Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

An epic fail when it comes to mental health

Peter Elias, MD
Physician
February 11, 2013
178 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share

Sometimes the health care system just does not work.

I had seen him one week earlier on a Friday afternoon, accompanied by his estranged wife. They were there because of concern about increased depression. He told me that he had stopped taking his lithium and paroxetine (Paxil) several months earlier because he felt they weren’t working. He also readily admitted to having returned to the habit of drinking one or two six-packs daily and more on weekends several months before the medications stopped working.

As the story evolved, I learned that he had stopped going to work and then was fired. He had no energy or ambition. He was not sleeping either well or regularly. This visit had been precipitated because he had gotten angry with a neighbor and tried choking him. When I asked him if he had had other times when he considered doing things that might harm others, he said that he had been driving around with his loaded gun, feeling very angry and wondering if he would feel better if he shot somebody, and whether it would be better to shoot somebody he knew or a stranger.

We talked briefly about the fact that his medicines might have stopped working because of the alcohol, but that he was now dangerously depressed, and that the options were to go directly to the crisis unit for admission or, if he refused, I would call the police. He readily agreed to admission. “That’s why I’m here doc. I need help before it’s too late.”

His wife drove him straight to Crisis in the hospital across town, where he was evaluated. They called and told me the decision had been made to admit him.

I was now seeing him in follow-up. The story he told me was unbelievable – but was confirmed by his paperwork and a phone call to the hospital emergency department.

He had indeed been seen and evaluated by the nurse practitioner on call, and was felt to be seriously depressed and “at major risk for harming himself or others.” Because it was late in the day, there was no open bed at that moment on the psych floor, and the psychiatrist had already left for home, he was kept overnight in the emergency room for admission in the morning. During that time, he underwent the standard and appropriate metabolic screening and a physical exam by the emergency room physician whose note confirmed the patient’s description of events.

Early Saturday morning he was visited in the ED by an intake worker. She reviewed the chart and spoke to someone on the psych floor, after which she explained to him that he did not need inpatient care. He was discharged home with (written) instructions to see his primary care physician so he could be restarted on his medications. He was also told to call for an outpatient counseling appointment after the weekend.

When he called, he was told that the counseling sessions were currently booking out to the fall but that he would be put on a waiting list, and that if he felt he needed services sooner, he should contact his primary care physician or return to the Crisis Unit in the ED.

We contacted a friend to make sure he no longer had a gun. We restarted him on his medication, which he agreed to take. Five days later he was brought back to the ED by the police who had been called by a friend. He was intoxicated and threatening to drive his car into the river. He was kept over night and then transferred to a psychiatry floor in a neighboring community for a two week stay followed by intensive outpatient therapy.

He’s doing much better.

Peter Elias is a family physician who blogs at his self-titled site, PeterEliasMD.

Prev

Needle exchanges: When the perfect is the enemy of the good

February 11, 2013 Kevin 1
…
Next

OpenNotes in geriatics: 6 awkward concerns

February 11, 2013 Kevin 5
…

Tagged as: Psychiatry

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Needle exchanges: When the perfect is the enemy of the good
Next Post >
OpenNotes in geriatics: 6 awkward concerns

More by Peter Elias, MD

  • A doctor’s coronavirus straight talk

    Peter Elias, MD
  • It shouldn’t be so hard for patients to correct their medical record

    Peter Elias, MD
  • 10 rules every primary care doctor should read

    Peter Elias, MD

More in Physician

  • From solidarity to co-liberation: Understanding the journey towards ending oppression

    Maiysha Clairborne, MD
  • Finding peace through surrender: a personal exploration

    Dympna Weil, MD
  • The struggle to fill emergency medicine residency spots: Exploring the factors behind the unfilled match

    Katrina Gipson, MD, MPH
  • Beyond the disease: the power of empathy in health care

    Nana Dadzie Ghansah, MD
  • How to overcome telemedicine’s biggest obstacles

    Harvey Castro, MD, MBA
  • The patient who became my soulmate

    Anonymous
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

      Katie Klingberg, MD | Physician
    • The real cause of America’s opioid crisis: Doctors are not to blame

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
    • Healing the damaged nurse-physician dynamic

      Angel J. Mena, MD and Ali Morin, MSN, RN | Policy
    • The struggle to fill emergency medicine residency spots: Exploring the factors behind the unfilled match

