All psych units, and experiences, are different so it's hard to quantify "what is IP like". I can tell you that my 7-day stay wasn't bad at all. I was treated with respect and the groups and activities were interesting to me. I was in a private room with a door that I was allowed to close at night, and there was this nice open floor plan in the common area which made being on a locked ward a lot less unpleasant than it could have been.

There is, however, very little privacy in a psych unit. Staff checks on you every 15 minutes, and they'll come in and toss your room for contraband at random times. I was permitted to shower without a staff member present when they decided I was no longer a danger to myself. We didn't get to have coffee after 11 AM (I've heard it's not allowed at all in some facilities) and were limited in our meal choices, but the food was plentiful and even good. The main gripe I had was that I couldn't have my phone or my iPod---how anyone could use those flimsy little earbud wires to hurt themselves is beyond me! Luckily there was a tablet at the nurses' station that we could use for ten minutes at a time, so we weren't totally cut off from the outside world.

Visiting hours were quite limited due to group and activities schedules. It was so hard to watch my loved ones leave, but I also knew I was safe there, and I hadn't been at home. Safety is everything in the hospital; they have a million and one ways to keep you from hurting yourself, from the way the clothing hook in the bathroom bends down when you hang more than a pair of jeans on it to the handrails that are flush with the wall. There are phones on the unit that have cords but they are watched closely by the staff and removed at night.

They don't neglect your physical health either. I was thoroughly examined by an internist during my stay, and of course the psychiatrist and psychologist/case manager came in every day to go over my progress and plan for discharge. All in all, it was a good experience and if I ever need it again I won't hesitate to go in. I used to be terrified of the hospital and swore I'd never go IP, but when I became so sick that I was more scared of being on the outside than whatever might be waiting for me on the inside, I knew it was time.

If you think it may be time for IP, it almost certainly is. Call your pdoc or just go to the ER. You'll probably have to anyway, the psych units usually admit patients through the ER rather than on a walk-in basis. The hospital where I lived didn't have a psych ward, so I had to be transferred via secure transport to the mental health facility in a neighboring town. That was actually the worst part of the whole experience; I was in what had once been a police cruiser with the barrier between the front and back seats and the doors that don't open from the inside. I'm terribly claustrophobic and thankfully the transport team was nice and they talked me down.

Anyway, that's a synopsis of my one (so far) hospitalization. Hope it's helpful to you in making your decision as to whether or not to go IP. God bless.