Transitioning out of a psychiatric hospital is one of the most difficult and vulnerable times for someone. There is a high suicide risk right after someone discharges and some people will end up right back in the hospital if they are not careful. So what can you do to help a friend or family member transition from the hospital back to normal life?
1) Help make sure the environment is safe to return to. This is something hospitals usually check for before discharging someone from the hospital and sometimes people need help making sure that everything is removed from the environment temporarily for when they return. This can be a variety of things depending on the person. Most hospitals check to make sure there aren't any weapons in the house and if there are, that they are locked up securely as to not be easily accessible. Other items can include sharps like knives, razors and excess medication. Not only does the environment have to be made safe physically, it also has to be made safe emotionally. What I mean by this is that for people who attempted before going into the hospital, there are often things left behind from that attempt that could remind that person of their attempt and this could be triggering for them. Removing these triggers help make the environment safe for them to return to from an emotional standpoint. Helping to make sure the environment is safe to return to is a key first step to helping a person transition from the hospital.
2) Ask what specific household things you can do to help. When someone leaves the hospital, they go from having almost everything done for them to having to do it all for themselves again and this can be stressful to handle all at once. Additionally, transitions back to normal life can be stressful on families as a whole and many times doing specific household things can make a huge difference. These can include things like cooking a meal, helping clean the house before the person comes home, helping with transportation to appointment and things like that. The key to doing this is to offer specific things you know you can do. Instead of asking generally "what can I do to help" ask "can I help you clean your house before they come home" or "does your lawn need to be mowed" and things like that. Offering a specific service helps you know what you can do and takes pressure off the other person to come up with specific tasks that they need help with.
3) Help them make and keep a schedule. Keeping a schedule is one of the key things someone can do when they are transitioning out of a hospital. In a hospital setting, every hour of the day is planned out and people are usually kept busy with going to groups and activities. This can make transitions difficult due to going from having everything scheduled to having nothing scheduled. One of the best things you can do to help someone is to help come up with a schedule for the first couple weeks of what you are planning to do hour by hour. Granted, this doesn't need to be kept to a T but having a guide and plan for each day really helps people transition from the hospital back into real life.
4) Provide support during difficult times of day. For many people coming out of a hospital, there is usually a period of time during the day that they have a more difficult time with. For some people evenings are more challenging. For others mornings are more challenging. Asking the person coming out of the hospital which times of the day are more difficult for them and coming up with a plan on how to work through those difficult times can really help make sure that they stay safe during those times and even lessen the struggle that those times can create. This is something that can be critical to whether a person remains out of the hospital or not.
5) Check-in with them often. This goes along with numbers three and four. In a hospital setting, people are used to having support 24/7. There are constantly staff there to help them through difficult times and through their struggles. This is one of the benefits of being in a hospital setting to begin with. So transitioning out of the hospital can be challenging because that constant support is lost. Having someone check-in with them throughout the day can be beneficial to them because they really need that support to transition out of the hospital. One thing I've seen done before is having someone stay with them at their house if they live alone so that they can have more support the first few days out of the hospital. Support is extremely critical when transitioning out of the hospital. At the same time, this is something you would want to check with the person with to make sure that it isn't too much and it isn't overwhelming. Giving them a healthy level support can really help make the transition easier from inpatient hospitalization to normal life again.
Overall, these 5 things can really help friends and family transition out of the hospital and can help you know what to do to help them through this challenging time. Knowing how to help is the first key step in giving help. Ultimately, the love and care that you have for the friend/family member will shine through in whatever steps you take to help them and that is the most important thing.
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