- Category: Crisis Response, Denied Treatment in a Facility, Emergency Room Accountability, Family Inclusion (HIPAA), Involuntary Commitment Barriers
- Tag(s): Severe Deterioration
- Location(s): TX
My sister in law has schizophrenia. She has visual and auditory hallucinations, bipolar manic depression, and severe anxiety. One of her medications stopped working, and she went to see her psych doctor for help. He told her to commit herself immediately, so she attempted to do so. She went to the same hospital she had been committed to twice in the past. My daughter took her and sat there for four hours while she waited for her turn, and then while they did the assessment. At this point, she was already having auditory hallucinations, claiming that she was listening to conversations in her head and having full conversations with people that she swore were right there, but no one else could see.
After her assessment, they told her she didn’t need to be committed she (and I quote) “needs to get out more and make new friends,” and sent her home.
A few days ago, she went into a full schizophrenic meltdown with a possible OD, because she couldn’t remember if she took her pills. We know she did, but she wouldn’t listen and took them a second time within hours of the first dose. She became lethargic one minute, then manic the next, angry and yelling and mean, then crying and childlike the next moment. We finally called for help, feeling we had no choice, and they took her to the local mental hospital, but now we still don’t know anything because they won’t tell us anything due to a lack of POA or guardianship papers.
I just wish they had helped her when she tried the first time, and she wouldn’t have gotten so bad.
*Each story is shared by someone impacted by untreated SMI, lightly edited for clarity, never for meaning.
THE ASK
The author’s message for legislators:
Listen to the patient and their families. We deal with the illness daily right alongside them every day. l/we know when something is wrong and when they need help.
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