Mental Institution
Written by: THE BALANCE
Medically reviewed by Dr. Sarah Boss, MD
Last updated: January 19, 2026
Fact checked
Quick Summary
  • Mental institutions—also known as psychiatric hospitals, psych wards, or mental health facilities—play a crucial role in diagnosing, treating, and stabilizing individuals with serious mental illnesses.
  • These institutions provide 24-hour psychiatric care and a secure environment where patients can receive evaluation, medication management, and evidence-based therapies such as CBT, DBT, supportive counseling, and family therapy.
  • Beyond traditional psychiatric care, many facilities now integrate holistic treatments—including art, music, and recreational therapy—to support recovery.
Reading time: 14 min

Mental institutions—also known as psychiatric hospitals, psych wards, or mental health facilities—play a crucial role in diagnosing, treating, and stabilizing individuals with serious mental illnesses. These institutions provide 24-hour psychiatric care and a secure environment where patients can receive evaluation, medication management, and evidence-based therapies such as CBT, DBT, supportive counseling, and family therapy.

Beyond traditional psychiatric care, many facilities now integrate holistic treatments—including art, music, and recreational therapy—to support recovery. Patients may be admitted voluntarily or involuntarily, depending on their condition and risk level. Understanding how mental institutions work, who qualifies for admission, and what rights patients retain can help reduce stigma and guide families in seeking proper mental health treatment.

Key Takeaways

  • Mental institutions provide 24/7 inpatient psychiatric care, focusing on stabilization, medication, and structured therapy.
  • Common treatments include CBT, DBT, supportive psychotherapy, family therapy, and holistic therapies such as art or music.
  • Patients can be admitted voluntarily (seeking help) or involuntarily (if posing a danger to self or others).
  • Commitment laws vary by state or country; involuntary commitment generally requires legal authorization.
  • Reasons for admission may include suicidal ideation, psychosis, self-harm, substance abuse, or inability to care for oneself.
  • Average inpatient stay is short-term—typically 5–7 days—focused on stabilization and safety.
  • After discharge, ongoing outpatient therapy and medication follow-up are key to preventing relapse.
  • Modern mental institutions emphasize dignity, privacy, and rehabilitation, countering outdated stigma about psychiatric hospitals.

World Mental Health Day 2025

Therapist in mental institution

A mental institution, often known as psych ward or a psychiatric unit, means a hospital for people with emotional or mental problems. A mental institution is defined as a mental hospital, mental health facility, psychiatric facility, sanitarium, or any other facility that delivers diagnoses of mental disabilities or mental illness by a licenced practitioner, including but not limited to a psychiatric ward in a general hospital. It is designed to provide a secure environment in which people can get wholesome mental health therapy and treatment.

Some people are afraid of being admitted to a mental health facility. People with mental illnesses may be concerned about being away from their typical surroundings and routines, as well as not having complete control over their everyday life while in the hospital. Others may be concerned about the other patients, and many older individuals are still affected by the stigma associated with psychiatric patients, with old sanitariums psychiatric hospitals, and asylums.

Many mental institutions require patients to be accepted into psychiatric facilities in an involuntary manner, which means they are unable to leave on their own. A person may be admitted to a mental institution against his or her will for a variety of reasons, including:

  • Suicidal ideation
  • Self-injury or harm to others
  • Abuse of drugs and/or alcohol
  • Anxiety or severe emotional anguish
  • Self-destruction or the inability to care for oneself is both examples of self-destructive behavior.
  • Endangering the lives of others
  • Problems coping with one’s surroundings, whether at home or in the community
  • Being diagnosed with a mental disease that can’t be treated in an outpatient environment

Involuntary mental institution stays are usually designated for persons who, due to their mental health problems, constitute a risk to themselves or others. In the event of repeat criminals whose actions were a direct consequence of their psychiatric illnesses, like acute depression or untreated schizophrenia, these can also be utilized as an alternative to the jail term.

Different mental health institutions have different strategies, but once someone is admitted to the facility, they usually have a consultation with a clinician — most often a psychiatrist as well as a medical practitioner. These medical professionals will examine the patient’s mental health symptoms and wellbeing. The patient treatment team is now informed about how everything works. For instance, rather than serving meals in each patient’s room, meals could be provided in a community space.

The patient will next collaborate with either their usual doctor or a doctor from the mental facility to determine treatment options, which will almost always include psychiatric medication. If the admission is unintentional, emergency medication may be administered without the patient’s agreement at first, but individuals can take an active role in their mental health care decisions after that.

