Partial Hospitalization for BPD

This month, I start partial hospitalization for BPD and have no idea what to expect. All I know is that I'll be going to be a few evenings a week and that there will be group therapy. I'd ask my T for more details, but I only see him once every three weeks and try to use that time to talk about personal issues.

Has anyone gone through this, and if so could you tell me about your experience?

Thanks!

hi there, slmg.

i dont have any personal experience, but i did work experience at a psychiatric hospital once, and some of the clients there did partial hospitalization like you did. they found it very useful, because there was a structure for them to get better, but at the same time they could still go to school, see friends, family etc.

is it possible for you to give your T a call and ask what's involved? it would only take 5mins to discuss, and it could put your mind at ease. also, the centre i go to has a website that has some information - is there anything like this you could look up?

good luck with your treatment. i hope you can come back and let us know how it went.

Hi there, what a great concept! I am in Australia and all we have is inpatient and outpatient services. If you are an inpatient generally you are watched very closely or so that has been my experience and outpatients are seen regularly by a therapist through the public system outside of the hospital. You cannot be both. In most cases, admittance into hospital here rests solely on whether you are a danger to yourself or others and you are "regulated" under Queensland law and the Mental Health Act. Sometimes though people are psychotic, delusional or basically cannot function but are not regulated. The wards for each category are separate. I have spent many weeks in and out of hospital, sometimes regulated, sometimes not. I have bpd, schizoeffective disorder and bipolar. Most of my hospital admissions have been because I have been homicidal or violent and so the powers that be have had to moderate, change or increase my meds and keep a very close eye on me. I have spent much time locked in my hospital room or in group therapy to teach me some anger management skills. The idea that you can combine inpatient and outpatient services, if you are not dangerous, is a great idea. You have the safety of a moderated, clinical environment coupled with the "real world". I hope you find it successful. I wish we had something like that here! Very innovative.

michah - i'm down in nsw and know of two hospitals (one private, one public) that offer a similar service. it's called a "day program" or they admit you as a "day patient". ie, you are at the hospital for most of the day, but can go home at night. if you have work or are studying, they will let you go to that, also.

i'm not sure what services are available up in QLD but would be surprised if there wasn't something similar?

Oh my goodness! That is fantastic. Qld Health laws are so antiquated. When I wasn't regulated I was able to go home for a few hours after my meds and behaviour had stabilised but then I had to return to hospital and I was timed. I had to sign in and out, my bags and clothes would be searched upon my return and I would be subjected to the usual questions. The idea is that if you are well enough survive outside for a significant length of time(a whole day) and not get into trouble then you do not need to be in hospital and you are discharged after a couple of days. Our health system is just so overwhelmed that it is nothing to spend an entire night sedated to the eyeballs in mental health triage while they wait for a bed. So for us up here, hospital is solely for severely acute cases. We just don't have the beds or the resources. All other cases are handled by an outpatients service. Have you used your system down there and if so, how did you find it?

oh, gross. poor you . i think what you described is the case for most of the hospitals here too, but the hospitals i was referring to -- one of them is private, so they only accept patients who can afford it. the other hospital was only for teenagers, between 13 and 18, and they were trying to be innovative so as to caused less disruption in their lives. it was a really new idea when it got started up, i hope they are continuing it.

myself - i've never been admitted to a hospital, or used the day patient thing. my pdoc has discussed doing a day program thingie (where i would go once a week, like group therapy) but i dont have insurance so can't afford it. there was one time when i was really not doing well, and probably should have been in hospital, but pdoc said that the 'emergency' facilities for psych inpatients are atrocious at best, so he tried to keep me out of it. increased our sessions to 2x a week, and called me in between.

I was recently "successfully discharged" from a partial hospitalization program. For me, it didn't seem to help much. Then again, that could be because of the set up and my dx.

I didn't know what to expect either and the program I was in prefers that clients don't know what's going on. At least, that's the way it seemed.

The program i was in ran from 9am - 2pm. From 9-10 there was a morning group session where we were expected to give a daily goal to work on. That could consist of anything from a generic "feeling better" to talking more in group or whatever. If the counselors didn't like one's answer, they'd ask questions and etc. to help one come up with a feasible goal. Oh yeah, we also had to state our current mood too.

After that, we had a 15 min or so break. Then, it was intense group therapy where essentially, clients ran the group. The counselors were there to help keep the discussion on topic and moderate.

Then there was a 30 min lunch break. After the lunch break was another group for one hour that consisted of learning coping skills.

I didn't like the group much because I don't really like socializing. I was ganged up on a bit by this other member who bared her soul within a week of being in the program. She was upset because i had been there longer than her and she still didn't know anything about me. She confronted me about that one day in group shortly before lunch. I didn't agree with what she had to say and she ticked me off. I actually left with plans of not returning. However, a counselor and I talked and i agreed to go back.

During the course of the day, we sometimes had to leave group to meet with a nurse, shrink and our one on one therapist.

That's basically how the program i was in was run.

Oh yeah. The typical length of the program i was in was 2-3 weeks for each client. I was there for 6 weeks or so. It was nice to have a schedule to stick to and somewhere to be, but other than that, it wasn't of much help for me, in my opinion.

I went to a day program at the hospital. We had different groups. We had an education group where you learn about your disease and how mamage the symptoms and we had group therapy. There were breaks in between for smoking and snacks. I went for a month and found it helpful. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I think it would be good for anyone with bpd.

Thanks everyone for all the info. It's been really helpful. My T also talked to me a little about it. He said I'd be doing individual and group therapy and there would be conferences on self-esteem and goal setting for 10 days.

Unfortunately, I found out my insurcance won't pay for it for another 8 months. I was really looking forward to going because therapy is going really well, and soon it'll be coming to an end. I thought this was going to be the last push I needed for recovery.

I'll keep you all posted.

I can ditto Cafegrrrl's experience. The only advantage I saw in doing a partial hospitalization was that I got out of the house every day and got to eat a really nice lunch. There was one class on CBT that I really liked but it was only once a week because they didn't have anyone for that hour for those of us that weren't there for substance abuse.

One of the facilitators was studying for his degree in Pysch. I was in his group when I hit a crisis and he totally ignored me, the jerk! I hope he didn't get his degree, much less his license to practise! He missed a lot of what went on.

Other than that, it was okay. Got to make some really nice friends.

I am currently in a "day treatment program". Or you can call it partial hospitalization. I go 5 days a week. There is morning group from 10am to 12:30am. This group is a process group. Then after lunch two days a week I do a DBT group from 2pm to 4pm. I have been there since February. I do see improvements. However, it took me a long time to feel safe enough to really start talking. I also see my T twice a week.

Is there a reason you only see your T once every 3 weeks? Usually when a day program is recommended you would be seeing your T more often.