How To Deal with Mental Health Emergencies
During a mental health crisis, the victim’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are likely to put them in a situation where they can harm themselves or others. It also puts them at the risk of being unable to execute basic personal care practices like access to food, clothing, and shelter.
Mental health crisis surfaces anywhere, in public, at home, and even in clinical settings. In this case, the victim needs to get services from the mental health urgent care near them. The Texas Psychiatry Associates have a well-developed program to help calm and treat the dangerous effects of a mental health crisis. Read along and learn how to deal with this condition.
Psychiatry Emergency
Most families know the right time to contact an ambulance in case a family member gets ill. However, most people have a hard time identifying mental health emergencies. Psychiatric emergencies can be life-threatening and need immediate attention by the mental health therapist near you.
Here are some signs of a mental health emergency in Richardson, TX, that should prompt you to bring your child for a psychiatric emergency evaluation.
- Affirming online or personally that they will kill themselves
- Online searches about how to kill themselves
- Taking steps suggestive that they want to kill themselves like getting a gun or other weapons, stockpiling pills, or making a noose.
- Writing suicide notes
- Discarding their favorite belongings and making a will
- Cutting and hurting themselves to end their life and not giving the reason.
Risks to harming others include:
- Saying personally or online that they will kill someone or many people
- Showing violent behaviors to others
- Starting fires, getting destructive, and harming animals
- Threatening other people with a weapon
Behavioral changes and thinking include:
- Strange acts that do not make sense
- Losing touch with reality
- Hallucinating about non-existent things
- Excessive paranoia
All of these cases prompt an emergency evaluation by the psychiatrist in Richardson. Immediately contact our mental office or the victim’s mental health provider and find the quickest way to get help. Call 911 or a working emergency number if there is instant danger and head straight to the nearest emergency room. Call an ambulance if you are unsure of safe transport for the victim.
If it’s your child, bring these to the emergency room if available:
- The suicide note or online post they wrote
- Any medication bottles your child may have overdosed
- Current medical prescriptions, if any
- Their pediatrician’ contact information
Psychiatric emergencies are dangerous events, so they need immediate professional intervention. Although they are frightening, our medical staff can help keep your child safe by ensuring they get the exact treatment they need.
The Path to Better Mental Health
There are several psychiatrist emergencies services near you to treat mental health issues. They include:
- Psychotherapy – It’s the most common type of treatment for mental issues and involves sharing your mental problems with the mental health therapist near you. It’s usually done one-on-one or in a group setting. You can also have it with your family.
- Prescription Medicine – It’s another popular treatment we offer. The medications alter brain chemicals responsible for emotions and thought patterns. Medications do not cure mental health problems but help better the symptoms and make other treatments like counseling more effective. Your doctor will recommend the best prescription and also notify you of any side effects.
- Support Groups – In addition to prescription and therapy, we recommend support groups because they can help you form friendships and give you support that will help you deal with the condition better. They also address the isolation feelings that come with mental health issues.
- Other Therapies – You can also opt for other therapies like exercise and yoga to deal with mental issues. Creative therapies are also a good option because they allow you to express yourself creatively, like in art, music writing, and more.
- Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) – This procedure uses electric currents to make changes in the brain to improve and reverse the disturbing symptoms. We opt for ECT and additional brain stimulation therapies when other treatment options do not work.
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy – it’s a type of therapy used to relieve psychological stress. It’s among the most effective ways to treat trauma, especially PTSD.
- Hospital/Residential Therapy Program – When the mental health condition is so serious, the patient receives treatment in a hospital or through a long-term approach. It’s necessary when the patient can’t care for themselves or is at risk of harming themselves and others.
Everyone is unique to the type of treatment that works for them. Some people require a combination of treatments for successful healing. Your mental healthcare provider finds the treatment that’s right and best for you.