gosh.. I can't imagine. Did you admit to having been suidical? Did you admit to perhaps crashing on purpose?

I am pretty sure that it's a nationwide law that if you say "I am suicidal. I just tried killing myself" ... they legally must admit you. To somewhere.

Where you sorta quiet about the "real" motivation behind your ER visit? They are real good at ER.. but the one thing that they all really suck at is mind reading.

I had a friend joke with me yesterday.. that if a hosp is not looking like they want to really HELP me... to ask for their name... "so that I can list in my suicide letter the names of the people who would not help me."

When all you can see is darkness... and dont' really give a chit about life or you living it.... The psych hosp can be a beautiful place to be.

How ARE you feeling Ms.Wine?????? ARE you suicidal? IF you are.. don't monkey around with it. Call 911 now.. just say "I'm suicidal" .. and they will do all the rest.

Carry me in your heart-pocket. xoxoxoxox

After I delivered my daughter, I saw sooo many different docs in the months thereafter. Post-partum depression (and I suppose some mania too) raged. The closest I got to being properly diagnosed was a) "this sounds like you're having a bit of post-partum depression there honey, try going home, relaxing, having a glass of wine..." (by a RN), and b) "you are crazy" (by my GP). My GP got it right, but didn't offer a referral to the psychiatry. Now it's a year later, and I see they have "screening questionnaires" for post-partum depression, but I wonder how many people get screened. So I'm right there with you Firefly, with your explanation.

I never said I was suicidal, though, and I wasn't really. While we're on the topic of incompetent ERs, who's heard from oleander recently? I sent a message yesterday, but got nothing.

Does sound strange to me - I have gone out of my way to avoid hospitalization, and tend to get ignored and overlooked also. I don't know why this happened. If it was clear to them your state of mind, they should have fallen over themselves to do something about it.

when you went to the er for suicide attempts did you tell them it was a attempt an attempt to take your life? They should have had someone from a mental health facility come and talk to you to see how your mind set was.. i know that twice my husband did this and he was calmer when they came to talk him , so they let him go home.. that was a mistake... he wasn't on meds then and well it just kept progressing until he did end up in the hospital for overdosing and such. If you ever go thru that again...tell them you want to go into the hospital if you feel you need to.

The times in the er that I question the most are times that I actually was there for an obvious suicide attempt. And yes I told them that is what my intent was. After pumping my stomach They just sent me home saying I might want to look into counseling. The other times were not as obvious and I did not tell them that I had tried to commit suicide.
I am not suicidal right now but last night I was and thought about going in to the er but thought, why bother? they will just send me home and bill me for comming in.

well POOP MsWine!

That just takes the cake of all things that SUCK. What a lousy ER. I am so sorry that they did not give you the immediate help that you needed at the time.

I'd go with the "what's your name for my suicide note" approach next time.

Geeesh... JERKS.

((((( FireflyWine)))))

Pure Surrender you are right. I should be angry instead of questioning whether I should have been offered more help. I came from a small tourist town where everything is hidden just below the surface. Heck they don't even report crimes in the papers to this day! You can read about the crimes there in neighboring city's newspapers. It is the same with the lives of those that live there. Just sweep it under the rug and pretend it does not exist, or worse laugh at people for it.
The first Christmas after my husband died at the family Christmas party my brother in law brought up one of my more colorful suicide attempts and made a joke about it. When I looked him in the face and said I don't think it is a joke, he just looked at me like he didn't understand why it wasn't funny. Like I was from another planet. Thanks for understanding this. I am not very clear headed today and I hope I am making some sense.

One word:

PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFfft

I wasn't hospitalized because in N.C. there is only the State Hospital to go to if you don't have insurance or even the right kind of insurance. My feeling, too was they didn't give a f*ck. It was kind of crazy because for years whenever I had problems/ depression, anxiety- feeling like I was going to "lose it" it seemed as if a person couldn't get help unless they were suicidal. And most of the time, I wasn't (I felt like I wanted to die, but I wasn't going to act on it). Then I had a real bad day last Dec. Everything came together and I didn't want to live. In the ED they didn't even treat me medically. They ignored me till my sister left, then jumped in my face, scared the hell out of me. When I reacted to that they put me in 4 point restraints (upper leather lock and key) jacked me up on tranquilizers and left me till morning when a psychiatrist let me go saying "you're just stressed. you probably need more time to yourself".
Bullshit?
Yeah. I think their's a "mental health crisis" all over this country. It sucks. Takes a lot of work to get help and there is NO crisis interventions, at least in my state.

That is an incredibly bad experience, AnneCR. They disgust me.

I would like to say that I've called the local suicide hotline a few times in the past few months. They don't talk with you long, but it's helped me just to check in, especially when OCD type/suicidal thoughts have seemed intense. I'd wonder if calling 911 and telling the police- you've attempted suicide three times and you DON'T FEEL SAFE if that would put some preassure on the ED to do something more? I don't know if it would work, just a suggestion. Or even calling the psych hospital and asking them what you'd need to do to get admitted might help. Having a "safety plan" is a good idea. I finally got one with my current therapist- (although I did have to ask for one)- my concern was about not getting jumped on and tied up should I have another crisis. I was told I could come to the clinic say "I don't feel safe" and then get escorted to the ED where I could possibly be admitted to the state hospital (although their running at 110% inpatient census). It helps me feel safer, more hopeful just having a plan in place.
Good Luck Firefly- while you're feeling up to it- GET A SAFETY PLAN!

I feel lucky then. Here I call my insurance they told me to go to the behavioral health center of the hospital. I went and believe me I didn't want to go, but my husband took me. I spoke with the counselors there and did tell them I had thoughts of just driving my car into the other lane and ending it. They asked various other questions and I was admitted.

I have to agree there is a behavioral health crisis all over the country and it seems as though it just gets swept under the carpet.

AnneCR
That had to be a terrifying experience! Almost like something out of the dark ages. That would certainly scare me off ever trying to get help at the hospital. I can see why getting a Safety Plan would be invaluable.

maybe I shouldn't have told that story- I don't want to scare anyone away from trying to get help. I was shocked by what happened (and I'm an RN!). The safety plan thing makes so much sense to me though. It's hard to "advocate" for yourself when you're in a crisis. Even though you (a person) doesn't want to think about what you'd do if you were in a crisis (when you're not currently in one)- there's always this hope that you can handle it by yourself. The mental health system is just kind of f*cked up. Again, it's just helped me feel better coming up with an idea about what I'd do if I got as bad as I was last Dec. I hope this helps.