An Update on difficult child at psychiatric hospital....
- Thread starter DaisyFace
- Start date
I can't tell you how much I can relate to this. At one psychiatric hospital, I got a call one morning saying "ok, Youngest has been discharged.. come pick her up!" Umm WHAT? Just the day before the psychiatrist said it'd be a couple more days. No call to discuss plans, no warning, no nothing. When I said I couldn't get her until after work, they balked.. thought I should drop everything and come get her immediately.
I feel for you.
I feel for you.
gcvmom
Here we go again!
OMG! I am just shocked at what you all are saying has happened at discharge with your difficult children!!! That is just so incredibly unprofessional, and in my opinion it's downright negligent. You KNOW a regular hospital would NEVER boot someone out the door without written discharge instructions, and many hospitals conduct followup calls a day or so after you are home to check up on you! Why aren't phospitals held to the same standard? They're acting like it's a daycare and not a hospital. My heart goes out to you!
GCVMom--
I agree with you completely. This kind of attitude is outrageous! We have received more complete instructions and treatment plans for insect bites, for gosh sakes!!!
When difficult child was admitted and I had a chance to speak with the psychiatrist and staff, I was assured that there would be several "options" available to us at discharge--some kind of family support or referral for further treatment or recommendation for Residential Treatment Center (RTC).
Instead, we are told, "OK, she can come home."
What?!? What happened to those options? Weren't we supposed to get some kind of referral or recommendation? Wasn't there something else that was supposed to be available for us? What about everything we had discussed?
Their response?
"What do you mean options? Just keep doing whatever it is you are doing. "
So--difficult child will return home to our surveillance system and locks and keys and bedroom inspections and we'll just wait until the next "incident" occurs and then she will be right back at psychiatric hospital.
So when we pick difficult child up tomorrow and they tell us to "Have a nice day!"
I guess we'll respond with "OK--See you back here in a few months."
And the revolving door of our mental health system takes another spin....
We are beginning to think that that is what is really at the core of this problem. It's not that we've been doing the wrong thing, or not seeking the right treatment or even that we're not asking the right people--I'm beginning to think that the services that difficult child needs are just not available in this area. Budget cuts have created a situation in which here is no psychiatrist or psychiatric hospital that is really equipped to handle anything that falls in between a mild problem and a severe mental impairment. If your feeling a little blue--there are plenty of counselors to talk to. If you are completely, raving mad--there is a state hospital to commit you to.
BUT--if you are somewhere in-between....then tough luck.
I'm saddened to hear that I am not alone in this experience--so many of our difficult children must fall into this "service limbo"....not severely impaired enough to qualify for services--but clearly needing more help than an ordinary doctor or therapist can provide.
I wish I knew the answer....
I agree with you completely. This kind of attitude is outrageous! We have received more complete instructions and treatment plans for insect bites, for gosh sakes!!!
When difficult child was admitted and I had a chance to speak with the psychiatrist and staff, I was assured that there would be several "options" available to us at discharge--some kind of family support or referral for further treatment or recommendation for Residential Treatment Center (RTC).
Instead, we are told, "OK, she can come home."
What?!? What happened to those options? Weren't we supposed to get some kind of referral or recommendation? Wasn't there something else that was supposed to be available for us? What about everything we had discussed?
Their response?
"What do you mean options? Just keep doing whatever it is you are doing. "
So--difficult child will return home to our surveillance system and locks and keys and bedroom inspections and we'll just wait until the next "incident" occurs and then she will be right back at psychiatric hospital.
So when we pick difficult child up tomorrow and they tell us to "Have a nice day!"
I guess we'll respond with "OK--See you back here in a few months."
And the revolving door of our mental health system takes another spin....
We are beginning to think that that is what is really at the core of this problem. It's not that we've been doing the wrong thing, or not seeking the right treatment or even that we're not asking the right people--I'm beginning to think that the services that difficult child needs are just not available in this area. Budget cuts have created a situation in which here is no psychiatrist or psychiatric hospital that is really equipped to handle anything that falls in between a mild problem and a severe mental impairment. If your feeling a little blue--there are plenty of counselors to talk to. If you are completely, raving mad--there is a state hospital to commit you to.
BUT--if you are somewhere in-between....then tough luck.
I'm saddened to hear that I am not alone in this experience--so many of our difficult children must fall into this "service limbo"....not severely impaired enough to qualify for services--but clearly needing more help than an ordinary doctor or therapist can provide.
I wish I knew the answer....
GoingNorth
Crazy Cat Lady
This is insane! When I had my surgery I had to sign off on a whole folder full of aftercare instructions.
When husband was hospitalized over and over again with pneumonia secondary to his illness, I had to sign off on his aftercare instructions despite my having had them memorized to the word by then.
I don't see why it would be different with a psychiatric hospital.