      Katrina Gipson, MD, MPH | Physician
    • From physician to patient: one doctor’s journey to finding purpose after a devastating injury

      Stephanie Pearson, MD | Physician
    • Breaking the stigma: Addressing the struggles of physicians

      Jean Antonucci, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • The hidden dangers of the Nebraska Heartbeat Act

      Meghan Sheehan, MD | Policy
    • The fight for reproductive health: Why medication abortion matters

      Catherine Hennessey, MD | Physician
    • The vital importance of climate change education in medical schools

      Helen Kim, MD | Policy
    • Resetting the doctor-patient relationship: Navigating the challenges of modern primary care

      Jeffrey H. Millstein, MD | Physician
    • Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

      Katie Klingberg, MD | Physician
    • Why are doctors sued and politicians aren’t?

      Kellie Lease Stecher, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • 5 essential tips to help men prevent prostate cancer

      Kevin Jones, MD | Conditions
    • Unlock the power of physician compensation data in contract negotiations [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • From pennies to attending salaries: Why physicians should teach their kids financial literacy

      Michele Cho-Dorado, MD | Finance
    • From solidarity to co-liberation: Understanding the journey towards ending oppression

      Maiysha Clairborne, MD | Physician
    • Changing the pediatric care landscape: Integrating behavioral and mental health care

      Hilary M. Bowers, MD | Conditions
    • Contract Diagnostics is the only firm 100 percent dedicated to physician contract reviews

      Contract Diagnostics | Sponsored

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 5 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

CME Spotlights

From MedPage Today

Latest News

  • Pregnant, Black? Here's Your Drug Test
  • Progestin-Only Birth Control Linked to Small Increase in Breast Cancer Risk
  • Fatty Acid Tube Feeding May Backfire for Preemie Breathing Disorder
  • Case Reports Detail Vision Loss Linked to Recalled Artificial Tears
  • Admin Trumps Med Students: Anti-Abortion Group Allowed on Campus

Meeting Coverage

  • Outlook for Itchy Prurigo Nodularis Continues to Improve With IL-31 Antagonist
  • AAAAI President Shares Highlights From the 2023 Meeting
  • Second-Line Sacituzumab Govitecan Promising in Platinum-Ineligible UC
  • Trial of Novel TYK2 Inhibitor Hits Its Endpoint in Plaque Psoriasis
  • Durable Vitiligo Responses With Topical Ruxolitinib
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

      Katie Klingberg, MD | Physician
    • The real cause of America’s opioid crisis: Doctors are not to blame

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
    • Healing the damaged nurse-physician dynamic

      Angel J. Mena, MD and Ali Morin, MSN, RN | Policy
    • The struggle to fill emergency medicine residency spots: Exploring the factors behind the unfilled match

      Katrina Gipson, MD, MPH | Physician
    • From physician to patient: one doctor’s journey to finding purpose after a devastating injury

      Stephanie Pearson, MD | Physician
    • Breaking the stigma: Addressing the struggles of physicians

      Jean Antonucci, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • The hidden dangers of the Nebraska Heartbeat Act

      Meghan Sheehan, MD | Policy
    • The fight for reproductive health: Why medication abortion matters

      Catherine Hennessey, MD | Physician
    • The vital importance of climate change education in medical schools

      Helen Kim, MD | Policy
    • Resetting the doctor-patient relationship: Navigating the challenges of modern primary care

      Jeffrey H. Millstein, MD | Physician
    • Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

      Katie Klingberg, MD | Physician
    • Why are doctors sued and politicians aren’t?

      Kellie Lease Stecher, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • 5 essential tips to help men prevent prostate cancer

      Kevin Jones, MD | Conditions
    • Unlock the power of physician compensation data in contract negotiations [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • From pennies to attending salaries: Why physicians should teach their kids financial literacy

      Michele Cho-Dorado, MD | Finance
    • From solidarity to co-liberation: Understanding the journey towards ending oppression

      Maiysha Clairborne, MD | Physician
    • Changing the pediatric care landscape: Integrating behavioral and mental health care

      Hilary M. Bowers, MD | Conditions
    • Contract Diagnostics is the only firm 100 percent dedicated to physician contract reviews

      Contract Diagnostics | Sponsored

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today iMedicalApps
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

An epic fail when it comes to mental health
5 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...