Being hospitalized for your mental health can be extremely distressing and disruptive to life as you know it. While hospitalization can stabilize people in crisis, it is not designed to treat the root cause of mental health conditions or provide ongoing support.
For this reason, if you’ve been hospitalized for your well-being, you’ll likely be referred to another mental health care provider who can support you once you’re discharged. Yet there are many potential therapy programs post-hospitalization, and the referral process can be confusing, especially if it’s your first time.
If you or a loved one has been hospitalized for your mental health, a mental health professional can discuss your treatment options post-discharge with you. This article can also help, as it covers the hospital mental health referrals process by looking at:
- What hospitalization for mental health is and its potential impacts
- The importance of continued mental health care after a hospital stay
- How hospital mental health referrals work
- Types of post-hospitalization therapy options
- How you can look after your mental health after hospitalization
What Is Hospitalization for Mental Health?
People are hospitalized for their mental health when either themselves or a family member decides it’s in their best interests, or after an encounter with a first responder.
Hospitalization might become necessary when someone’s condition cannot be managed with outpatient treatment alone. This may occur if someone has severe depression, schizophrenia, psychosis, suicidal thoughts or behaviors, or mania. These conditions can escalate to the point where someone can no longer look after themselves or becomes at risk of harming themselves or others. When someone’s hospitalized, they are monitored during acute episodes and may have their medications adjusted or stabilized.[1]
During hospitalization, people can expect to receive 24-hour monitoring. Depending on their symptoms, they may stay between a few days to several weeks.[2] However, it’s important to note that hospitalization is not designed to keep people confined indefinitely. The aim is to maximize the possibility of independent living and provide the right care to support someone in crisis.[1]
People’s experiences of inpatient care vary. For instance, some aspects of hospitalization may cause people to feel less autonomous, especially if their rights to privacy and decision-making aren’t respected. However, the majority of care providers aim to enhance people’s sense of autonomy through inclusive practice and good coordination between services.[3]
Since hospital stays for mental health can be quite short, they don’t tend to focus on addressing someone’s core issues. Healthcare providers are typically more concerned with stabilizing crises and making people safe to themselves. As a result, individuals and their families can sometimes feel disappointed in the level of care and worried that there’s still a big mental health risk after discharge.[2]
This is why outpatient care post-hospitalization is so important, which we’ll explore next.
The Importance of Continued Care After Hospitalization
Continued care after hospitalization is essential because being discharged doesn’t mean someone no longer has need for support. Without further mental health care, people may be at risk of experiencing another crisis and a repeat of what led to their hospitalization in the first place.5
Therefore, the time after being discharged can be a vulnerable period. Going from 24-hour support to having to manage at home can be very daunting. In fact, people discharged from inpatient psychiatric care are at greater risk of self-harm, death, and further hospitalizations due to violence.[4]
They’re also more likely to experience cravings, anxiety, loneliness, stigmatization, and a lack of self-esteem. They may have a hard time coping with recurring symptoms and sticking to their prescribed treatment plans.7
Since emergency mental health stays typically focus on stabilization, there may be deeper factors at play that can only be resolved in longer-term therapy or medication. Continued care can provide these, as well as supportive groups that can give people a reassuring network to rely on.[5]
In addition, therapy post-hospitalization may enable people to develop coping skills, rebuild their routines, and reconnect with meaningful relationships or hobbies. These factors are fundamental to fostering well-being in the long term and keeping another hospitalization at bay.
The transition between hospital and home can also be facilitated by medication management, scheduling timely follow-up appointments, involving family members, and developing a crisis intervention plan. These factors enable people to be as supported as possible, and can be carried out in many different ways.5
There are many types of mental health treatments available to people leaving hospitals, but before we explore those, we’ll explain the process of hospital referrals. This can be a confusing process, so it’s useful to know what you can expect.
How Do Hospitals Refer Patients to Mental Health Treatment?
The hospital psychiatric referral process can vary between providers. It sometimes comes under a “follow-up” procedure, which involves giving information, communicating with family and primary care providers, and making arrangements with other services.
Even if you’ll be receiving medication from your primary care provider as part of your post-hospital treatment, you should still be referred to supportive therapy. This may be with a therapist or with a social worker. If insured, you’ll be referred to providers that are in-network; if not, you’ll be referred to services that are lower cost or operate on a sliding scale.6
Before you’re discharged from inpatient care, providers can help coordinate your follow-up care by doing the following:6
- Helping with scheduling appointments
- Determining whether the follow-up mental health service is a good fit for your needs (based on things like specialisms, location, time, and so on)
- Identifying and addressing any barriers you may face that could prevent you from engaging in follow-up care
- Engaging with your family and/or significant other and stressing the importance of follow-up treatment
- Ensuring you receive a follow-up appointment within seven days after discharge
- Sharing transition of care information with your Primary Care Physician (PCP) to ensure you engage with the follow-up plan
So, the first appointment for your referral is typically made for you by the hospital. Plus, they can communicate with your family and primary care provider to ensure they can support you once you’ve been discharged. They’ll also inform you about crisis intervention options, medication side effects, and the importance of taking your medication consistently.6
However, it’s good to keep in mind that the exact type of service you’ll be referred to will depend on your condition, symptoms, and insurance.
