Calabar has Nigeria’s oldest psychiatric hospital, and it’s one of the very few that tells you what a visit costs before you arrive. Here is where to go in Calabar, what happens on a first visit, and what the hospital says you’ll pay.
The main psychiatric hospital in Calabar is the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital at 123 Calabar Road, Calabar South, where routine visits start at the outpatient clinic and the psychiatric emergency service runs 24 hours. The hospital publishes its fees: a consultation is ₦2,000 and a month’s admission is ₦193,000, as of 1 January 2026. The University of Calabar Teaching Hospital also runs a psychiatry department.
Psychiatrist, psychologist or therapist: who do you need?
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specialises in mental health. Psychiatrists can diagnose, prescribe medication, order tests and admit someone to hospital. Psychologists, counsellors and therapists provide talking therapy and don’t prescribe.
See a psychiatrist, usually at a hospital, when:
- Someone is hearing or seeing things others don’t, or holds fixed beliefs that aren’t true, such as being poisoned or followed.
- Someone is unusually elated, sleepless and reckless for days, or the reverse: so low they can’t eat, work or get out of bed.
- There are thoughts of suicide with a plan.
- Someone needs to come off alcohol, tramadol, codeine or sedatives, which can need medical supervision.
- Someone may need medication, or their current medication needs reviewing.
- An older relative is becoming confused or forgetful.
For most other problems, such as anxiety, low mood, grief, stress or relationship trouble, a therapist is a good place to start, and many people see both. The Calabar hospital says the same thing on its own site: it helps with stress, burnout, anxiety and depression as well as severe mental illness, and you can come early rather than waiting for things to get worse. Our guide to therapists, counsellors and psychiatrists explains the difference, and therapy or medication? covers how the two work together.
Public hospitals
Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Calabar
Federal psychiatric hospital. 123 Calabar Road, Calabar South.
The hospital dates its history to 1903, when it began as an asylum. It became the Calabar Mental Hospital in 1952 and took its present name when the federal government took it over in 1995. It says it receives people from Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Abia, Imo, Rivers and Bayelsa states, and from Cameroon, as well as Cross River.
- What’s there: eight consultant teams, which the hospital calls firms: community psychiatry, general adult psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, substance use, psychiatry for older adults, forensic psychiatry, consultation-liaison psychiatry (for people with physical illness) and emergency psychiatry. Around them sit clinical psychology (assessment, personality testing, individual and group psychotherapy), medical social work (including marital and family counselling), occupational therapy with vocational skills such as hairdressing, barbing and textile work, drama and arts therapy, a drug rehabilitation programme and an intensive care unit. The laboratory and community pharmacy are open to the public. The hospital also runs X-ray, ECG, EEG, drug testing and electroconvulsive therapy for selected conditions.
- Wards: acute wards for women and men, a drug ward, a child and adolescent ward and a long-stay ward. There is an amenity option for more private admission.
- Clinic days: the hospital doesn’t publish them. Its records team directs you to the right clinic on your first visit.
- How to get seen: for a routine assessment, come to the outpatient clinic at the main hospital. For an emergency, the psychiatric emergency service runs 24 hours, including nights and weekends. Coming for a consultation doesn’t mean you’ll be admitted; the hospital says most people are treated as outpatients, and admission is recommended only when the assessment shows it’s needed.
- Contact: the hospital doesn’t publish a phone number. Email contact@fnphcalabar.gov.ng or enquiries@fnphcalabar.gov.ng, or go in person.
Last checked: 3 November 2026, from fnphcalabar.gov.ng.
University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH)
Federal teaching hospital. UNICAL Hotel Road, off Airport Road, Calabar South.
- What’s there: a psychiatry department, established in 1972, that treats mood disorders, psychotic disorders, substance use problems, and child and adolescent mental health, with psychiatrists, psychologists and psychiatric nurses. Because it sits inside a general teaching hospital, it suits people whose mental health problem comes with a physical illness.
- Clinic days: not published. The department’s web page has a clinic-days section, but it’s empty.
- How to get seen: emergencies go to Accident and Emergency, which runs 24 hours. For a routine visit you can request an appointment through the hospital’s website or call. The hospital has an NHIA desk.
- Phone: Accident and Emergency 0802 431 0194. General enquiries (Corporate Affairs) 0806 672 2346. SERVICOM complaints line 0802 596 6923 (8am to 4pm) or 0802 123 6801 (24 hours). Email info@ucthcalabar.gov.ng. Fees aren’t published.
Last checked: 3 November 2026, from ucthcalabar.gov.ng.
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Private psychiatric care
We couldn’t find a private psychiatrist-led hospital in Calabar with its own website, so none is listed here. If one is recommended to you, ask who the psychiatrist is, ask to see its current registration with the Cross River State Ministry of Health, and ask what a consultation and any admission will cost before you commit.
What happens at your first visit
The Calabar hospital describes its own process:
- Go to the outpatient clinic at 123 Calabar Road. The records team registers you and sends you to the right clinic.
- You pay the consultation fee. If you already have a folder, there’s a separate charge to trace it.
- A clinician asks about your concerns, symptoms, medical history, any previous treatment and how the problem affects your daily life.
- The clinician explains the recommended treatment and a follow-up plan. That may be outpatient care, medication, psychological therapy, or, if needed, admission.
- If you’re continuing treatment that started elsewhere, bring your records, prescriptions and test results, and the clinician reviews how to carry on.
What to bring: previous medical reports and test results, referral letters, the medicines you currently take, your hospital card if you have one, and a trusted relative if you want support. Money for the consultation and any tests, plus water, a snack and a charged phone.
