Has anyone here gone to the ER to get in faster for help?
- Thread starter inspirer
- Start date
I find this strange. ER visits are ridiculously expensive, for starters. And they usually get stuck with the worst doctors (contrary to TV). And they tend to only treat, well, emergencies.
hippiechild
Well-known member
No, but my dad is plagued by bull**** ER visits daily...
Ooo, I'll bet you have a lot of stories about light bulbs and peanut butter jars ending up in uncomfortable places!
stephen
Well-known member
I don't know what things are like in the states but here unless you are suicidal (and even then they will take some convincing) they will probably send you home and tell you to go to the GP for some pills and a referral. Even to get help for a severely psychotic friend took months of phone calls and being ignored or jerked around. Unless you are a danger to yourself or others you probably won't be seen. Also for something like social anxiety you need ongoing treatment like CBT not a one-time emergency consultation where they give you a pamphlet and send you home.
Pookah
Well-known member
I don't know of a workplace being able to meddle in your medical needs? Are they threatening to fire you?
An ER psychiatrist isn't there to treat non emergencies. They treat acute situations and would only refer you elsewhere unless you are having a true emergency. There is nothing they can do for you in one visit unless it is to commit you and I'm pretty sure that isn't what you are looking for, correct?
My advice is to make an appointment and inform your work that you are setting up a stable schedule of treatment for yourself. The ER does not fit the bill.
An ER psychiatrist isn't there to treat non emergencies. They treat acute situations and would only refer you elsewhere unless you are having a true emergency. There is nothing they can do for you in one visit unless it is to commit you and I'm pretty sure that isn't what you are looking for, correct?
My advice is to make an appointment and inform your work that you are setting up a stable schedule of treatment for yourself. The ER does not fit the bill.
Tiercel
Well-known member
Unless you're bad enough that you need some time at an inpatient psych ward, the emergency room probably won't be much help.
As long as what ails you isn't affecting your job performance too much, I don't see where it's any of their business when and how you receive treatment. And starting medication for any reason other than hoping it will help you is just a bad idea. Getting help for any type of mental illness always seems to take way too long. It's not like a broken arm, where you slap a cast on and just don't use it for a few weeks. It takes time to go through therapy, try to change one's behavior and/or thought patters, and for brain-affecting medications to work.
Ultimately it comes down to what you feel is best for yourself. But the way I see it, going to the ER will have one of several outcomes. If you're really bad, they'll admit you to a psych ward for at least a week (where they'll probably start you on medication(s) of some kind). If you're not an imminent threat to anyone, the psychiatrist on duty could just give you a prescription and send you home with instructions to call or come back if you get worse.
Whatever you decide to do, though, I wish you good luck. Because, like everyone else here, you'll probably need it.
As long as what ails you isn't affecting your job performance too much, I don't see where it's any of their business when and how you receive treatment. And starting medication for any reason other than hoping it will help you is just a bad idea. Getting help for any type of mental illness always seems to take way too long. It's not like a broken arm, where you slap a cast on and just don't use it for a few weeks. It takes time to go through therapy, try to change one's behavior and/or thought patters, and for brain-affecting medications to work.
Ultimately it comes down to what you feel is best for yourself. But the way I see it, going to the ER will have one of several outcomes. If you're really bad, they'll admit you to a psych ward for at least a week (where they'll probably start you on medication(s) of some kind). If you're not an imminent threat to anyone, the psychiatrist on duty could just give you a prescription and send you home with instructions to call or come back if you get worse.
Whatever you decide to do, though, I wish you good luck. Because, like everyone else here, you'll probably need it.
staticreflex
Well-known member
In my limited experience, medication is definately not a bad thing, it really helped me a lot (with depression, not so much with anxiety.) People seem to be afraid of it for some reason, but it can do a lot of good! Supposedly, medication + CBT is best.
In my experience, there are some really good GPs and some really bad ones. The good ones will work with u to find a medication that will work well, while the bad ones just write a script for whatever is hot that month. Do your counselors have any recommendations?
Walk
Well-known member
I am almost 100% sure that if you enroll in a community college, you pay a small "health fee" where you can go to the college's "clinic" and I BELIEVE it covers minor health issues, including mental problems.
I need to go into one just to see if I can pin point my mental health problems. I THINK I am bipolar and I may have ADD too. I know for a fact that I suffer from anxiety and depression, but I've never been officially diagnosed with any of those problems. Man, I just realized: in the worst case, it could mean that I have bipolar disorder, social anxiety disorder, depression, and ADD.
0_o
I need to go into one just to see if I can pin point my mental health problems. I THINK I am bipolar and I may have ADD too. I know for a fact that I suffer from anxiety and depression, but I've never been officially diagnosed with any of those problems. Man, I just realized: in the worst case, it could mean that I have bipolar disorder, social anxiety disorder, depression, and ADD.
0_o
awkwardamanda
Well-known member
Don't go to the ER for a non-emergency. That just takes away resources from people with serious emergencies. They'll just think you're wasting their time and either send you home or not really give you the care you need. You'll probably sit there waiting for hours anyway if other emergencies come in and push you back. Your workplace has no business pressuring you do something like that. You need to be firm with them and let them know it's wrong. I doubt they really understand much about mental health or how the system works if they expect you to just go see someone by a certain date and have it all taken care of. I think you're best to go to your GP, explain your situation, and then have him refer you to the right person. You may need to be persistent with him. Don't let him give you a pill and send you home unless it's just something to tide you over until you can get in to see someone else.
seafolly
Well-known member
We need a smiley for laughing hysterically.
It was "faster" that made me laugh. Any ER I've been into, whether you're having pains no one can see or are bleeding profusely from your head, you best be prepared to wait the entire day for your turn, if not longer! I even brought someone in in a very life threatening situation and I literally had to yell to be heard, to declare what exactly was wrong with the girl. THEN they wheeled her off and got to work skipping those before us. But yeah, for non-emergency situations (which is subjective) I've arrived in the morning and left the next day after seeing a doctor for maybe three minutes.
...I have no idea how it works in the States.
It was "faster" that made me laugh. Any ER I've been into, whether you're having pains no one can see or are bleeding profusely from your head, you best be prepared to wait the entire day for your turn, if not longer! I even brought someone in in a very life threatening situation and I literally had to yell to be heard, to declare what exactly was wrong with the girl. THEN they wheeled her off and got to work skipping those before us. But yeah, for non-emergency situations (which is subjective) I've arrived in the morning and left the next day after seeing a doctor for maybe three minutes.
...I have no idea how it works in the States.