Schizophrenia: When Hospital Care is Needed

Topic Overview

People who have schizophrenia sometimes have to spend time in the hospital. This can be because of severe symptoms or for other reasons.

You may have to go to the hospital if you:

• Are having a psychotic episode. This means you can't tell the difference between what is real and what is not real.
• Talk about suicide or hurting yourself or others.
• Have severe medicine side effects, such as tardive dyskinesia.
• Need special tests.
• Need to change or adjust your medicines.
• Have problems with drugs or alcohol.
• Need a special medical procedure, such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).

Doctors will try to find the best way to get you back to your family and community as soon as possible.

For the caregiver

Sometimes there is conflict about receiving treatment in a hospital. In this case, you need to think about your loved one's legal rights. States have laws that protect people who have mental health problems from being forced to go to a hospital or get treatment. These laws are different in each state. Get to know the laws in your state.

Working with a mental health care expert and putting your loved one into a hospital may not be an easy thing to do. But it might be the only thing you can do to prevent your loved one from harming himself or herself or others. In the hospital, your loved one will get treatment to help relieve symptoms and ease the danger.