The Tragedy of MENTAL ILLNESS
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Go to this link to learn more about mental illness
- http://psychcentral.com/
Welcome to the Internet's largest and oldest independent mental health network, providing reliable, trusted information & self-help support communities for over 14 years.
Misunderstanding the Plight of Mental Illness
(Please note this Hub is NOT a criticism of Emergency Room staff in any way.)
There's an epidemic out there today. It's everywhere. Misunderstood and shunned, mental illness is as common as any other disease or illness. The problem is a lack of understanding and acceptance. Let me give you some examples.
People with severe mental illnesses like Bipolar, Schizophrenia, or Major Depression have a sickness. Compare it to heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. It's been around since the beginning of time. Mental disorders are an illness, not a label.
Scenario: A patient with Bipolar Disorder is off his medications and having suicidal ideations of shooting himself. He goes to the local ER and reports his symptoms. After finding nothing medically wrong with the patient, a mental health or social worker is called to make a determination if the person needs psychiatric hospitalization. After the assessment, the worker consults with ER staff and the doctor about the disposition of the patient. The concern is that some instances of this sort are not actual suicide plans, but the patient's outward cry for help and attention. Because of this, medical providers not trained to deal with the behavior of mentally ill individuals feel overwhelmed and unsure when faced with these crisis situations. The result is a lack of empathy and compassion towards the client that affects the attitude of the hospital staff. Why is this happening? Let me explain.
When a person becomes suicidal, homicidal, or a danger to themselves or others, local law enforcement and crisis hotlines direct or assist the individual to local Emergency Rooms for evaluation. Unless the community has a psychiatric, behavioral, or mental health facility equipped to deal with the situation, regular hospital ER's are the only alternative. When this happens, community Emergency Rooms are bombarded with mental patients, drug addicts, and lastly, indigent people looking for a meal and a bed masquerading as mentally ill. It's the latter of the three that most stimulates the resentment of medical personel, and understandably so! This group of individuals, which make up a small percentage of people who end up in the ER, are familiar with the procedures for handling psychiatric clients in crisis. Therefore, they know just what to say in order to "be committed" to state institutions, which puts a strain on the availability of beds for those who actually need them, thus, filling up Emergency Rooms with mental patients waiting for transport to a psychiatric hospital, taking 'beds' away from people who actually need them! This is a real dilemma in cities who don't have a Psychiatric ER. The result: negative attitudes and labeling.
In reality, every suicide threat needs to be taken seriously. Whether the individual actually acts on his thoughts cannot be easily predicted. What if the person is saying he wants to kill himself just to get attention? Think about this....if someone feels desperate enough to go to this length to be noticed or get help, doesn't that demonstrate severe instability?
Regardless of preconceived ideas about mental illness, the problem exists. What is the solution? More funding for state hospitals? Mental health education for healthcare providers? It boils down to one thing: a lack of understanding and acceptance of mental disorders. The question is "What are we going to do about it?"
For more information on mental illness go to www.psychcentral.com
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The American Psychological Association (APA) is a scientific and professional organization that represents psychologists in the United States. APA works to support and advance psychology as a means to promote health, education and human welfare.
Remember.....
Learn More AT:
- Psych Central - Trusted information in mental health and psychology
Dr. John Grohol's home of down-to-earth, reliable, and accessible mental health resources online.Welcome to the Internet's largest and oldest independent mental health network, providing reliable, trusted information.
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Comments
You're welcome. It's a subject that needs to be addressed.
What really concerns me is the lack of knowledge the ER's have and the lack of compassion. I am bipolar and remember going into an ER room a few ago bleeding with cuts all over my arms and complaining of voices. I had called every person I had known that the voices were telling me to do things. The ER said I didn't need to be admitted. The next day I overdosed, was arrested, and committed to a mental hospital for 3 months. I can't tell you how embarrased I felt when they turned me away. I needed help and I knew it.
