For people with schizophrenia, hospitals are often familiar places. Just how often a patient will end up in a hospital depends on the severity of his schizophrenia symptoms, how often those symptoms flare up, and the patient's access to treatment outside the hospital.

For people with schizophrenia, hospitals are often familiar places. Just how often a patient will end up in a hospital depends on the severity of his schizophrenia symptoms, how often those symptoms flare up, and the patient's access to treatment outside the hospital.
Schizophrenia Hospitalization: The First Visit
The first time someone with schizophrenia might go to the hospital is for her first psychotic episode. Once there, hospital staff will take a battery of tests; these will cover the patient's physical, psychiatric, and psychological profiles, as well as a psychological assessment of her family.
Having your loved one in the hospital gives doctors the chance to closely observe her and to prescribe the right medications. Your loved one wouldn't get this kind of care on an outpatient basis, so the hospital is a good place for her to be. Remember: The goal of hospitalization is to bring the disease symptoms under control. For those with schizophrenia, this is vital. Consider:
- Schizophrenia causes disordered thinking that can be stressful and chaotic. For some people, the hospital routine is calming.
- The hospital provides access to important services like social and therapeutic supports. These services can be hard to find in the community.
- The managed environment of a hospital ensures that your loved one takes her medications every day. People with schizophrenia may not realize that they need treatment. A lot of patients with schizophrenia do not recognize that they are ill, says Ken Duckworth, MD, medical director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston.
But once your loved one leaves the hospital, a treatment plan in her community will be necessary. Without treatment, the odds that she will return to the hospital are high.
Schizophrenia Hospitalization: Other Visits
Your loved one may return to the hospital to stabilize her medication — or if she refuses to take her medication. If she also abuses drugs, a common occurrence with people with schizophrenia, her schizophrenia symptoms might become worse, and a hospital stay might be in order. And, if the schizophrenia becomes chronic, with times when the symptoms get out of hand, the hospital may be the best place for your loved one to be.
Schizophrenia: Voluntary vs. Involuntary Commitments
A person with schizophrenia may choose to enter a hospital if she feels her symptoms are out of control. This is called voluntary hospitalization or voluntary commitment. There are also situations when a person with schizophrenia may be forced to go to the hospital. These are:
- Violence to others. If a person with schizophrenia threatens others, he can be committed. However, only a small percentage of people with schizophrenia are violent. Dr. Duckworth says people with schizophrenia who use drugs or alcohol are the most prone to violence.
- Suicide threat. Suicide risk is high — about 10 percent of people with schizophrenia ultimately take their own lives. For a hospital to take the threat of suicide seriously, the person issuing it needs to have a plan, and the means to carry out the plan.
Strict guidelines exist to determine who can be committed involuntarily to a hospital or other inpatient treatment facility, and how long they can stay there. Laws vary by state; usually, a person may only be detained at a hospital if they pose an immediate threat to themselves or others.
However, it's important to remember that people who are forced into treatment may develop a sense of distrust for treatment providers and family members, which can delay recovery in the long run.
Voluntary commitment may also be dependent upon whether you have the means to pay hospital costs. Under-funded public hospitals frequently deny services to people who do not quite meet the criteria of dangerousness outlined above.
Schizophrenia Treatment: Where to Find Help
The Treatment Advocacy Center Web site has resources to help caregivers who fear that their loved ones need immediate treatment, and your local chapter of NAMI will have information about the regulations in your area.
Also, while hospitals may not be able to help until the criteria are met, loved ones can take immediate action. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK or 1-800-SUICIDE and explain the situation. Counselors are available 24 hours a day to help you decide how best to help your loved one.