I was in a psych hospital for 7 weeks this summer. It was a joint decision between me and my pdoc because I was majorly depressed and was seriously thinking about hurting myself / suicide.

It was a pretty good experience. Even though the ward was sometimes locked, as a voluntary patient I could basically come and go as I pleased. I just had to sign out and tell the nurses if I was going to be gone for an extended period - like when I went out in the evening to attend AA meetings.

We had several hours of group therapy a day, which I found really helpful, and I saw my pdoc every day which was helpful when we were adjusting my medications. I was assigned a primary care nurse who checked in with me every day, and who I could talk to if I needed to. She also gave me lots of "homework" to do - mainly CBT type stuff or things to read about addiction that I'd review with her.

About the only annoying thing was the nurses checked on you every hour and more frequently if you were at risk. I was put on close observation once when I told my nurse that I really wanted to hurt myself. That meant I got checked every 15 minutes which was annoying because I was trying to meditate.

You aren't allowed to have anything sharp on you or in your room - I even had to turn in my nailfile. But you could sign out your razors, to shave your legs, from the nurses after answering questions about how safe you were feeling.

I'm not sure how typical my experience was though - I was in a dedicated psychiatric hospital on a women's only inpatient unit specifically for people with acute mood disorders and trauma histories. I was also able to get in really quickly because my pdoc is the clinical director of women's programs at the hospital.

It was a really good experience because it gave me time to focus on trying to get healthy & I learned a lot of coping skills that I still use.

If you do go in-patient, I'd say take advantage of every program / counselling they offer because that way you'll get the most out of your stay.

--splitimage