Day 5- June 3rd Crisis Unit

Today I was on the first floor of MHMR, where all the action takes place…The Crisis Unit. This is the floor where patients walk in to seek care; some have more urgent needs than others if they are facing a breakdown at the very moment.

The most intense part of the day was visiting the ER room. I shadowed one of the workers at MHMR to evaluate a patient and assess whether or not he was in need of psychiatric help. This patient had broken the window with his bare hands late last night when he was drunk and so the police brought him to the ER. Once his BAC was lower, we arrived to see him. He did not mention any thoughts of suicide or any thoughts of hurting others. He claimed he was under a lot of stress and things just went out of hand. Past records show that he gets out of control when he drinks.
We then met with the mom and sister. Sister, brother and sister’s boyfriend all live in an apartment together. Mom lives with her new husband separately. The siblings just recently moved to El Paso due to issues back at home. But family issues were far from over. Mom mentioned the brother touched his sister when they were younger. As soon as those words came out, sister began to cry after trying so hard to keep it in. She didn’t want us to know. She was obviously still not over it. And yet, the mother claimed “They have it good. I found an apartment for them.” I could not comprehend what the mother was thinking when she said that. She seemed very selfish. What the sister was and is going through is separate from the purpose of the original visit. The brother was referred to a couple of substance abuse organizations and was not identified as in need of psychiatric help. 45 minutes later, once all the paper work was filled out, the brother will be discharged and will continue to live with his sister.

When I returned to MHMR, I sat in on three evaluations that would determine whether or not the individual is in need of psychiatric help. I felt like I was intruding in on their lives by sitting in, but the individuals were very open. One of them even thanked me and I simply sat in the assessment without saying a word.