Suicide an hour after discharge for Mental health issues?

[Silverstarqueen]

I was suicidal as a teen. I have depression. A multipronged approach is best, IMO. I have a supportive family. I have meds to bring my brain (more or less) back into balance. I have also learned coping skills, to keep my thoughts from spiraling out of control. To recognize when they do. I have family and friends who act as touchstones to let me know when I am developing tunnel vision. I have a fairly healthy lifestyle and I exercise to produce endorphins. I have learned how to deal with anxiety, through breathing and focusing on solutions. Do not discount being taught the ability to cope - it was a lifesaver for me then, and still is now.

What scares me - truly terrifies me, is the trend happening in the European countries. They consider depression as a logical reason for euthanasia. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/belgium-woman-24-granted-euthanasia-death-depression-article-1.2276577

It would certainly give the system here an "out" from expensive treatments and programs.

I am glad that you survived this terrible condition Lady tehMa and that you continue to do everything possible to keep yourself healthy. No doubt getting all that in place does not happen overnight, and takes time to accomplish. No question that people need skills to deal with this condition, as they would with any serious longer term or chronic illness.
It goes without saying that there have to be checks and balances in place to be sure that a person has had all possible medical help, family support, and enough time to recover (which can take months or years), before someone steps up to offer Euthanasia as a solution. It would seem bizarre if Canada, at it's current state of affairs, neglects to treat Suicidal mental illness, but would then offer Assisted Suicide , wouldn't it. (Not saying it could never happen).

[the truth]

the mother in this story has a long history of mental health issues, guess it got passed down to her son

[Silverstarqueen]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.3569530

[whatwhat]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/burnaby-general-hospital-suicide-1.3569530

Unfortunately, stories like this are very common.

Working with people with mental illness, I have had KGH discharge people and just send them out with a cab voucher, a zip lock bag of loose medications, and in no condition of being discharged in the first place. Many times they are being discharged late at night, with no communication to their case worker or staff working with them (even though they have been given direct instructions by the psych to do same). I have had to literally drive a client right back to the hospital 15 minutes after they had arrived home because they were still in an unstable mental state.

I really hope they are able to make some changes to discharging patients, especially when it comes patients whom suffer from a mental illness.

[whatwhat]

the mother in this story has a long history of mental health issues, guess it got passed down to her son

Not quite sure where you are getting this "fact" as the article saying nothing about the mother's mental health history.

And even if the mother did have a history of mental illness, that wouldn't effect the hospitals part in not calling her before releasing her son.

[Silverstarqueen]

To my mind, not calling the mother was a secondary issue.
The bigger problem is that they released this young man when he was in no condition to be released.
Did he sign himself out against doctors orders, or did they really deem him releasable, without any support?
We as the public, and probably even the mother will never know the truth.
And that is part of the problem, the hospital authorities don't seem to be accountable to the public.
So do we go to the health minister about that, or where does the buck stop?
The health minister will say it's up to the doctor to decide who is healthy enough to release.
The medical personnell will never share or be accountable, citing "patient confidentiality".
Nothing will change, because it doesn't have to change.

[Silverstarqueen]

I've been thinking about this issue of calling someone for pickup after discharge. Even though I still think it is a secondary issue, after all if you are discharging a well person, wouldn't be so much of a problem, there is still something that doesn't smell right here.
I know from the experience of a family member, and others have also posted here, that they are discharging unwell people. The instance I know of, was a person who had attempted suicide by taking an overdose, was taken to hospital and treated, but was still so affected by the medication they could barely walk. No family member was called for pickup, no cab called, and this person had no money on them to call, and the patient was simply sent out the door, in the dark of night. This patient basically had to walk (approximately three kilometers) home at night, fairly terrified, and had trouble seeing the unlit road, let alone walking a straight line. Not really a problem though, since they were suicidal anyhow, being struck by a vehicle would only have been a welcome conclusion to their problem as far as they saw it. There was no follow up plan in place for this person to get medication or an appointment with their doctor.

As it turned out, even an appointment with the doctor would not have made any difference. Since the doctor had already been notified by the patient that they were struggling with suicidal thoughts, and the doctor had done NOTHING about it. Public adverts nowadays say people need to "reach out" "get help" etc. Well this person had already done all that, repeatedly.It took about two years to get a referral to a doctor who had a clue how to treat this patient, and with medication (the typical medications did not help at first), and counselling was beginning to make a good recovery as an outpatient, plans to get back to work, arrange daycare etc. But a few weeks into the treatment, the doctor was basically driven out of town because the local doctors didn't agree with his methods. Leaving his patients without treatment, and no referral to a replacement doctor.
Huh?
This is a system in serious need of fixing.

In the long run, it was discovered this patient had a physical reason (not addiction) for their mood swings and inability to "cope", which might explain why the typical medications did nothing for them. All the counselling in the world is not going to help someone much if their actual physical illness is not addressed. Why weren't physical conditions tested for as part of the process?

[mysideofthings]

i've struggled with varying issues and varying severity for most of my life. i am lucky to have periods of relative stability now, but there is no telling when things will get worse. in that case, there is not much that really can be done for me which is scary. there are points where there is little ability to see outside of things or being able to verbalize how bad it is or even reach out for help because there is not always warning either for me to do so. in my worst times, the hospital wouldn't be an option for many reasons, though having a safe place definitely would help.

i don't think the hospital is always really a safe place either due to many factors. they are often understaffed and not as knowledgeable as they should be on the varying mental health issues that people struggle with let alone effectively being able to help a person through a crisis (i.e. i had personal experience years ago being told my issues weren't the 'worst' they had seen). the hospital also isn't able to individualize treatment, so people don't generally stabilize before discharge unless their issue is actually chemical where a medication can help improve it. that is where more programs need to come in place, day programs, more long term things when outpatient therapy and/or weekly groups are not enough and inpatient admission is not needed. it's a gap that just never seems to be closed.