Mental health and emergency department dilemmas

The emergency department (ED) is a sophisticated place equipped to treat a variety of illnesses, from cuts and stitches to heart attacks, strokes, and serious illnesses. But amidst its myriad features lies a dilemma. What can EDs do for more vague mental health issues and panic attacks? anxietyAccording to an article published in ? academic emergency medicine, “The burden of mental health has often led emergency departments to become the de facto primary emergency care providers for mental health care in the United States.” It’s something we don’t necessarily know what to do with. Additionally, mental health professionals such as psychiatrists and social workers are often in short supply, and the number of beds designated for mental health emergencies is limited.

Compounding the problem, many patients who present to emergency departments with mental health problems report that their current problems are not alleviated and, in some cases, are traumatized as a result of the experience. That’s what I’m doing. In a 2016 study, patients reported a variety of negative reactions to emergency department visits. The survey results “consisted of three main themes: ‘Emergency rooms are cold and clinical,’ ‘People talk to you like you’re crazy,’ and ‘You’re cornered against your will.’ ‘It will be done.’ These are often repeated laments. Percentage of people who sought help in the emergency department for mental health problems.

But where else can we go when our mental state deteriorates and we become restless, fearful, or panicky? After all, the ED is open 24/7 and has an ethical obligation to accept us and not reject us, whether we are in the insurance company’s network or not. . Doctors’ offices, therapists’ offices, and even urgent care centers don’t boast such availability and accessibility. Therefore, as a patient, it is difficult to know where else to turn when faced with difficulties.

Aside from the systemic problems inherent in mental health care and the limitations of the hospital environment to adequately treat mental health problems, another factor to explore is what constitutes an emergency and what constitutes an emergency. Sometimes humans are confused about what not to do. From a personal perspective, having experienced severe illness anxiety, I can say that I have experienced countless times when I have felt anxious, panicked, or experienced a hypochondriacal response to physical discomfort. I have visited countless emergency hospitals. I can’t point to a single visit where I experienced a true sense of relief as a result of my time in the emergency room. Usually I’m there for hours, sent to undergo various tests and scans, only to be assured that I’ll be “okay.” Ironically, this did not comfort me. My fear that something was wrong was deep and convincing. Looking back, psychotherapy and low doses of antidepressants It was much more helpful than rushing to the ED.

In her book Bodies made of glass: A cultural history of hypochondria; Carline Crampton points out that “through scans, blood tests, biopsies, surgeries, X-rays, and genomic analyses, the body is becoming increasingly transparent to medical and scientific knowledge.” . If possible look If we can pinpoint exactly what is going wrong or that everything is going well, perhaps our greater fears will disappear. ” Here’s the problem: we can’t do it look Mental health crises can be detected by tumors, blood tests, and lab results. Therefore, all the incredibly advanced and sophisticated tools that the ED has at its disposal are of no use to patients who complain of feeling “unwell,” “panicked,” or “anxious.” It becomes a thing.

So part of the solution is learning to tell the difference between emergencies and situations that are unpleasant but don’t require a crisis response. In the process of recovering from the anxiety of illness, I had to learn that not all mental or physical symptoms indicate a crisis and therefore a trip to the emergency room is necessary. This is not a perfect skill. Even though there’s nothing really you can do to alleviate the discomfort, anxiety still causes you to go to the doctor’s office or urgent care facility. But now that I’m able to distinguish between anxiety or panic attacks and the need for emergency care, I no longer end up going to the emergency room as often.

This is not to say that emergency departments cannot handle mental health issues of any kind at all, but rather that the ability to differentiate between those who need urgent care and those who do not, would reduce the risk of unhelpful emergency visits. This will help you avoid medical visits. . As you begin to understand that there is a big difference between psychological discomfort and real discomfort. psychiatric When emergencies arise, we are less reliant on rushing to emergency hospitals for treatment of mental health-related issues. More specifically, let’s distinguish between the common mental health problems that send patients to the emergency room, and those that can be adequately treated in a hospital, and those that cannot.

• Does not require emergency treatment: anxiety, panic attacks, bipolar disorder, depression. (In my clinical opinion as a practicing psychotherapist, these problems probably require care such as psychotherapy or therapy, but medicinethey do not constitute a medical emergency. )
• Urgent treatment required: suicidal tendencies or thoughts of self-harmhallucinations and delusions, mentally abnormal person rest, uncontrollable aggressive behavior, extreme mood swings, mania, paranoiaconfusion. (These problems are considered an opportunity to seek inpatient mental health care by the Huntsman Institute of Mental Health at the University of Utah.)

Although the ED is a place where many disparate and complex medical problems can be treated, it is not always the best place to treat mental health issues. our continuation Note Understanding the difference between discomfort and crisis can help us find the appropriate medical setting for the particular problem we are facing.