During the daytime, mental health patients usually have the following schedule:

  • Group therapy – A moderated discussion with other patients. A health practitioner, psychologist, or social worker usually leads this type of group.

Group therapy can be used to address treatment issues (like treatment goals, concerns, and so on), promote learning, or concentrate on a particular therapy, like art therapy or cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).

  • Individual therapy – one-on-one counseling between a professional such as a psychologist, psychiatrist, or social worker and a patient. This style of therapy can be psychodynamic (also known as “talk therapy”) or centered on a specific type of therapy, like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). The experts will explore a variety of mental health interventions (Types of Therapy).
  • Personal time — people often have a lot of free time in between activities. It is up to individuals to decide how they will use this time, but resting and pondering, as well as working or studying if possible, may be beneficial.
  • Visitors — the mental health facility decides when a patient can have visitors, however many offer visiting hours during the day. Patients who are accompanied by another individual may be allowed to leave the facility on weekends.

A court, board, commission, or other legitimate body formally commits a person to a mental hospital. Involuntary commitment to a mental institution is included in this term. Commitment for mental illness or mental defect is also included in this term. Commitments for other causes, like drug use, are also included. A patient in a mental institution for a voluntary stay or observation is not included in this definition.

To be declared mentally unfit, a person must go through a court or administrative process that culminates in an authoritative finding that the subject is either a risk to himself or others, or is unable to handle his or her own affairs. While a HIPAA-covered organization, like a health care professional, may give an individual’s assessment as part of a legal procedure, such an assessment does not constitute a judgment under the statute.

Admission to a mental institution or unit is handled in the same way that admission to a regular hospital is handled. Your doctor or a consultant may refer you. Unlike regular patients in the hospital, you are not always free to leave mental hospitals or treatment whenever you want.

If you are a voluntary patient who wishes to leave a mental institution and the doctor, consultant psychiatrist, or nurse on duty believes you are suffering from a severe mental illness, you may be detained for up to 24 hours. If the volunteer patient is a kid and the parents or guardians want them to discharge, the clinician may hold the child and place them in the care of the Health Service Executive (if the medical experts believe that the child has a mental disorder that needs treatment).

The consulting psychiatrist must then choose to discharge you or arrange for another consultant psychiatrist to examine you after 24 hours. The second consultant must either provide a certificate declaring that you should be detained or discharged due to a mental condition. If you are detained, you are an involuntary patient, and all of the standard information, review, and appeal procedures apply to you.

If you have a mental disorder, you may well be involuntarily committed and held in an authorized mental institution under the Mental Health Act of 2001. You may be denied admission to inpatient mental hospitals if you have a personality condition, are socially deviant, or are dependent on drugs or intoxicants.

Mental illness, severe dementia, or considerable intellectual disability are all considered mental disorders under the Act if:

  • There is a significant risk that you will cause immediate and severe injury to yourself or others as a result of your illness, disability, or dementia.
  • Because of the seriousness of your illness, impairment, or dementia, your judgment is so impaired that if you are not admitted to the hospital for treatment that can only be provided in the hospital, your condition may worsen, and hospital admission is likely to boost your mental health significantly.

Mental illness is defined as a state of mind that alters your thinking, emotion, perception, or judgment and severely hampers your mental function to the point where you require medical attention or care for your own or others’ sake.

Severe dementia is defined as a brain deterioration that affects thought and considerably hinders intellectual function, understanding, and memory, as well as severe psychological or behavioral symptoms including physical violence.

Significant intellectual disability refers to a condition of mental development that includes significant impairments in social and cognitive functioning, as well as excessively aggressive or reckless behavior.

Are you thinking about involuntary hospitalization for a loved one? You might be unsure about what you can accomplish. You might not even be sure if you need to be admitted to the hospital. The following is intended to address questions you may have before making the hard decision to place someone in a mental institution against their consent.

Patients cannot be compelled to take treatment unless a court has ruled that they are legally incapable of making their own decisions. Unless it is determined otherwise, even if the individual has been hospitalized unwillingly, most states will treat them as capable of making their own healthcare choices.

Emergency drugs may be administered to patients in hospitals who are in urgent danger. These drugs, on the other hand, are intended to calm the person and stabilize their physiological state rather than to treat their mental illness.

A sedative, for example, might be given to keep the person from hurting themselves, but they couldn’t be compelled to take an antidepressant because it would be deemed treatment.

