It’s best to be prepared for the possible consequences after being discharged from a psychiatric ward. There may be setbacks or what feels like rejection for continued professional help, but in my personal experience, these misfortunes led to far better longer-term care for me in the end.

1. There are no discharge instructions on how to manage life after hospitalization.

It’s much better to have a plan in place while you’re still in the hospital. If you have a job, going back to work can put in place a routine and solid structure to get you back to equilibrium.  If you don’t have a job, it’s important that you have a plan in place before discharge, especially where you can interact with others and have somewhere to go to get you out of the house. I can’t stress how important this can be for further recovery or else you end up lost and directionless like I was. Sign up for a gym or search for non-credit classes to take for personal development at your local community college. Create an inspiring playlist to turn to for motivation or create a list of books you’ve always wanted to read. Find something you can look forward to.

2. You may have a waiting period before some mental health companies can provide you assistance.

After my third hospitalization, my outpatient psychiatrist for medication management recommended that find someone specializing in talk therapy so that I can have both specialties contributing to my care. Unfortunately, my first experience in trying to find a psychotherapist wouldn’t take in new patients unless they had been out of the psychiatric unit for at least 3 months. There may be many reasons, but the explanation given to me was that I would be deemed too high risk for attempted suicide.

3. Individual talk therapists may not be qualified to help you.

Selecting a talk therapist, if you don’t already have one, can be in and of itself a challenge. But it can be an even bigger challenge when you disclose that you’ve recently been discharged from a hospital’s psychiatric ward, because some psychotherapists may not have the tools to support your needs. Don’t take this honesty as a rejection but as an opportunity to get quality help with someone who has the knowledge and experience to help you.

4. Your outpatient psychiatrist may not want you back.

This happened to me after the first time I was discharged from the psychiatric ward 15 years ago from the time I write this.  My former outpatient psychiatrist, who I had been seeing for a couple years, didn’t want me back. He explained to the hospital psychiatric doctor that I was a “troubled and noncompliant patient,” and he didn’t want me as his patient any longer. Even knowing that it would leave me compromised without medical assistance for the short term, he reiterated to the hospital staff he did not want me back.

In at least two phone calls, the hospital psychiatrist told him that what he was doing was unethical and that he had to take me back or else I would not have a mental health physician after discharge. They later explained what happened to me so that I would be fully aware of what I was going back to. I hope that what happened was incredibly rare, but if this happens, understand that not all psychiatrists are compatible with their patients. You have every right to find another doctor you can trust and respect. You deserve excellent care and a doctor committed to your well-being.

5. You may not return to the psychiatric ward where you were hospitalized to volunteer.

When I was in remission from depression, I had my heart set on volunteering at the psychiatric ward where I was hospitalized for one month. Unfortunately, they said that I could not volunteer “indefinitely” as a result of being hospitalized at the same unit. I can understand how hospitals may have had to create this rule, but I was personally devastated. I felt like my free labor was not of any value – it was the toughest pill to swallow.

Nonetheless, this was an opportunity divert course and, being formally educated and employed as an instructional designer, I offered to volunteer remotely by creating worksheets for inpatients to do in their downtime. The leadership considered my proposal to create a workbook for inpatients as a person with lived experience being hospitalized and it was decided that a workbook might be worthwhile. After submitting several example worksheets, the psych leadership gave me approval to proceed until it is complete for their review. It is currently a slow-going work in progress but it’s a reminder to me that I am on track to recovery by reframing situations positively in my favor.

1. Comfortable clothing

Unless you want to stay in those blue gowns that are open in the back, you’re allowed for friends and family to bring you clothes for fit, coverage and comfort including T-shirts, sweatshirts, sweatpants and shorts. Just make sure that the drawstring for sweatshirts and sweatpants are pulled out because you can’t have any cords in your possession. Shirts shouldn’t have foul words or language.

Hack: If no one can bring you clothes, and you must stay in the blue gown, always ask to wear two gowns. The first layer is to have the gown open in the back and the second layer is the gown opening in the front = instant coverage.

2. Underwear and socks

The hospital has disposable underwear for patients that’s made of thin white gauze material and meant to stretch and fit most people. The good thing about that is that you don’t have to wash the only underwear you wore when you were admitted. But you’re allowed underwear that fits if brought in/dropped off by a visitor. Trust me, this is important or else you’re pulling up your underwear every minute or pulling out wedgies.

3. Slip-on shoes or sneakers

Upon admission, you are given socks with white traction strips at the bottom to prevent you from slipping. They are all one-size since these socks are without heels, so they will slip down or get stretched out if you don’t ask for a new pair daily. Ask friends or family to bring you slip-on shoes or sneakers so you can walk comfortably. Just know that shoelaces must be pulled out because ties of any kind are not allowed.

