Getting someone psychiatric help depends on how urgent the situation is. If the person is in immediate danger of hurting themselves or someone else, call 911. If the crisis is serious but not life-threatening, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which connects you with trained crisis counselors 24/7. For everything below that threshold, you have several paths, and the right one depends on whether the person is willing to accept help.
Recognizing When It’s an Emergency
Certain behaviors signal that someone needs psychiatric evaluation right away, not in a few days or weeks. These include suicide attempts or active suicidal statements, deliberate self-harm, severe agitation or aggression aimed at hurting others, and psychosis (hallucinations, delusions, or a sudden break from reality). Sudden confusion with a rapid change in mental state, sometimes caused by an underlying medical condition, also qualifies.
The key question is whether the person poses a serious risk of harm to themselves or others, or whether they’ve lost the capacity to meet their own basic needs. If either is true, this is an emergency. Don’t wait for a scheduled appointment. Go to the nearest emergency room or call 911.
What Happens in the Emergency Room
When someone arrives at an ER with a psychiatric crisis, the first priority is ruling out medical causes. A history and physical exam alone catches about 94% of medical abnormalities that mimic psychiatric symptoms. Depending on the situation, doctors may also run blood work, a urine drug screen, check alcohol levels, or order imaging. This process, sometimes called “medical clearance,” isn’t standardized. It’s tailored to each patient based on their symptoms, vital signs, and history.
Once medical causes are addressed, the person is evaluated by a mental health professional who determines the appropriate next step: inpatient admission, transfer to a psychiatric facility, or discharge with outpatient follow-up. If the person arrived intoxicated or in a temporary psychotic state, they may need to be re-evaluated once those effects wear off. ER psychiatric evaluations can take hours, sometimes longer if a bed at an inpatient facility isn’t immediately available.
Getting Help When the Person Is Willing
If your loved one recognizes they need help and agrees to it, the process is much simpler. Start by contacting their primary care doctor, who can provide an initial assessment and referral. You can also search for a psychiatrist directly through the American Psychiatric Association’s online locator at finder.psychiatry.org, which lets you filter by zip code and distance. Keep in mind that not every psychiatrist appears in this database, so you may also want to check your insurance provider’s directory or call local mental health clinics.
Offer to help with the logistics that often become barriers: making the phone call, filling out intake paperwork, driving to the appointment, sitting in the waiting room. For many people in a mental health crisis, these small tasks feel overwhelming. Your practical support can be the difference between someone getting care and someone falling through the cracks.
Getting Help When the Person Refuses
This is the harder situation, and it’s probably why many people search this question. When someone clearly needs psychiatric help but won’t accept it voluntarily, your options depend on the level of danger.
If the danger is imminent, call 911. Law enforcement can initiate an emergency psychiatric hold. The legal standard in most states follows the same basic framework: there must be evidence that the person has a mental illness and, as a result, is substantially likely to cause serious physical harm to themselves or others in the near future, or to suffer serious harm because they can’t meet their own basic needs. The specific procedures and timelines vary by state, but the threshold is consistent: imminent danger or grave inability to care for oneself.
If the situation is serious but not seconds-from-harm urgent, many states allow you to file a petition for an emergency psychiatric evaluation through the courts. In Maryland, for example, you obtain a Petition for Emergency Evaluation from the court clerk’s office or online, fill it out completely, file it during court hours, and attend a hearing the same day. The judge can order an evaluation if there’s probable cause to believe the person shows symptoms of a mental disorder and presents a danger to themselves or others. The person you’re petitioning about does not need to be present at the hearing. Filing a fraudulent petition carries criminal and civil penalties, so accuracy matters.
Your state will have its own version of this process. Search for “emergency psychiatric petition” plus your state name, or call your county’s mental health crisis line to ask about local procedures.
Mobile Crisis Teams as an Alternative to Police
Many communities now have mobile crisis intervention teams that respond to mental health emergencies instead of, or alongside, police. These teams typically consist of at least two providers, which may include a licensed mental health professional and a peer support specialist. National best practice calls for these teams to respond without law enforcement unless there’s a specific safety concern.
In areas where these services are available, the expected response time is within 60 minutes in urban areas and within 120 minutes in rural areas. Teams provide a face-to-face crisis assessment on site, whether that’s at someone’s home, school, workplace, or on the street, followed by crisis planning and a follow-up check-in. Many of these services operate 24/7.
To find out whether mobile crisis teams operate in your area, call 988 and ask, or contact your county behavioral health department. In a situation where someone is in crisis but not violent, a mobile crisis team can often de-escalate more effectively than a police response.
Understanding the Levels of Psychiatric Care
Psychiatric help isn’t all-or-nothing. There’s a spectrum of care, and knowing what exists helps you advocate for the right fit.
- Inpatient hospitalization is the most intensive level. The person stays at a psychiatric facility around the clock, typically for stabilization during an acute crisis. Stays often last several days to a couple of weeks.
- Partial hospitalization programs (PHPs) involve attending a structured treatment program 5 to 7 days a week for several hours each day, then going home at night. These work well as a step down from inpatient care or for people who need more support than a weekly appointment but don’t require 24-hour supervision.
- Intensive outpatient programs (IOPs) require attendance multiple times a week for several hours, typically over 8 to 12 weeks. They’re less intensive than PHPs and allow people to maintain some of their regular routine.
- Standard outpatient care means regular appointments with a psychiatrist, therapist, or both, usually weekly or biweekly.
The right level depends on how severe the symptoms are and how much structure the person needs to stay safe. A clinician will recommend a level of care after evaluation, but it helps to understand these options so you can ask informed questions.
What You Can and Can’t Be Told
If your loved one is admitted for psychiatric care, you may find yourself shut out of information. Federal privacy law generally requires the patient’s consent before providers share details about their condition or treatment. But there are important exceptions.
When a patient is incapacitated, whether from temporary psychosis, substance use, or another condition that prevents them from meaningfully agreeing or objecting, a provider can share information with family members if the provider judges it to be in the patient’s best interests. This includes discussing the patient’s condition and treatment with a family member who is involved in their care.
Even when a patient has capacity and objects to information being shared, providers can still disclose information if they believe in good faith that the patient poses a serious and imminent threat to themselves or others. In that case, a hospital can share necessary information with anyone who is in a position to help prevent or lessen that threat, including family, friends, and caregivers, without the patient’s agreement.
If you’re being stonewalled by a facility and believe your loved one is in danger, calmly explain what you’ve observed and why you believe there’s a safety risk. You can also share information with the treatment team even if they can’t share back. Telling them about recent behavior, medication history, or substance use can be critical for accurate diagnosis and treatment.