TeenHelp - Going to Inpatient

I'm sorry to hear that your friend is sick! I truly hope you are able to get to inpatient and that it is a good, helpful experience for you.

Note that my experience doesn't necessarily reflect every experience. I was there for ten days.

The first two days I didn't have my own clothes because they examine them to make sure they're appropriate and wash them. If you're bringing your own clothes, make sure you don't bring anything with strings like a hoodie, and if you bring something with shoelaces expect the shoelaces to be taken away. They gave us pants and a gown top thing to wear while we waited for our clothes to be ready.
At inpatient, they first took my vitals early in the morning, around 6 or 7, and then woke you up for meds around 8. Breakfast would come at around 8:30.
The showers may either be on censors or have it where you have to push a button every ten seconds because the water turns off. Mine was the latter, but I had a friend say they had a censor type shower on the psych unit they were on. On my unit they gave you a tiny bit of shampoo and body wash to use, so you didn't have to bring your own, but I'd ask about this. They nay let you bring your own if they check it over first, but I'm not sure.
I had two groups, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. They lasted about 45 minutes to an hour each. The first group seemed to be more of a check-in group and the second group is where we learned skills from a recovery support specialist.
Besides groups we were kind of left to do our own thing. They like to see you out of your room and interacting with the environment and other people there, so try and do that. Our group room had a TV, puzzles, coloring, and a few games.
You'll likely meet with a psychiatrist/psychiatric APRN who will adjust your meds while you are there to get you more stable. Try to note any side effects and what is working for you.