I ended up in another city altogether. They could not believe or understand why I was not admitted. So I believe it depends on the hospital and what they are taught. or perhaps they just think your faking or don't have a bed. I don't know. But it is a shame that people fake a mental illness to get a bed. I like your hub. It is very well written. I think the answer is more awareness, more teaching, and more hands on. A little bit more compassion wouldn't be a bad idea either. I do know many things need to change though.
Thumbs up.
great article - Thanks to hightened awareness and people bringing the topic to attention, I think the problem can continue to lesson of staff being ignorant of mental illness treatment and response methods. I'm glad you highlighted this.
Thank you for your comments. I would like to add this note. The ER staff I encounter on a regular basis have been wonderful. They really try the best they can. I've only had a couple of instances where I heard the remarks which I wrote about. Ninety-five percent of the time the help is great. Imagine working in an ER as a nurse for regular health issues trying to deal with a suicidal patient. It makes an already stressful situation even more stressful. THE PURPOSE OF THIS HUB IS TO RAISE AWARENESS OF THE GROWING PROBLEM IN THIS COUNTRY. THIS HUB IS NOT A MEANT TO CRITICIZE E.R. STAFF, ANYWHERE. The final point is: we need more Psych ER's, a place for psych patients to stay while awaiting transport, more funding, more Psych hospitals. Help!
Hm. Well, Donotfear, you may not want to allow this comment--it's your Hub and your right and I won't be offended--but I do have a great deal of criticism of ER staff.
Firstly, let me say that my kid sister and her oldest daughter are both lifetime Registered Nurses with many years of ER experience between them. No criticism toward my family or toward a number of other ER folks...but....
My wife, Pam, is bipolar, paranoid schiz, and used to have multiple personalities (She kicked out the latter single handed a few years back; tough girl.) She was also homeless for nearly 3 years, that period ending just 2 weeks before we met. SINCE we met, she's had to hit the ER a number of times, sometimes with broken bones (osteoporosis, very slender bones, and poor balance--thank you Actonel for it being better lately). Sometimes the ER was very helpful.
But not always, and when they weren't, the problem was this:
THEY WOULD NOT LISTEN. We went in one time (not in AZ where we now live) because her bladder had prolapsed, she was about to give birth to the thing. The MD on duty took the longest time figuring out the problem NOT because he was incompetent but because he ASSUMED she was asking for pain meds.
It didn't matter that she told him otherwise. It didn't matter that I told him otherwise. Oh, he FINALLY got it, but the trauma (for Pam) of being once more ASSUMED to be an addict was and is very hard for her.
Of course, down here we don't have that problem. Every doctor we've approached has simply refused to take her on as a patient, so she's been cold turkeyed of ALL of her meds (14 in total, 5 that a life-critical) for nearly 3 months now.
And don't get me started on Psych hospitals. I put her in, one time, because she was suicidal. She was suicidal because the phenytoin she'd been on for years (for petit mal seizures) had finally begun to accumulate in her liver; she was incredibly toxic.
Once her liver had a chance to clean out, she was fine--but the shrink would not release her until she accepted being put on Neurontin and Zyprexa. When I read the pharmacology sheets on those two, the "rare but potentially deadly" side effects were incredible--and she was already experiencing symptoms of 35 of them!!
She and I (despite the risk there was no real option) cold turkeyed her off both, and I (with Pam's help) wrote said psycho-quack informing him that from now on in our book, his name was Dr. Kevorkian. There's a HUGE red flag on her file to this day in Helena, Montana.
Um...guess it's pretty clear Pam and I are more or less just plain disgusted with the medical field in general, with or without including the psych side.
