How Long Is an Inpatient Mental Health Stay?
Maintaining your stable state of mind requires various methods. Some treatment for mental health recovery can be taken without mandatory inpatient stay yet, in some cases, it is better for a patient to stay under the supervision of psych specialists to return to stability and well-being.
That is what is often called a mental health hospital stay. Yet, it would help if you weren’t afraid of hospitalization at the mental health facility. Stats say that globally, up to 72 people per 100,000 population visit mental health hospitals annually [1].
At the same time, data for the average inpatient mental health stay is not clear for a ubiquitous person and often causes concerns and misunderstandings about the necessity and reasons for hospitalization. So, it is necessary to unveil the main features and longevity of the mental health stay for patients and their families.
What Is Inpatient Mental Health Care?
First, what is called a mental health stay? Typically, when a person supposes they or their loved ones have some mental disorder or mental health issues, what do they do? Applying for diagnostics and relevant therapy is logical. In some cases, proper diagnostics and medicine treatment along with psychotherapy methods are enough to return to stability and overall well-being.
Yet, if a patient suffers from severe manifestations of their illness, professional surveillance, care, and support are required. In such cases, inpatient mental health care is prescribed. This term refers to hospitalization and to stay at specialized healthcare institutions, like mental health rehabilitation centers, or, in lighter cases, residential treatment centers.
At the same time, mental health issues rarely suppose life tenure at inpatient care centers. So, how long can you stay in a rehabilitation center if you have mental health disorders? The clear answer is: as long as it is required for effective stabilization of your well-being.
According to the length of stay, such methods are divided into short-term and long-term inpatient stays. The difference is quite simple.
Short-Term Inpatient Care
In cases of temporary manifestations of the disorder’s symptoms which cannot be reduced by an outpatient therapy plan, short-term inpatient care is recommended for intensive symptom management. Typically, this period of stay lasts from a couple of days to a couple of weeks with a median of 15 days according to statistics [2]. As far as symptoms of manifestation are mitigated, the patient can leave the mental health facility to continue outpatient treatment.
Long-Term Inpatient Care
As for long-term inpatient care, it can last for much longer if not infinite in especially severe cases. This type of inpatient care supposes 24-hour nursing care and supervision of specialists in cases when the patient’s condition is critical for their life or the treatment plan requires a long-lasting and complex rehabilitation process which is impossible to conduct outpatient.
Factors Influencing Length of Stay
Of course, not all patients with mental health issues require long-term therapy in residential stay mental health facilities. The reasons to apply for inpatient care are as follows:
- Severe symptoms of self-harm, suicidal behavior, hallucinations, or depression.
- No improvements while taking outpatient therapy are detected after a long time.
- The patient cannot function successfully in daily life due to mental health issues, becomes disabled, or requires special care.
- The patient becomes a danger to themselves or other people.
If any of these issues happen to you or your close ones, it is better to consult on the necessity of inpatient care.
As for the factors impacting the length of stay in an inpatient mental health facility, typically, the specialist decides on the following ones.
- The issue of hospitalization. For voluntary patients applying for mental healthcare, the length is considered by a doctor according to chosen therapy methods and their efficiency.
- The type of disorder as substance abuse or psychosis rehabilitation takes typically longer than stopping the symptoms of BPD for example.
In any case, you can be sure that while you stay at a healthcare facility, you are surrounded by maximum care and support from professional specialists, so you can feel better quicker than if getting outpatient treatment.
How Long Can You Stay in a Mental Health Facility?
In light cases of manifestation, it is enough to stay in a mental health facility for a couple of days. If your mental state is struck by severe symptoms, it can take 2-3 weeks to stabilize it. Often, after intensive therapy in the inpatient care facility patients are then discharged to rehabilitation centers to continue their treatment.
Yet, you should consider your disorder inpatient treatment to be a restoration for your further happy well-being. The main reasons for this are as follows:
- You are totally wrapped with care and understanding. The mental healthcare facility’s personnel are your helper and loyal caregiver.
- Your doctor supervises your treatment and adjusts it to be the most effective for symptom mitigation. This refers both to medicinal treatment and psychotherapy, as sometimes, up-to-time changes in the plan can be crucially important for overall results.
- You can feel that you are not alone in your mental state issue. You feel care and attention and you feel that your burden is shared with someone who has competence to help you.
In the URP Behavioral Health inpatient care center, you can get the remedy and help that you need. We focus on multiple behavioral disorders to help patients cope with their lives and live them the best way they dreamed about.
Do not stay alone with your mental state problems. Do not feel afraid of being impatient in our clinic. We provide the most effective combo of treatment methods to make you free from ruining symptoms of your mental state issue to enjoy your life in full.
