mental hospital
/'mentlhoum/ Cách viết khác : (mental_hospital) /'mentl'hɔspitl/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun: A specialized medical institution for the care and treatment of people with severe mental illnesses or psychiatric disorders.
Usage
A "mental hospital" is a formal and somewhat dated term for a residential facility providing psychiatric treatment. It is used to describe the institution itself. - The novelist spent a year in a mental hospital. - New treatments have reduced the need for long-term stays in mental hospitals.
Advanced Usage
- Historical/Institutional Context: The term often carries historical connotations, referring to large, often isolated, state-run institutions common in the past. Modern equivalents are more likely to be called psychiatric hospitals or acute care units.
- Figurative Use: Sometimes used metaphorically to describe a chaotic or irrational situation.
- After the merger, the office was like a mental hospital.
Variants and Related Words
- Psychiatric hospital: The more modern and clinical term.
- Asylum: An older term, now largely historical, emphasizing refuge but often with negative connotations.
- Institution: A broad term that can include mental hospitals.
- Sanatorium (archaic): Historically used for some facilities treating mental health.
Synonyms
- Psychiatric hospital
- Psychiatric ward (specifically a unit within a general hospital)
- Psychiatric institution
- (Informal) Funny farm, loony bin (Note: These are highly informal and can be offensive)
Related Phrases
- To be committed to a mental hospital: The formal legal process of admitting someone for involuntary treatment.
- He was committed to a mental hospital by court order.
Idioms
No common idioms are directly formed with the phrase "mental hospital." It may appear in descriptive or metaphorical expressions, as shown in the advanced usage.
Noun
- a hospital for mentally incompetent or unbalanced person