When husband was hospitalized over and over again with pneumonia secondary to his illness, I had to sign off on his aftercare instructions despite my having had them memorized to the word by then.
I don't see why it would be different with a psychiatric hospital.
In Wiz's 3 psychiatric hospital stays we didn't even get have a nice day. One place told us verbally that he MUST be seen 3 times a week or they couldn't discharge him. I told them we could not afford it and our therapist didn't have enough open times to give him 3 hours a week.
We were told that it was neglect to not do it and to "find a way".
That was it. We didn't even get prescriptions for his medications and they were very different than the ones he took when he was admitted. I had to have a fit to get them to give us a prescription for a week of each medication.
It was nuts.
I am sorry that you are not getting more help.
We were told that it was neglect to not do it and to "find a way".
That was it. We didn't even get prescriptions for his medications and they were very different than the ones he took when he was admitted. I had to have a fit to get them to give us a prescription for a week of each medication.
It was nuts.
I am sorry that you are not getting more help.
graceupongrace
New Member
That is so true! I've heard that from a whole range of providers -- therapist, psychiatrist, and people who work with "at-risk" youths, among others.
Hope it goes well.
Hugs!
LittleDudesMom
Well-Known Member
Just plain nuts. Hope coming home goes smoothly.
Sharon
Dasiyface,
I am so sorry that the psychiatric hospital hasn't offered any services for your difficult child.
We have had only one experience with-difficult child being hospitalized. He was 6 at the time and they kept him for 3 weeks. When he was discharged they (at our consent) placed him on a waiting list for intensive in-home therapy that was provided by a local child and family agency. We were lucky that it wasn't a long wait and he benefited with services 2 times a week for a year until he graduated the program.
It was also recommended to us by the psychiatric hospital to contact DCF Voluntary services. We applied and were accepted. They coordinated with-the in-home people and helped to send our child to camp in the summer. After our in-home ended they offered us a respite program, but difficult child has been stable for a long time so we opted out and are closing the case.
Do you have any sort of child & family agency in your area that may be able to offer services to your difficult child? Does your state have Voluntary Services through your DCF department? We were lucky in that we had great experiences with both agencies. Before that we wouldn't have known where to turn. The school and the local youth services people I had asked before didn't really even have the information to connect us with these agencies.
I am so sorry that the psychiatric hospital hasn't offered any services for your difficult child.
We have had only one experience with-difficult child being hospitalized. He was 6 at the time and they kept him for 3 weeks. When he was discharged they (at our consent) placed him on a waiting list for intensive in-home therapy that was provided by a local child and family agency. We were lucky that it wasn't a long wait and he benefited with services 2 times a week for a year until he graduated the program.
It was also recommended to us by the psychiatric hospital to contact DCF Voluntary services. We applied and were accepted. They coordinated with-the in-home people and helped to send our child to camp in the summer. After our in-home ended they offered us a respite program, but difficult child has been stable for a long time so we opted out and are closing the case.
Do you have any sort of child & family agency in your area that may be able to offer services to your difficult child? Does your state have Voluntary Services through your DCF department? We were lucky in that we had great experiences with both agencies. Before that we wouldn't have known where to turn. The school and the local youth services people I had asked before didn't really even have the information to connect us with these agencies.
One of our frustrations is that the application to the agency in our area that can connect us to more services requires a referral from the psychiatric hospital AND the referral must assign difficult child a particular diagnosis to qualify for services. When I had spoken to the staff at psychiatric hospital last week--they indicated that they would be making such a referral...but instead, it looks like that is right out the window. So I don't really understand what happened.
compassion
Member
It takes a lot ofperverence to get services. I do have an in home behavior analyst that community services pays. I had to ask over and over and over and over. I had to jump though a lot of hoops. We apid out of poscket for Residential Treatment Center (RTC) 3 monts. From Nami, I have leanrd it is called freqaunt flier. It is a revolving door, hopitals ,back home. I have set up great resources but difficult child does not go but our famiy does. Our insurance will pay for unlimited outpaitent. Currently, on our team is a behavior anlayst, pyschologist, family therapist and a psychiatrist. She has been out of hopital for 5 and a ahlf months. Some days I am not sure how we do it but we have. She is not very stable but is probly better than when she was in helpital in the spring.
There seems to be more for over age 18 but even that it iseems like you have to advocate, advocate,advoccate.
I spent coutless hours onInternet, had a casemanager. There are resosurces but often you have to really, really dig. So far, we have avoided the oen thing that seems to be the biggest resorse for troubled teens, juvenile justice system.
Compassion
There seems to be more for over age 18 but even that it iseems like you have to advocate, advocate,advoccate.
I spent coutless hours onInternet, had a casemanager. There are resosurces but often you have to really, really dig. So far, we have avoided the oen thing that seems to be the biggest resorse for troubled teens, juvenile justice system.
Compassion
