What's a typical day like? How long would you get for a suicide attempt? Do you talk to other patients or are you isolated?
In the small psych hospital I do consulting work for, patients are only isolated if they are psychotic and out of control, or, we isolate a few if they pose an infectious risk to other patients. For a suicide attempt it's pretty much like being admitted to a regular hospital. Most suicide patients who are stopped from acting do not make every effort to defeat the protection they are afforded in the hospital. In a decade we had one patient I know of who committed suicide after discharge. The vast majority of patients admitted for suicide attempts do not immediately try again once they've failed or an intervention has occurred. As for what is a day like, they have medical evaluations, they get meds, there is group therapy, free time, there is a structured schedule as well as a team of professionals that are part of the intervention.
At the hospital I was at, new arrivals are kept in one area for 1-3 days, mainly for evaluation. Other than violent behavior, that's the closest anyone came to isolation. Clients were in wards, segregated by sex, but within the same building. The buildings were locked from 9PM until 7AM, but we could still go to the "day room" to watch TV or read or whatever, as long as we kept it quiet. The showers were open for two hours each morning; meals were served in a main cafeteria, and you usually had 2-3 choices for entree. You were assigned some group therapies, and had a choice of others. Depending on individual cases, you saw the psychologist either daily or weekly, and the psychiatrist less frequently for medication monitoring. There were also trips to concerts and such. Otherwise, your time was your own. Suicide attempts would get a mandatory 72-hour-hold, either at a hospital with psychiatric facilities or a "crisis center". If they were still considered at risk, they could face a civil commitment and be transferred to psychiatric facility for an indefinite length of time. Or they could request a voluntary commitment (which would allow them to leave any time they wished).
I think it sort of depends which country you're in and also a little with which hospital you're in as well. I'm in England and I work in a private hospital that deals with mental health. Shadowwalker mentioned the mandatory 72 hour hold which is the same here. I would assume if the person had attempted suicide unless something drastically changed they would probably want to keep them in hospital. An individual who had attempted suicide may be put under section. A section 2 is for 28 days including the first 72 hours, an application of which can be made by a relative or a mental health care professional which must be approved by a doctor. A section 3 can be up to 6 months and can also be reviewed after this point. It must be necessary for the patient to have a mental health illness that requires such a stay. If the patient presents severe depression which has been an ongoing issue with no signs of willingness to get better a section 3 would probably be considered. Now, going by how it is in the hospital I work in generally if a patient is under section and at risk to themselves they will be on a 1:1. This means that they must have a member of staff (ie. healthcare assistant or nurse) with them at all times (24/7 - in the bath, shower, toilet etc) as generally patients on a 1:1 basis are at great risk to themselves. I work at a fairly low - medium secure unit which means doors aren't locked but of course if a patient is on a 1:1 and tries to abscond it is likely they will be found and brought back again. At the hospital I work in, it is quite important for recovery that patients talk to one another unless they are at risk to others (in which case they would soon be transferred). If you want to ask more (ie. what they can and can't have with them at the hospital or what it's like to be on a 1:1) I'm happy to answer! There are quite a few small details that took me a while to get used to (such as patients can't have deodrant with them, they must be kept at the nurse's station due to working on a work with addictions and the aerosol may be used as a drug).
I had a mental break down in late 2010 as a result of a job loss and impending homelessness. Basically, I wound up in the emergency room and the psychiatric clinician decided I should be in the hospital for a couple days. The ward I was on wasn't bad. When I hear other people's stories I consider myself very fortunate to have wound up in this particular hospital. There was a fridge in the common area that you pretty much had the run of. Every morning you had to make your choices for breakfast, lunch and dinner but the sky was pretty much the limit unless you had some kind of medical restriction. The staff were generally friendly and strangely enough, the doctor I was assigned to was Doyle. I had a bit of good natured fun at his expense asking if his first name was Arthur, to which he replied, "Well, he was a doctor too."
I know at our psychiatric hospital they don't isolate people unless they pose a danger to someone else and they can be put on suicide watch which means someone goes and checks on you for five minutes. You get counseling sessions daily etc.
