When You or a Loved One is Hospitalized Due to Mental Illness

The hospitalization for mental illness is a very traumatic event in the life of both the patient and those who love and care for them. Often, the patient is admitted involuntarily adding to the stress. Few things are worse than being forced into a stressful situation. And hospitalization is all about stress.

Family members often recognize the symptoms of psychosis or suicidal potential in the patient when the patient is unaware of their psychotic behavior. At that time, they must step in to act in the patients behalf when they cannot help themselves. Often admittance to the hospital is involuntary - stressful in and of itself. Exacerbating the problem is the fact that while family members are consulted and apprised of the decisions and evaluation of the patient, the patients themselves are excluded from the dialogue. Feelings of helplessness and betrayal ensue. This can create problems in relationship and trust between the family and the patient.

Further, it makes it difficult for the patient to trust the doctor or staff who are supposed to help. In addition, each hospital is different. Even though a patient may have been admitted previously, each new hospital is uncharted territory. Not all hospitals provide a truly healing environment.

The stress of the admitting process and the fear of the unknown can exacerbate the already stressed and irrational patient. I know in my recent hospital experience, I was in worse shape when I was finally admitted than I had been when I entered the hospital. My experience was shared and validated by most of the other patients I came in contact with.

All this makes it difficult to form a trust relationship between the psychiatrist and the patient. A process that usually takes months to establish on an out-patient basis must be formed within a day or two. To effect that the patient must make an enormous leap of faith knowing their trust may be violated by a doctor who can be insensitive to the fragility of the patient.

Newly admitted patients are often belligerent and/or hostile. No one likes being forced into something against their will. The powerlessness is overwhelming. Caretakers who are only there to help can be frustrated by the patent's seeming lack of cooperation. Tightly controlled procedures pending evaluation can make the already helpless feeling patient even more hostile and fearful than they already are. The potential for permanent harm is tremendous.

I know in my case, hospitalization triggers my post traumatic stress. I am plagued by nightmares of psychosis and "imprisonment" for years after a hospitalization. In fact, due to the frequency of my hospital stays I have never fully recovered from any of them. Now my nightmares occur every night and are more intense than they were previously. It will take serious therapy for me to get some relief from them.

There are questions every family should ask of the psychiatric staff before and during a hospital stay. (see above link) Ignorance is not bliss and information can ease the stress for both the family members and the patient. Both my family and I were greatly relieved by the knowledgeable and open psychiatrist assigned to me. I consider myself to be very lucky. This good fortune has not always been the case. In the past, I have experienced a doctor who was openly hostile toward me. There were no meetings, no sessions with him. I never knew what to expect or what was going to happen to me next. It took me years to recover from that experience.

Caretakers need to be informed about what to ask about and how to act as advocates for the people they love.