How To Admit Someone To A Mental Hospital For The Certified Insane For Psychiatric Treatment
How to admit a person to a mental asylum, home or hospital.
Admitting a person to a mental institution ( asylum ) a hospital or a home is sometimes a heart wrenching experience.
Watching a loved ones' demeanor deteriorate in front of your eyes over a period of time is very distressing for the family. On occasions, the patient is unaware of what is going on in the real world as they appear to be in a world of their own.
Mental patients ( an inept and dated term similar to lunatic asylums ) are a member of someones' family who needs extra help mentally, either medically or through psychiatry. Psychiatrists are the doctors whom deal with psychiatric patients on a daily basis and assist them in alternative ways with the families permission.
It is difficult to have a person admitted to any type of mental institution.
Mental illness
Getting someone committed to a mental home or institute through mental illness depends upon the state of mind of the person. Psychiatric hospitals usually only commit patients who are dangerous to themselves or to others.
Prior to committing a person to an asylum, as many psychiatric evaluations as possible are usually undertaken. This is to ensure that the person is not simply affected by stress or depression but do in fact require psychiatric help from a psychiatrist.
Mental illness affects at least one in 10 people in different forms and to certain degrees. There is no embarrassment in a person having a mental illness. Insanity pleas in court are usually made be people who sane, and not insane.
Dark Ages
The mental hospitals of today are a far cry from the mental asylums of yester-year. It is no longer possible just to lock someone up for the rest of their lives on the say so a rich family or a jealous husband. The psychiatric treatments are much more detailed and each patient receives physical, mental, emotional, and medical help, twenty four hours a day.
There are no more electric shock treatments, leaches are a thing of the past ( but are available in some medical circles ) and the hospitals themselves are now hygienic, people friendly, and very pleasant for both visitors and patients.
Physician / Doctor
If a person is beginning to show signs of mental instability, the first person consulted should be the family physician or doctor. The physician will go through due process in establishing if there is a concern for the mental well-being of the patient. This make take some time as tests are carried out by qualified professionals of different arms of the medical profession.
The patient may be required to visit several hospitals or medical centres to take part in different tests. The tests will depend upon the type of mental problem or the seriousness mental capacity of the patient. No doctor will submit a patient to humiliating tests or cause harm to any patient unless the patient re-acts violently.
One of the initial psychiatric assessments are the ink blot tests. This is where the patient tells the psychiatrist what they first think of when they see the ink blot.
Family
A family representative will be required to sign legal consent forms for the mental hospital to take charge over the patient, and administer the appropriate course of action to take. The family will still be involved in nearly all the decision making and will have full contact with the member of the family who has been committed.
There are groups in every area which can give counselling and advice as well as financial help if required. Simply contact health and social security and they will forward you to the right department. Failing that, the hospital or physician will direct you and offer advice is asked.