Enugu has something most Nigerian cities don’t: a federal psychiatric hospital inside the city, with an emergency unit that never closes. Here is where to go, what happens when you get there and what the first visit costs.
The main psychiatric hospital in Enugu is the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital on Chime Avenue, New Haven, whose emergency unit is open 24 hours and registers every new person who comes, with or without a referral. The University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital at Ituku-Ozalla also runs a psychiatry department. Registration at the federal hospital costs ₦2,500.
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. Our guide to therapists, counsellors and psychiatrists explains the difference, and therapy or medication? covers how the two work together.
Public hospitals
Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu
Federal psychiatric hospital. Chime Avenue, New Haven, Enugu.
The hospital began in 1962 as a small outpatient unit in the old General Hospital, moved around during the civil war, and settled on its present site, a former federal government college, after 1970. The federal government took it over from Enugu State in 1995. It serves the whole South-East and beyond.
- What’s there: general adult psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, care for older adults, forensic psychiatry, community psychiatry, a substance use service with detoxification and a structured rehabilitation programme, clinical psychology (assessment and psychotherapy), occupational therapy and social work. Its child and adolescent service assesses and treats autism, ADHD, conduct problems and learning difficulties. The hospital also lists electroconvulsive therapy and EEG, and says it offers consultations by phone and video through an app called FastCare.
- Clinic days: the hospital doesn’t publish them. Your appointment card will show your consultant’s clinic day and time.
- How to get seen: everyone new to the hospital registers at the Emergency Unit, which runs 24 hours. You can come on your own, be brought by family, or come with a referral letter, which the records officer files in your case note. You pay the registration fee, get a hospital number and an appointment card, see a nurse for your vital signs, then see the doctor on duty.
- Fees: the hospital publishes its registration fee, ₦2,500 for a new person. Consultation, tests, medicines and admission are charged separately and aren’t published.
- Phone: 0816 401 7403 or 0815 652 8670. Email: contact@fnhe.gov.ng.
Last checked: 3 November 2026, from fnhe.gov.ng.
University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku-Ozalla
Federal teaching hospital. Ituku-Ozalla, along the Enugu–Port Harcourt Expressway, about 21 km from the city centre.
- What’s there: a psychiatry department alongside the hospital’s other specialties, so people whose mental health problem comes with a physical illness, or who need other specialists, can be seen in one place. The hospital’s website lists psychiatry among its services but doesn’t describe the department’s clinics.
- How to get seen: emergencies go through Accident and Emergency, which runs 24 hours. For a routine first visit, expect to register, be seen in the general outpatient clinic and be referred to psychiatry, unless you bring a referral letter. The hospital publishes a list of rights for the people it treats, including the right to clear billing and to refuse treatment, and it says plainly that emergency treatment isn’t free.
- Phone: 0703 132 2008, listed as available 24 hours. The hospital doesn’t publish a department number or fees.
Last checked: 3 November 2026, from unth.edu.ng.
Suggested read: Psychiatric Hospitals in Port Harcourt: UPTH and Beyond
ESUT Teaching Hospital, Parklane
State teaching hospital. 1 Park Avenue, GRA, Enugu. The hospital has advertised psychiatry training posts in the past, but its own website doesn’t list a psychiatry service, so call before you go: 0809 884 4229. Its emergency clinic at the Colliery annex, New Market, runs 24 hours at weekends.
Private psychiatric care
We couldn’t find a private psychiatrist-led hospital in Enugu with its own website, so none is listed here. If a private clinic is recommended to you, ask who the psychiatrist is, ask to see its current registration with the Enugu State Ministry of Health, and ask what a consultation and any admission will cost before you commit.
What happens at your first visit
At the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital the first visit runs like this, in the hospital’s own description:
- You go to the Emergency Unit, whatever the time of day, and whether or not it’s an emergency.
- A records officer takes your details, enters them on the computer, and gives you a hospital number and a folder. You pay the ₦2,500 registration fee.
- If you brought a referral letter, it goes into your case note.
- A nurse checks your blood pressure, pulse and temperature.
- The doctor on duty sees you and decides on the next steps, which may include tests, medication, therapy or admission.
- The doctor writes your next date on your appointment card and you book it at the appointment unit before you leave.
Bring any referral letter, a list of medicines taken so far, and someone who knows what has been happening, if you can. First visits can take most of a day, so go early.
If admission comes up
At the federal hospital, admission is decided by the doctor after assessment. You pay a consultation fee, your case note is retrieved and you’re seen again before the ward takes you. The hospital discharges people electronically and gives a follow-up appointment before you go home.
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 Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital runs a substance use service with detoxification, psychotherapy, relapse prevention and a structured rehabilitation programme. 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 hospital publishes one figure: ₦2,500 to register. Everything after that, consultations, tests, medicines and admission, is charged separately and isn’t published. UNTH publishes no fees. Ask at the records office for the cost of a consultation and, if needed, admission before you go.
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 Neuropsychiatric Hospital’s Emergency Unit on Chime Avenue, New Haven, runs 24 hours. UNTH’s Accident and Emergency at Ituku-Ozalla also runs 24 hours.
- 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 an Igbo-speaking therapist or any therapist online from anywhere in Enugu State. If psychosis is part of the picture, read about schizophrenia. For other cities, see our guides to psychiatric hospitals in Lagos, in Abuja and in Port Harcourt, our piece on what to expect at Yaba Left, and the national list of psychiatric hospitals in Nigeria.
Suggested read: Psychiatric Hospitals in Benin City: Where to Get Help
Addresses and phone numbers were taken from each hospital’s own website. Last checked by phone: [DATE: fill in before publishing]. Numbers change, so call before you travel.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the psychiatric hospital in Enugu?
The Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital is on Chime Avenue, New Haven, Enugu. UNTH’s psychiatry department is at the hospital’s permanent site in Ituku-Ozalla, on the Enugu–Port Harcourt Expressway.
Can I go to the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Enugu without a referral?
Yes. Everyone new to the hospital registers at the Emergency Unit, which runs 24 hours, and it takes people who come on their own or are brought by family. A referral letter is filed if you have one, but you don’t need one.
How much does it cost to register at the neuropsychiatric hospital in Enugu?
The hospital says a new person pays ₦2,500 to register. Consultation, tests, medicines and admission are charged on top and aren’t published, so ask at the records office.
Does the Enugu psychiatric hospital treat children?
Yes. It has a child and adolescent psychiatry service that assesses and treats autism, ADHD, conduct problems and learning difficulties, alongside its adult services.
Is there drug rehab in Enugu?
The Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital runs a substance use service with detoxification and a structured rehabilitation programme. Start with an assessment at the Emergency Unit.
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.
