Discharge Packet
The bridge between the hospital and home, for the highest-risk 72 hours and the weeks after: a tear-off fridge card, a first-week checklist, a safety plan worksheet, a medication FAQ, CMHC contacts, and a page for the family member receiving someone home. Photocopy freely.
My first week home
Full guide: meridiannh.org/guides/
after-hospitalization
My follow-up appointment — date, time, and with whom:
Their phone number:
My medications:
Medication — when I take it:
Medication — when I take it:
Medication — when I take it:
If I need help before my appointment:
My CMHC and its phone number:
NH Rapid Response: 833-710-6477 (24/7, call or text) · 988Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text)
My support person — name and phone:
✂ Cut along the dashed border and put this where you’ll see it every morning — the fridge, the bathroom mirror, the bedside table.
Welcome home. The hardest part is behind you, but the first week takes attention. This packet has what you need: a checklist for the first days, a safety plan, answers to the medication questions everyone has, and a page for the person helping you come home.
First-week survival checklist
Within 24 hours
- Fill your prescriptions.If the pharmacy is closed, call ahead so they’re ready in the morning. If cost is a barrier, tell the pharmacist — there may be a discount program, or your CMHC may be able to help.
- Put the fridge card somewhere you’ll see it every morning.
- Tell one person you trust that you’re home. You don’t have to explain everything — just let someone know.
- Eat a real meal. Drink water. Take a shower if you can.
- Make your space safer. Remove or lock up anything that could be used for self-harm (medications, firearms, sharp objects), and ask your support person to help. This is not a sign of weakness — it is the number-one thing that saves lives after discharge.
Within the first week
- Go to your follow-up appointment.If you can’t make it, call to reschedule — don’t just skip it. The first outpatient visit after discharge is the most important appointment you’ll have this year. Aim for within 7 days.
- Take your medications every day — even if you feel better, even if you feel nothing. Side effects are real: tell your provider, but don’t stop on your own.
- Go outside at least once a day, even if it’s just to the mailbox.
- Notice your warning signs (they’re on your safety plan). If they show up, call your provider or 988 before it becomes a crisis.
- Keep your safety plan where you can reach it. If you don’t have one, the next page is a worksheet — fill it in today.
Within the first month
- Go to all scheduled appointments — therapy, psychiatry, primary care.
- Tell your provider if the medications aren’t working or the side effects are too much. They can adjust.
- Consider a peer support connection — people who’ve been through their own mental health journey. Your CMHC can connect you.
- Be patient with yourself. Recovery is not a straight line. A hard day is not a failure.
My safety plan
Interactive version:
meridiannh.org/tools/client/safety-plan
Six steps, in your own words. Fill it in while things are calm. Start at step 1 whenever your warning signs show up — you don’t have to wait for an emergency.
1. My warning signs — thoughts, feelings, images, moods, or situations that tell me a crisis may be starting:
2. Internal coping — things I can do on my own to take my mind off problems (walk, music, shower, breathing):
3. People and social settings that provide distraction (name and phone, or a place that helps):
4. People I can ask for help (name and phone):
5. Professionals or agencies I can contact during a crisis:988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text) · NH Rapid Response 833-710-6477 (24/7, mobile crisis)
My CMHC / provider and their number:
6. Making my environment safe — what to remove or lock up, and who can hold things for me:
Medication questions everyone asks
Do I really have to keep taking these?
Yes — even if you feel fine. Feeling fine is often the medication working. Stopping suddenly can cause withdrawal symptoms or bring the crisis back. If you want to stop, say so at your appointment and make a plan with your prescriber.
What if I can't afford them?
Tell your pharmacist — there may be discount programs or manufacturer coupons. Ask your CMHC about patient assistance. If you don’t have insurance, apply for NH Medicaid (meridiannh.org/guides/apply-for-medicaid) or call 211 for help.
What if the side effects are bad?
Call your prescriber — don’t stop on your own; some medications need to be tapered slowly. Common side effects (drowsiness, dry mouth, appetite changes) often improve over the first few weeks. Side effects that feel dangerous are worth a call today.
What if I miss a dose?
Take it as soon as you remember, unless it’s almost time for the next one. Don’t double up. A daily phone alarm is the simplest fix.
Can I drink alcohol with these?
Ask your prescriber. Many psychiatric medications interact dangerously with alcohol — especially in the first weeks while doses are new. The honest answer is usually no.
What about cannabis / THC?
Cannabis can interfere with psychiatric medications and can worsen some conditions, especially psychosis and anxiety. Tell your prescriber what you use — they’re there to help, not to judge.
Your community mental health center
New Hampshire has 10 Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs), and one of them covers your town. They provide follow-up care after hospitalization regardless of your ability to pay. Find yours at meridiannh.org/map — or call the emergency line for your region below.
CMHC emergency lines by region
Every region: 24/7 mobile crisis through NH Rapid Response, 833-710-6477.
What to expect at your first outpatient visit
You’ll meet with a therapist or case manager. They’ll review your discharge plan and set goals with you. It may feel anticlimactic after the intensity of the hospital — that’s normal. Go anyway. The second and third appointments are where the real work starts.
More help
For the family member — the landing pad
You’re the person receiving someone home. Your job is smaller than you think — and more important than anyone has told you.
What to expect
They may sleep a lot, be irritable, seem flat, or seem completely fine. All of these are normal adjustment. Keep the environment calm and low-pressure: familiar food, no big visitors, no interrogation. Some people want to talk; some want to watch television and not be spoken to. Follow their lead.
What actually helps
- Make sure medications get filled and taken — gaps in medication are the most fixable risk of the first week.
- Be the appointment keeper. Offer to drive, offer to sit in the waiting room, offer to make the call.
- Help make the home safer — if lethal means were discussed at the hospital (firearms, stockpiled medication), make sure those steps actually happened.
- Keep your own routines. Sleeping, working, and seeing your friends is not abandonment — it’s how you last.
When to call for help
Normal adjustment (hard but expected): sadness, irritability, fatigue, poor sleep, withdrawal, not wanting to talk about the hospitalization.
Call NH Rapid Response (833-710-6477) or go to the emergency department if you see: talk of suicide or self-harm returning, giving away belongings, sudden calm after severe distress, stockpiling or hiding medication, refusal to take medication plus worsening symptoms, a break from reality (hearing or seeing things), or anything that makes you afraid for their safety. When you are unsure, call.The clinicians on that line will help you sort out “adjustment or emergency” — that is their job, and the line is for family members too.
Take care of yourself
The full guide — including the first month, caregiver fatigue, and setting boundaries without guilt — is at meridiannh.org/guides/after-hospitalization.