If your loved one is suffering from symptoms like severe depression, suicidal ideation, psychosis, or mania, it can be distressing for them and everyone around them.

The following are common examples of possible outcomes:

  • Shattered relationships
  • Financial devastation
  • Inability to meet fundamental needs on a daily basis
  • Physical damage or harm to others
  • Suicide

Unfortunately, mental illness makes it difficult for people to think properly about their circumstances. It may be up to those around them to take the initiative to seek help, like police, family members, mental health providers, or emergency responders in order to avoid a disastrous result.

Involuntary commitment rules vary greatly from state to state, but in order to be involuntarily committed, a person must be suffering from a mental disorder.

For both involuntary hold for outpatient care and involuntary commitment for inpatient care, the Mental Illness Policy Organization offers criteria listed by state.

States may take into account the following criteria:

  • He or she is a real and obvious risk to themselves (someone who has caused major physical injury to themselves, attempted serious self-injury or suicide, or tried to do so)
  • Someone with a severe disability (i.e., someone who is unable to care for himself)
  • Involuntary treatment is required (essential for safety and better health)

Some states utilize less common criteria, such as:

  • Appropriate treatment is available at the facility where the client will be committed.
  • Property risks in the future
  • The apparent inability to consent
  • As an option with the least constraints
  • Refusal to enter a voluntary hospital
  • Treatment responsiveness

While most jurisdictions require a person to pose a clear and present threat to themselves or others before they can be committed, that’s not the case in all states. Involuntary hospitalization may happen when a person refuses to receive necessary treatment, whether or not they are deemed dangerous.

Understanding the Terms

Mentally ill: For legal reasons, the phrase “mentally ill” is not as well defined as it is in the treatment of mental disorders. No state in the United States, with the exception of Utah, employs a list of acknowledged mental diseases to define mental illness. Rather, the definition varies by state and is frequently articulated in ambiguous ways that describe how mental illness impacts thought and behavior.

Grave disability: This term’s interpretation differs from state to state. It pertains to an individual’s inability to care for themselves in general.

Because the actual procedure differs by state, it’s a good idea to speak with a local expert who can inform you about the procedures in your state. The following people are the finest people to give you advice:

  • A psychiatrist or your family doctor
  • Your community hospital
  • An attorney who deals in mental health law.
  • The police department in your town
  • Your state’s advocacy and protection group

To deem a person a threat to themselves or others and perform a “psychiatric hold” or “pick up,” you’ll need a qualified civil authority, medical staff, or crisis team member in most states.

Short-term stays are emphasized in all the mental health hospitals and institutions. The average duration of a mental institution stay for a patient with major depressive disorder (MDD) was 6 days, according to a 2019 study. Some persons with severe symptoms, on the other hand, may stay for an extended period of time. In this study, re-hospitalization happened often within 30 days after discharge.

Patients who bring themselves involuntarily may want to go within a day or two, even if medical advice is given. If the patient was brought in against their will, they will be evaluated to see if they are capable of caring for themselves outside of 24-hour care.

Although each facility has its own policies and procedures, discharge is usually determined by a few factors:

  • Adherence To Medication
  • Eating
  • Sleeping
  • Showering
  • A Lack Of Symptoms That Are Peculiar To The Illness

These factors influence how soon a patient is discharged. Before leaving, the physicians and staff want to be sure that everyone is safe and not a threat to themselves or others.

FAQs

Is It Necessary For Me To Be A Relative In Order To Get Someone Committed To The Hospital?
No, any adult (18 or older) who has witnessed a specific behavior in the past 14 days that indicates an individual in need of mental health care may file an application with the court.
How May A Youngster Who Refuses Treatment Be Admitted To A Mental Institution?
A request for psychiatric hospitalization must be made by the minor’s parent or legal guardian, and the child must be deemed to be eligible for hospitalization. The youngster must be emotionally disturbed and pose a significant threat to himself or others. If the prerequisites are met and the following testimony to the judge, a peace officer may transfer the individual with a court order.
Is it possible for me to voluntarily enter a mental institution for treatment of my Mental illness?
​Yes. An individual can be admitted to a mental institution on a voluntary basis, either informally or formally. An individual above the age of 18 must request therapy through an informal voluntary approach. In most cases, the procedure can be completed without the official signing of any admission documents. A formal voluntary patient will fill out a hospitalization application and may be admitted if the mental health hospital or director believes that he or she is suitable for admission.

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