If admission comes up
Admission at the Calabar hospital starts with a clinical assessment, and the clinician explains the arrangements if it’s needed. The hospital says families don’t have to stay with the person, because accommodation, feeding and nursing care are provided. Known relatives can visit under nursing supervision, and the ward team gives you the visiting times. Your family’s point of contact for updates is the social worker assigned to the person’s case; ask the managing team for the social worker’s number. Follow-up care continues at the outpatient clinic after discharge.
Nigeria’s National Mental Health Act protects people in hospital:
- Treatment needs your informed, written consent, after the options, risks and costs have been explained.
- If you were admitted voluntarily and ask to leave, the hospital must let you go within 24 hours, unless you meet the Act’s strict conditions for involuntary care.
- Admission against someone’s will is allowed only in narrow circumstances, such as a serious likelihood of imminent harm, and it can be appealed to the national Mental Health Assessment Committee.
- People have the right to visitors in private, though visits can be supervised if there’s a risk of violence.
- Nobody may be chained or shackled, anywhere.
Drug and alcohol help
The Calabar hospital runs a Drug Rehabilitation Programme for alcohol, cannabis, tramadol and other substances. Entry starts with an assessment: come to the hospital and tell the clinical team you’re seeking drug rehabilitation. The hospital says severe alcohol withdrawal (seizures, hallucinations or severe shaking after cutting down or stopping) needs urgent care at the nearest emergency department, not a clinic appointment, and that someone who has relapsed can come back for a review. UCTH’s psychiatry department also treats substance use problems.
Stopping alcohol or sedatives suddenly can be dangerous, and coming off opioid painkillers such as tramadol is safer with medical support, so start with a doctor. Our guide to choosing a rehab centre in Nigeria explains what good treatment looks like, and our page on addiction covers the options.
What it costs
The Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Calabar is unusual: it publishes its main fees. These are the figures it gives as in force from 1 January 2026. Confirm them with the hospital before you pay, because they can change.
| Item | Published fee |
|---|---|
| Consultation | ₦2,000 |
| Folder tracing (if you already have a folder) | ₦1,000 |
| One month’s full admission | ₦193,000 |
| One month’s amenity admission (more private) | ₦238,000 |
| Drug rehabilitation programme, first month (drug-use-only cases, on top of admission) | ₦100,000 |
| Drug rehabilitation programme, each later month | ₦50,000 |
The admission fee covers accommodation, feeding and specified charges for medicines, consumables, investigations and ward items for one month. Extra procedures or investigations the clinician orders are charged separately, and if admission runs past a month the hospital asks the family for a top-up. Investigations such as blood tests, X-rays and EEG are priced per test; the unit tells you the fee before the test.
UCTH doesn’t publish its fees. Ask at the records office for the cost of registration, a consultation and, if needed, admission.
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If you’re on NHIA, the standard benefit package includes consultations with specialists, psychiatrists among them. Ward stays are capped at 21 days a year and need a referral, and higher-level services need your HMO’s approval. Private HMO plans vary, and many limit mental health care. Ask your HMO and the hospital’s NHIA desk before you rely on cover. Our guide to whether your HMO covers therapy shows what to ask.
If it’s an emergency now
- If someone is in immediate danger, call 112.
- Psychiatric emergencies: the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital’s emergency service at 123 Calabar Road runs 24 hours, including nights and weekends. UCTH’s Accident and Emergency on UNICAL Hotel Road also runs 24 hours: 0802 431 0194. For an overdose, the Calabar hospital says to get emergency medical care at once, even if the person seems well, and not to try to make them vomit.
- To talk to someone now: Safe Place Nigeria on 0800 800 2000 is toll-free and answered 24 hours a day. Our helplines page lists other Nigerian crisis lines.
Where Mytherapist.ng fits
Our therapists provide talking therapy. They don’t prescribe medication or admit anyone to hospital. If you need a psychiatrist, start with one of the hospitals above. Therapy can run alongside psychiatric treatment, and you can find a therapist online from anywhere in Cross River State, including therapists who work with psychosis. If psychosis is part of the picture, read about schizophrenia. For other cities, see our guides to psychiatric hospitals in Lagos, in Abuja, in Port Harcourt and in Enugu, our piece on what to expect at Yaba Left, and the national list of psychiatric hospitals in Nigeria.
Addresses, phone numbers and fees were taken from each hospital’s own website. Last checked by phone or email: [DATE: fill in before publishing]. Numbers and fees change, so confirm before you travel or pay.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the psychiatric hospital in Calabar?
The Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital is at 123 Calabar Road, Calabar South. UCTH’s psychiatry department is at the teaching hospital on UNICAL Hotel Road, off Airport Road, also in Calabar South.
How much does the Calabar psychiatric hospital charge?
The hospital publishes its fees as of 1 January 2026: ₦2,000 for a consultation, ₦1,000 to trace an existing folder, ₦193,000 for a month’s full admission and ₦238,000 for amenity admission. Its drug rehabilitation programme costs an extra ₦100,000 for the first month and ₦50,000 a month after that. Confirm before you pay.
Can I go to the Calabar psychiatric hospital without a referral?
Yes. Routine assessments start at the outpatient clinic, and the emergency service runs 24 hours. Bring any referral letter or previous records if you have them, but you don’t need them.
What is the phone number of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Calabar?
The hospital doesn’t publish a phone number on its website. It gives two email addresses, contact@fnphcalabar.gov.ng and enquiries@fnphcalabar.gov.ng, or you can go in person to 123 Calabar Road.
Is there drug rehab in Calabar?
Yes. The Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital runs a Drug Rehabilitation Programme for alcohol, cannabis, tramadol and other substances, with published fees. Entry starts with an assessment at the hospital.
This article is awaiting clinical review. It’s based on published research and health guidelines, and we’ll update it once a clinician has reviewed it.
