A dislocation of mind: A look at getting help in a mental health emergency

[Brickbat]

My 17 year old daughter, Abbie, broke her leg the other day; a bad break in her femur. She was in terrible pain, begging me to make it stop, to help her feel better, so I took her to the emergency room. We went there, and we waited for 6 hours, and finally a Bone Health Specialist came and told us that we should go home and make an appointment to see an orthopedist.

“I can’t take her home like this!” I said. “She’s in too much pain, and she can’t walk! Can she at least have some medicine for the pain?”

The Bone Health Specialist was aghast. “A doctor can’t prescribe medicine without seeing the patient. That would be unethical!”

I brought Abbie home and made her as comfortable as I could before I got on the phone. I called every orthopedist whose number I could find. Many of them didn’t return my calls, and of those that did, more than half told me that they were not accepting new patients, and the few who I spoke to who were accepting new patients made appointments 4-6 weeks in the future or put her on waiting lists that were months long.

http://www.nopointsforstyle.com/2013/03/a-dislocation-of-mind.html

The above excerpt describes a mother's experience with her daughter's mental-health crisis as if it were a physical crisis. I've heard a lot of people over the years say things like, "Why don't they just get help?" when talking about people with mental health issues. Not only is there an enormous social stigma to overcome, the infrastructure for helping people with mental health problems is sorely underfunded and ignored. It's a goddamn shame.

[Patiod]

1. This has been going on for years

Back in the late 80s, Sylvia Seegrist shot up a mall outside Philadelphia.

One of my friends was her classmate. Everyone knew she was schizophrenic, including her mother, who tried to get her help, but even back then, there was no help for nine years until she actually did something. So they had to wait for her to shoot up the Granite Run Mall, killing 3 and maiming several others. She was "taken down" by (an unarmed) shopper who walked over and grabbed the gun from her.

Sadly, prisons are the primary U.S. institutions for dealing with people who have severe mental health issues.

A long but interesting read:
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/mass/sylvia_seegrist/index.html

[Brickbat]

2. Kick for lunch.