Ghost, your wonderful wife has been through a lot. I would consider her case very difficult. I'm sorry you've had such a rough time dealing with ERs. I've seen first hand what happens in emergency rooms, and it's tough. This is a prime example of what I was talking about in my article: the small majority of those who claim to be "mentally ill" or people who claim to need "meds" or "hospitalization" (when it's not really the case) are creating a sense of 'suspiciousness' in doctors, nurses, staff and even mental health professionals. They, the health professionals, get so frustrated with the few individuals who abuse the system that some bias attitude bleeds through to the next patient who REALLY NEEDS the care. I'm so sorry you guys have had so much turmoil. From what you say about your dear Pam, it appears she has many other health problems besides her MH diagnosis. I don't blame you for giving up on the system, it's very self-defeating. I wish their was more I could do in this world to change this problem. After all, that's why I chose this profession: to make a difference. Prayers and encouragement for you and your sweet Pam!! Tell her there are lots of folks out here who DO care and understand.
This one needs to go to Washington with advocates for change in the field of medical practice... It would open an eye or two on the issue.
I must say, the writing has been on the wall for a long while, it needs attention more than ever... I guess thanks for reminding me... Its something that I would like not to think of - here is were the problem lies , out of sight out of mind...
You're right. Nobody wants to talk about it, but mental illness is just as real as high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes.
Great article - it’s made me realise that the way the mental health problem is prioritised in the US & Ireland is not that dissimilar. I’ve heard that “The Treatment of Prisoners is a test of Civilization of a society” perhaps this could be "the treatment of a cultures mentally unwell is a test of its level of civilization".
Right on...!!!
Hello donotfear and Blessings!!! GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE!!! lol, lol, You know I would love this Hub for I have too written on this subject! This is a such needed discussion! I thank God for leading you to presenting this matter!!! GREAT HUB!!! You Go Girl!!! My Sister!!!!
Thank you Sister!!!!
I never considered the homeless faking mental illness to get a place to stay, But it makes perfect sense. Great hub
Having worked and studied in the field of community services, and being through psych wards, drug addiction and homelessness I can tell you something about homeless people. Great idea for a hub, just some feedback; drug addiction is a mental illness, like alcoholism (according to the Diagnostic Manual DSM for psychiatry). Many psychotic patients also suffer drug addiction, it is coined co-morbidity. Regarding the homeless, statistically, the majority suffer mental illness. Whether or not a person is in the midst of psychosis or serious suicidal ideation, the illness is still there. Many homeless people suffered bipolar disorder, major depression, schizophrenia. It is a real problem that the homeless are homeless. What you say here on this hub, it is the right idea but there is more. There needs to be more housing services for those suffering psychotics disorders but not in psychosis. For a schizophrenic, as an example, and you can find this information very easily; there are two groups of symptoms, positive and negative. Postive are adding to the person, voice, delusions, etc. Postive as in a creations, things that are not real. These symptoms are symptoms of schizophrenia and mostly present in the psychotic phase. Negative symptoms are much like depression and also exaccerbated by anti-psychotic medications. Negative symptoms include lethargy (physical tiredness), also lack of motivation, loss of interest in usual activities, lack of libido, there are also a list of other symptoms but you should get the point. Negative symptoms are more present during the phase where psychosis is not present. Schizophrenics are not always psychotic. Psychotic disorders are very complicated. In the phase where a schizophrenic may be in remission from psychosis, there still may be latent psychotic symptoms. One example might be the person is still hearing voices or seeing things that are not real, or maybe suffer delusions but have a little insight, thinking it is real but knowing that others would never agree. These are your homeless people. The issue is not beds in a hospital or pretending mental patients. The issue is lack of understanding, lack of application by government service, lack of housing for the misfortunate. There has been so much research done to support evidence for better social housing yet the application of governments is little to none.
I couldn't agree with you more, Bovine! This merely touches the surface of the real problem. And I know exactly where you are coming from. I see them all the time. Resources & housing are the most difficult obstacles. And we, as crisis workers, are only required to intervene and recommend after the assessment. The real work belongs to the social workers, who, in most cases, aren't available to direct us. So we end up doing both crisis intervention & social work. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it. Even when we find homeless shelters or other places for individuals to stay, the beds are usually full. So it's a real tragedy. Thanks for your comments!
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St.James says:
16 months ago
Great Post!
Thank you for bringing this topic to the for-front