Limitations on admissions Toward the back of IU Methodist’s emergency room is a five-room area called secure holding. Someone experiencing a mental health crisis in that area is still considered an ER patient. Reis said people may stay in secure holding anywhere between a few hours or several days. “It gives us the flexibility to again have somebody in a space that's designed more for safety,” Reis said. There are three ways someone can legally be admitted to a psychiatric unit in Indiana: The patient may volunteer to enter treatment, agreeing that a stay in an inpatient psychiatric unit is necessary.