Overwhelmed In The ER: Georgia's Mental Health Crisis [View all]

A lot of us have probably been to the hospital emergency room: For a broken bone, an asthma attack, the flu. Chances are, it wasn’t the best experience. Long wait times in crowded lobbies. Doctors shuffling back and forth through the hallway. Cold, sterile rooms.

But that experience can be much worse if you step into the ER with a mental health emergency. And yet, Georgia’s emergency rooms are where patients often go during a mental health crisis – and at times, patients can be stuck there for days waiting for a space at a psychiatric facility to open up.

‘I Got Isolated In A Room. It Was Scary.’

Ten years ago, Catherine Knight, a divorce attorney, was on her way to represent a client in court for an important trial. She was driving on Interstate 285 when suddenly she started to see and hear things she said she knew other people couldn’t see or hear. She pulled over to the side of the freeway.

“It wasn’t scary, but it was strange,” Knight said. “It was like a waking dream state.”

Read more: https://www.wabe.org/overwhelmed-er-georgias-mental-health-crisis/