[jtassar93]

I was just wondering about everyone's experience when going to the ER.

I'm no good at talking, so I was wondering if I could write a note and bring it with me instead?

If I go to just an urgent care building and not the hospital will they send me to a hospital?

[Victoria'smom]

I write it down and hand it to the nurse that takes your Blood presser. They still make you talk but it's easier. I just go straight to the ER and put psych admition as Reason why you're there.

[BipolaRNurse]

If they have one, they put you in a bare, isolation room where all the medical equipment is locked up so you can't hurt yourself. At my hospital it's called the psych room or suicide room. You get to tell your story to the triage nurse, the receiving nurse, the ER doc, and the consulting psychiatrist. There's a security guard who watches you and of course all the ER staff knows what you're there for and they keep an eye on you too. I did manage to sneak off to the bathroom once when people's backs were turned, but otherwise they were pretty cautious around me. It took six hours to be transferred to the psych unit, which was fast compared with a lot of the incidences I've read about here.

All in all, the ER wasn't a bad experience, but it's one I'd like to not repeat. Some of the ER folks knew me from when I was a nurse at that hospital, and I was rather embarrassed to be there looking like crap and feeling worse.

[coffeebuzzbuzz]

It was different for me. Last year I had a major breakdown at my former job. I quit on the spot and just fell apart. Everything I had hated about that place came out at once and I could not calm down. I called 911 since I was working graveyard shift and didn't have anyone to talk to. My boss ignored me too.

Well, the ambulance came, asked me what was wrong. I told them(while crying and shaking) that I am bipolar and having a nervous breakdown. They calmly took me to the hospital. I went to a regular room in the ER and was left alone. It was like I had gone in for a twisted ankle. I am actually glad it happened that way. I was able to calm down faster compared to them making a big deal about it.

Maybe because I said I was not going to hurt myself. Possibly.