4. Toiletries

Hospital lotion is pretty watery so I asked for my husband to bring my personal lotion. You’re allowed your other personal toiletries too as long as there are no razor blades or anything else that has glass or metal.

5. Phone and charger

Your cell and charger will be kept behind the front desk for safekeeping until the open window for cell phone privileges. It’s important to remind the staff to charge your phone or else you lose the 1- or 2-hour window you’re allowed to have it in your possession, like in your room if you wish to speak privately. Trust me, it can be heartbreaking not being able to reach out to others when you’re locked inside.

6. Books/magazines

While there are books and magazines available to patients to read, they may not always be the genre you prefer reading. Having a book or magazine as a companion is always a safe bet when you feel you need to occupy yourself during quiet times.

7. Journals

Most psychiatric wards I stayed in gave me a thin notebook and pencil for writing and you can always ask for more. If you prefer to write in your own journal, ensure that it doesn’t have spiral binding. No pokey metal.

8. Pictures

One time, I was hospitalized for a month without being able to receive any visitors because it was in the middle of the COVID pandemic. Pictures helped me get through the challenges of being completely separated by family. Pictures in frames may be prohibited unless the glass is taken out, but the edge of frames may be iffy for staff. It’s safer to keep pictures loose; they also make great bookmarks.

9. Watch

For those of you who are used to wearing watches or like to be keenly aware of the time, my fellow hospital friend Wayne was able to keep a children’s watch that was plastic and pretty risk-free. See the picture above.

10. Favorite Snacks

Plenty of snacks were always available for patients to enjoy at any given time like chips and granola bars. If you crave to have your favorites, there’s nothing wrong with anyone bringing you your favorite candy bars and other snacks.

I had been hospitalized in three different psychiatric wards in the past 15 years. Each time was at a different hospital, from one week to as long as one month. Though each psychiatric ward is unique, there were characteristics they all shared. Here are 10 things on what to expect if you ever anticipate being hospitalized.

1. You’re locked in.

Once I was admitted into a hospital’s psychiatric ward, the doors are locked from the inside. The entrance and exits are marked with signs that warn hospital staff of patients escaping from the ward. Sometimes, I had my own room. Sometimes, I had a roommate.

2. Expect to be monitored.

My actions were observed and recorded, including who I made friends with. If I was in my room alone, psych nurses would poke their heads in on regular rotations. There was no privacy except the bathrooms. There are doors within the ward that you can close, like to the showers, bedrooms, and meeting rooms, but none that I could lock.

3. You get phone privileges for only 1 or 2 hours a day.

My cell phone was taken away except for the 1- or 2-hour window every day (varying by hospital) that I was allowed to use it. You have to rely on the hospital staff to charge it for you, since patients aren’t allowed to keep their own chargers with them. The problem with that is that you’re out of luck for the day if the staff forget to charge your phone.

4. You will have no access to string, cords, metal, glass with sharp edges.

Visitors are allowed and they can bring you items; however, everything is checked for safety purpose so patients can’t hurt or kill themselves. If you are given a hoodie or sweatpants, the drawstrings need to be removed. If you are given sneakers, the shoelaces must be removed. Anything with glass or metal is prohibited. Anything with sharp edges, of course, is prohibited.

5. Recreational activities are minimal.

You can only use a pencil or marker to write. Depending on the hospital, the activities available to you are varied. There’s always a television. There are typically some books, board games, puzzles, and crayons and markers to draw. In one hospital, we were lucky to have one computer to share among the patients.

6. Three meals are provided daily.

You are given three meals a day at scheduled times and sometimes you can select what you want from a list. We were given plastic forks and spoons, plastic trays, plates, cups and bowls. No plastic knives.

7. Brief visits with psychiatrist daily.

You see a psychiatrist once a day except weekends. The visit is very brief. There is no talk therapy involved (meaning, you don’t discuss your childhood or deep-rooted issues); it is a discussion of the symptoms you are experiencing and the medications involved.

8. You can make friends.

You’re allowed to make friends. There are no topics you’re prohibited from discussing. If they happen to have an episode of heightened symptoms, you are not allowed to assist.

9. There is nothing scheduled on weekends.

Expect ZERO scheduled sessions with a healthcare provider on weekends. You receive your three scheduled meals, your medications, and that’s it. You’re on your own in terms of how you keep yourself occupied.

10. You will have a lot of time to yourself.

There is a lot of down time, even on weekdays. Usually there was a 1-hour group activity with other patients where you make drawings on select themes. I have never received one-on-one talk therapy or group therapy while in the psych ward.