family to deal with issues and their concerns as they come up.
Be receptive to treatments, changes of plan, and their input; see your mental health as a collaborative effort.Take your medication if you have a prescription.
For certain mental health conditions (especially Bipolar I/II and Schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders) staying on your medication is the key to reducing the likelihood that you will be hospitalized.
About the Author
Nancy Gomez
Enthusiastic about teaching hobbies techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
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