ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors will describe one day of rounds on a first-episode inpatient unit. Four different patients, each at a different phase of their hospitalization and their first episode, will be discussed in order to illustrate the dynamic and confusing nature of this phase of the illness, for patients and family alike. The authors also use the interactions between the patients and the other staff on the unit to further describe this phase of the illness, with an emphasis on the importance of medications, psychoeducation, acute psychosis, stigma, the risk of relapse, and the difference between first-episode and chronic illness.
