Georgia
Related: About this forumOverwhelmed In The ER: Georgia's Mental Health Crisis
A lot of us have probably been to the hospital emergency room: For a broken bone, an asthma attack, the flu. Chances are, it wasnt the best experience. Long wait times in crowded lobbies. Doctors shuffling back and forth through the hallway. Cold, sterile rooms.
But that experience can be much worse if you step into the ER with a mental health emergency. And yet, Georgias emergency rooms are where patients often go during a mental health crisis and at times, patients can be stuck there for days waiting for a space at a psychiatric facility to open up.
I Got Isolated In A Room. It Was Scary.
Ten years ago, Catherine Knight, a divorce attorney, was on her way to represent a client in court for an important trial. She was driving on Interstate 285 when suddenly she started to see and hear things she said she knew other people couldnt see or hear. She pulled over to the side of the freeway.
It wasnt scary, but it was strange, Knight said. It was like a waking dream state.
Read more: https://www.wabe.org/overwhelmed-er-georgias-mental-health-crisis/
Rhiannon12866
(221,465 posts)These experiences sound like something out of "The Snake Pit" - and it's the 21st century.
secondwind
(16,903 posts)One of the women shared her story about her 16 year old daughter who had been admitted to the hospital for observation. The child told her mother I see blood running down the walls in my room. The hospital still discharged her.
They said she didnt present any imminent danger to herself or others. Adam Lanzas mother had the same problem, they would send the boy home.
MFM008
(19,998 posts)Hospital on Saturday. There were 3 men and one woman in the ER threatening suicide.
A very real problem.