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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    When is it necessary to become hospitalised for depression?

    Related Topics
    Depression Mental Health
    A dear friend of mine has clinical depression and sees her psychologist routinely. She also takes antidepressant medication. However, I haven't noticed any change in her mood or behaviour and am very worried about her. It is to the point where I think someone needs to intervene and she needs to be treated as an in-patient. Is that ever a good solution? How could it help her?
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    Dr Simon Easterbrook-Smith

    Health Professional

    My research interests include immunology and the mechanisms of amyloid formation. The latter has implications for people who are dealing with Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease … View Profile

    I think that whether or not somebody needs to go IP will depend a lot on individual circumstances and I would certainly encourage you to suggest to your friend that she talks about this with her health professional care team.

    In my case I have only needed to go IP once, for about a month. That was because the first AD that I was on was, for me, worse than useless (bad suicidal ideation :-( ) and my psychiatrist thought that it would be best if I went IP so a change-over to a new med could be carefully monitored.

    For me it was a very positive experience. I took advantage of all that was offered and have never looked back since.

    I hope that (if your friend's care team recommends it), the same will be true for her.

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    Rochelle @team healthshare

    HealthShare Member

    I have to say I have a friend who I was also worried about and I even contemplated ringing their GP and psychologist to tell them my concerns, as I was worried that when she went to see them she wasnt showing/sharing how bad she was. Not sure if it is wise or not to call the GP or psychologist to express your concern but it may be an idea. Keep us informed of how you and your friend are going and what you do. Your friend is very lucky to have you as such a caring friend.

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    Anthony Merritt

    Clinical Psychologist, Health Psychologist, Psychologist

    I have been a Clinical Psychologist for ten years. I initially specialised in health psychology with a focus on pain management. More recently my focus … View Profile

    I think that there's actually two seperate questions here. The first is when might someone feel that they need to go to hospital? This could be because they cannot keep themselves safe, or because they find it hard to maintain even basic self care, like getting out of bed or showering. The public hospital system will only be able to cope with the first issue as they are overcrowded and underresourced. If someone has private health insurance they could well admit themselves to a hospital in the second case.
    The second issue I think is when might someone be admitted to hospital without their consent. that will usually occur when they have little insight into the risks they face, maybe because they cannot even see another option than suicide, or because they have no insight, such as in mania or schizophrenia. 
    I think it's also important to say that when depression is longstanding it can take many months to treat and treat can appear slow. WIth support from friends and family, however, you can get over even severe depression in time. 

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  • Anonymous

    It is only my ongoing personal experience BUT….
    When your family all live at the other side of the world and , due to work, you have been
    relocated hundreds of miles from your friends then you have no support network.
    I have anxiety, depression, PTSD and PCS.
    I have seen a Clinical Psychologist every week for almost 2 years now but I dont think
    I will get over this severe depression ‘in time’. How long does it take?
    Once my teenage son leaves home next year then I will have no reason whatsoever to
    carry on living.

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    Anonymous

    OK - just a heads up straight away, this is a negative experiance of the hospital. I want to say that I do realised that many people get help but I also know that a significant number come out worse. This is my story and just one experianced. I fully accept that there is a great chance that I am just unlucky in having a bad experiance:

    I went once when I was feeling suicidal. It was the worst experiance of my life. At first I was kind of relieved when I went there as the pressure for self harm was so great I thought it would be great to get some kind of treatment for it - anything to take the pressure off. But I didnt get any treatment at all - I just sat in a room staring at a wall for hours on end, alone in with my horrible thoughts. It was worse that way because I had nothing to distract my self. They wouldnt even let me have a book. I ended up reading every pamphlet they had just for something to distract my self. 

    At night I couldnt sleep as they would not turn off the lights and they kept shaking me awake every hour or so -  I dont know why, maybe they were worried I had somehow snuck in sleeping pills or something. A became this weird sleep deprived zombie. I used to just walk the parameter of the room hour after hour. The other patients were the same. Everyone kept to themselves.

    Everyone, including me, lied to the doctors and psychologist. You get to the point where youd say anything just to get out. Thats what I did when I finally saw someone. Due to the treatment of the staff there was no way I was trusting this person.

    Anyway , yeah….thats my experiance :)

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    Susanna Moon

    HealthShare Member

    I tend to agree with anonymous. I was transferred to a mental hospital after a near fatal OD and although I was voluntary I was told until I was assessed I was unable to leave. I found the experience to be frightening and traumatic. I was only there for 24 hours as I too lied to the psychiatrst knowing this would be my only chance to get out. I just had to look around me at all the other people to see it would not be long before I would go crazy. Yes I was suicidal and extremely depressed but the hospital was not a good environment to look at getting better. The morning I got there at 4am after being transfered from ICU at another hospital, I didn't see any staff until 11am when they gave me some towels and said I could shower but I had missed breakfast so if I wanted food I would have to make it to lunch. I was too petrified to leave my room and didn't even know where to go. I spent most of the day crying and wishing I had died. I would not wish this on my worst enemy and think where it is possible to have support in the community you have a better chance of help and guidence. The only contact I had with staff in 24hrs was once to give me towels, once to see the psychiatrist and lastly to be discharged into the care of my brother. Please look at other options before hospitalisation. I don't know of any good experiences from being admitted as a psych patient.

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