Psychiatric Hospital Stay/Referral

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I’m suffering with pretty intense anxiety/OCD. I’ve just been referred for CBT through my private health care with work. I’ve had some VERY bad days, where I’ve considered ending it all just to get away from my own head.

Does anyone have experience with being referred or admitted to a private psychiatric hospital please?

Bumping

No personal experience, but just want to say my Nan was referred to a private psychiatric hospital and it was a great experience. The team were all amazing and she had wonderful help. This must be a bloody scary time, but you are being incredible for being brave enough to speak out and I really hope it all goes well for you x

You could try your health insurers and ask them for names of clinics/hospitals in your area, then make appointment to see someone there asap and see if they will admit you. I’m sure it’s not as simple as that, but I hope you get some help soon.

I have two friends who have been referred into residential psychiatric care, both through private health insurance provided by work. One was to help treat alcoholism and one was following a series of suicide attempts.

What I'm not sure about is how they actually got referred, who made the call and who did the referral.

Are you having treatment at the moment? If you're speaking to a therapist, I think they would be a good place to start. You need to be completely, brutally honest about how you are feeling.

If you haven't actually spoken to anyone yet, I'd suggest calling back your health insurance company and ask if they have a mental health crisis team and then tell them you need help right now.

Both of my friends had really good outcomes from their experiences. They were treated with dignity and respect and both doing much better.

It is 100% worth seeking treatment. You can absolutely get help and feel better than you do now. Best of luck OP

Professionally I have had involvement in emissions to private psychiatric hospitals, with variable outcomes. Some are good, some aren’t. Some are good for one condition but not for another.

Do you know what your insurance will cover? Not all would include psychiatric inpatient care, so you might need to self-fund. Even so, it may not be easy to find a local bed at short notice. If you want to you could try approaching the unit directly and asking their procedure.

It will be a lot cheaper, and often more effective, to arrange a private psychiatrist review to review medication plus any other treatments that may help, plus push ahead with the CBT, plus potentially crisis team or other community support.

Please contact your GP or local crisis line if you feel like you can’t keep yourself safe. In those circumstances it is not a good idea to hang around waiting for a nice private option which may not be put in place fast enough.

Thank you! X

Thank you!

Thank you for your response! I am starting CBT/Therapy this weekend and the Dr upped my Sertraline two weeks ago.

The thoughts I’m having are quite extreme so it’s scary, I just cannot envisage still being like this in weeks/months time. Just hope something starts to work soon

Thank you for your response! From what I can see both in patient and out patient care for psychiatric hospitals is covered, I understand this is a last resort.

I start CBT this weekend and hoping the increased Sertraline will kick in soon.

It’s probably the upping off meds that’s made your illness slightly worse, until the stabilise at that mg level and start to calm things down.
try and give it time for the meds to do there work 2 weeks is nothing. Each increase should be kept at for at least 4-6 weeks to give the increase time to stabilise
Dont let gp rush and up your dose every 2 weeks it’s a bit too soon, I know you want help NOW and to feel so much better but unfortunately mh takes time (I’ve been to hell & back)
As gp given you any diazepam to help with start up off meds?

regarding private referral
ring your healthcare provider and just ask what the procedure is, as it’s covered on your policy

pamper yourself,
nice book, aromatherapy oils, bath with smelliest in . x

Thank you for your reply! GP not keen on giving me diazepam due to the addictive nature of it (I’ve had it in the past) I’ve got Propranolol instead this time.

Trying my hardest to be kind to myself and not let myself feel paralysed by it all.

Really appreciate your advise and support x

Please be aware that a lot of private psychiatric hospitals currently have a high number of resident NHS patients. So beds are scarce, even if you can afford to pay. I hope you don't need to go into hospital, but just wanted to manage your expectations.

Hope it works out well for you whichever path you choose. I just wanted to say that my experience of psychiatric wards is that inpatient status itself is not actually therapeutic. It feels almost like a warehousing experience - a way of making the patient (a) less able to harm themelves and (b) conveniently at hand whenever the psychiatrist or other professional has time to see them.
When I read your post I thought first of all that this bleak situation might not be the case in a private hospital; but then I remembered that many of these hospitals are contracted to the NHS and at least one has been profoundly criticised in rencent coroners' reports. So they aren't necessarily better than the NHS.
So my gut feeling would be to make maximal use of your private health insurance but without necessarily focusing on becoming an inpatient, unless you feel that you need that in order to keep yourself safe.

Very best wishes. I'm sorry things areso hard for you. xxx

Hi OP,
I don't have experience of private residential treatment but did receive NHS residential treatment for severe OCD at Bethlem Hospital. I have some friends who have had OCD treatment at 'The Priory' in North London with some success. There is another specialist inpatient service available at 'The Nightingale'. I think you would usually contact the hospital to ask about the referral process, which would involve either a referral from a GP or a Psychiatrist.