• Posted May 6, 2026

First Psych Ward Stay Signals Long-Term Mental Health Struggles For Nearly All Patients

A first-time psychiatric admission usually marks the beginning of a long-term struggle with mental illness, a new study says.

About 95% of patients return to mental health services in one way or another within two decades of their first admission to a psych ward, researchers found.

These patients either needed to be readmitted to the hospital later, or continued in long-term treatment, results show.

“We were surprised by how few people never returned to psychiatry after a first admission,” lead researcher Julie Nordgaard, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, said in a news release.

“This suggests that admission to a psychiatric ward is in itself a serious warning sign, and that we should make an extra effort for this group of patients,” Nordgaard said.

For the new study, researchers followed more than 150 people younger than 40 for two decades after their first admission to a general psychiatric hospital serving the Copenhagen area.

All the patients underwent thorough assessments by experienced psychiatrists during that first admission, with interviews lasting up to five hours.

During the two-decade follow-up period, 38% of patients received a diagnosis of schizophrenia; 35% schizotypy; 14% depression; 25% personality disorder; 11% bipolar disorder; and 6% substance use disorder.

Results showed that people with schizophrenia-type disorders in particular tended to have them long-term, with 80% receiving the same diagnosis during the two decades of follow-up.

“This shows that when we have time to assess patients thoroughly the first time, we can in many cases make accurate diagnoses that remain valid over time. This is important, because the diagnosis determines the treatment,” senior researcher Mads Gram Henriksen, a professor in philosophy and psychiatry at the University of Copenhagen, said in a news release.

Researchers also found that these patients tended to have more difficult lives following their psychiatric admission.

Only 40% got a college degree, compared to 53% of the general population. Similarly, 43% had children, compared to more than 80% of the public.

“Having children or completing a higher education is not a goal on its own," Nordgaard said. "But when we follow this group over many years, we see that their life trajectories differ markedly from those of the general population. This says something about the far-reaching consequences mental illness can have on people’s lives.”

Based on these results, a first psychiatric admission should be seen as an opportunity to provide stronger and more targeted support to troubled young people, researchers concluded.

“If we support patients better at the outset, we may be able to prevent some of the social challenges we otherwise see," Nordgaard said. "Many end up dropping out of education or losing their networks – not because they lack motivation, but because their illness makes it difficult to stay on track.” The study appears in the journal European Psychiatry.

More information

The American Psychiatric Association explains myths and facts about mental health.

SOURCES: University of Copenhagen, news release, May 4, 2026; European Psychiatry, Feb. 27, 2026