Psychiatric Hospitals and Dangerous Patients?

Question by Arisa: Psychiatric Hospitals and Dangerous Patients?
I am curious.

Is there a specific term given to patients that pose a threat to themselves and others? Do the doctors refer to them as something such as ‘high risk’ or some other term like that? Do they treat them like any other patient? And are they put in an entirely different area of the hospital/asylum? Do they still use straight jackets or is that more of an old method of restraint? And is the world asylum even used for a psychiatric hospital now or is it known more as an institution?

I was just curious! Thank you!

Best answer:

Answer by Ron971
Yes, “high risk” is a term often used to describe a client who is a threat to harm themselves or others. Individuals who are behaving in ways that pose a threat to themselves or others by making specific statements or taking specific actions may be involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric facility for 72 hours for observation and assessment upon the report of a law enforcement officer, a relative or a mental health professional. While in a “72 hour hold”, they are kept in isolation in a secure part of a facility and observed and examined by mental health staff to assess the need for medication and further admission to inpatient care or outpatient follow-up.

Actual physical restraint by staff or mechanical restraints such as tie-downs on their bed is employed as a last resort and must be reviewed by an independent authority or supervisor to verify necessity and continuance. While in restraints, the patient must be under constant surveillance and physically checked regarding their health and well-being by staff every 15 minutes. Eventually, the professional who ordered the isolation and/or restraint must appear before a magistrate or mental health court to justify it. Straight jackets, by the way, are rarely used since they require some degree of cooperation from the patient to apply. An intramuscular injection of a good dose of Valium works better…and is usually faster. The usual term for what used to be called an asylum is “psychiatric facility” or “mental health facility”.

By the way, the term “insane” or “insanity” is strictly a legal term and is really never used by mental health professionals in any formal way. One is adjudicated insane at a sanity hearing before a judge which then leads, if determined to be insane, to limits to the degree to which the person is held responsible for their conduct. If it can be shown that one is unable to distinguish right from wrong and conform their behavior to the right due to medical condition or mental defect, they are adjudicated to be “insane” under the law. This does not mean the person gets to walk scott-free, it means that they may be ordered to involuntary psychiatric treatment and confinement in a facility for so long as they remain insane. Once their mental condition improves to the point of no longer being insane, they are transferred to a regular jail or prison to serve out their sentence.

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