Types of Therapy After an Emergency Hospital Visit
Mental health programs from hospital referrals can vary depending on needs and circumstances. The following information explores some common interventions that bridge the gap between hospitalization and being at home:
- Psychoeducation: This involves teaching individuals and their families about mental illness. For instance, they’ll be informed about the specific condition and its consequences, prognosis, and treatment options.7 Psychoeducation can help people manage their symptoms and give them everyday skills, ultimately helping them to stay out of hospital settings.8
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): If follow-up treatment involves CBT, it has a greater chance of positive outcomes.7 CBT and mindfulness-based CBT can help reduce relapse, particularly in people with major depressive disorder. These approaches look at how automatic thoughts and behaviors can contribute to poor mental health and teach both coping and stress reduction techniques.9
- Other forms of talking therapy: Therapies like psychodynamic therapy focus on exploring past experiences and how they’ve shaped your current beliefs, patterns of relating, and feelings about yourself. If you’re referred to an outpatient program, this therapy could be more intensive, with multiple appointments per week.5
- Group therapy: Referrals from hospitals might lead to group therapy, which will typically be a small group of people with shared experiences. This group will be a chance to share experiences, feelings, and coping strategies.
- Peer support: You may also be referred to peer support programs, which can mean access to a local community group familiar with your condition. There, you may be encouraged to forge friendships or meet with peer support workers, who’ll typically have lived experience of mental health issues.8 This may feel easier than sitting with a therapist in a more formal setting, allowing you to explore yourself and learn from others in a low-pressure way.
Mental Health Recovery After Hospital Stay
After a hospital stay, you’ll likely feel a bit vulnerable. During this time, it’s important to do things that will support and nourish your mental health. Alongside any medication and following up on referrals, the following are some self-care activities you can do to boost your sense of well-being:
Leaning on Friends and Family
Having positive and supportive family relationships can prevent relapse and rehospitalization. This is because they can provide emotional support and human connection, as well as take your mind off things. Plus, having a good support system in place could allow you to eventually need less professional help once you feel more stable. Therefore, working on strengthening your connections could be invaluable to your long-term well-being.10 If you don’t currently feel like you have a strong network of people around you, it can help to join local activity groups that you’re interested in or attend community events.
Continue Taking Your Medication
Make sure you speak with your care provider about any medication issues. If you’re worried about side effects, they may be able to adjust your prescription. If you haven’t got any problems with your medication, it’s essential that you continue to take it. This can help manage the symptoms you experienced previously, preventing another hospitalization.
Develop a Routine
Once you’re out of the hospital, you may benefit from having a routine you can rely on. A stable routine may seem trivial after what you’ve been through, but it can be a good foundation or background support while you engage in treatment.
For example, research finds that daily exercise can reduce feelings of hopelessness in people who have been hospitalized following a suicide crisis. This exercise can be as simple as a brisk walk for 30 minutes a day, so don’t feel you must set an extreme goal.11
Connect to Treatment After Hospitalization
It may be up to you to follow up on recommended treatment. For the sake of your well-being, ensure that you do so and contact a case manager or primary care provider if you’re having difficulties with the referral. You deserve to access the treatment you need to get better.
Mission Connection: Get Mental Health Support After Hospitalization
Hospitalization for mental health can be an extremely destabilizing experience, both for the people going through it and their loved ones. This is why mental health referrals from hospitals matter – they help people access the support they need to recover and thrive.
If you’ve recently been hospitalized and are looking for ongoing mental health support, you may be interested in one of our services. At Mission Connection, we understand some people will need more support than what traditional therapy offers. This is why we can be extremely flexible and offer a wide range of treatments. We can also work closely with hospitals, ensuring that treatment targets the reasons behind hospitalization.
Our licensed therapists and clinicians specialize in helping you build tools that support long-lasting healing. Reach out to our team if you have any questions or concerns about the referrals from hospitals process, or are ready to start your recovery.
References
- Mental Health America. (2025). Hospitalization. Mental Health America. January 6. https://mhanational.org/treatment-options/hospitalization/
- Clinic, T. M. (2024). Understanding the levels of psychiatric care is key to treatment success. The Menninger Clinic. https://www.menningerclinic.org/news-resources/a-guide-to-understanding-the-levels-of-psychiatric-care
- Hallett, N. et al. (2024). Adverse mental health inpatient experiences: qualitative systematic review of international literature. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 161, 104923. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2024.104923
- Walter, F. et al. (2019). Multiple adverse outcomes following first discharge from inpatient psychiatric care: a national cohort study. The Lancet Psychiatry, 6(7), 582–589. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2215-0366(19)30180-4
- Ojo, S. et al. (2024). Ensuring continuity of care: effective strategies for the post-hospitalization transition of psychiatric patients in a family medicine outpatient clinic. Cureus, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.52263