Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Mental Health Care Crisis

A recent spike in psychiatric emergencies.
Across the country, doctors like Sullivan are facing a spike in psychiatric emergencies - attempted suicide, severe depression, psychosis - as states slash mental health services and the country's worst economic crisis since the Great Depression takes its toll. This trend is taxing emergency rooms already overburdened by uninsured patients who wait until ailments become acute before seeking treatment.

"These are people without a previous psychiatric history who are coming in and telling us they've lost their jobs, they've lost sometimes their homes, they can't provide for their families, and they are becoming severely depressed," said Dr. Felicia Smith, director of the acute psychiatric service at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. (Read entire article.)
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2 comments:

julygirl said...

This same phenomenon occurred years ago when the large state owned mental facilities closed and patients were thrust into the community....

Dymphna said...

When a good man marries he takes on a burden that he may not lay down again in good concience this side of the grave. Not being able to pay the rent, the kid's tuition, put food on the table as usual for one's family is enough to break a heart or a mind. God bless these poor people and keep them.