On television, a hospital emergency department looks a lot like the show 911.
When you are bleeding or in great physical pain, you want the quick evaluation and decision making of an ER. But what if the pain is mental or emotional?
“Well, it's been said that time is the psychiatrist’s best friend, which is an oxymoron. That just does not happen in the emergency department,” said Clint Thurgood who oversees Behavioral Health Crisis Services for Intermountain Health.
Thurgood says we’re all just two days away from needing help ourselves.
“I think that really highlights how we as humans, we all have experienced suffering…experienced grief. We all have those bad days,” he said.
If you or someone you love is going through a mental health crisis, it's difficult to get an appointment with a therapist immediately. But there is help available.
Intermountain Health has three access centers for people who are in emotional distress including one at LDS Hospital, McKay Dee Hospital, and St. George Regional Hospital. The centers are meant to be quiet and restful and are staffed by psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, and counselors.
Like an ER, they aren't about long-term care - they're about an appropriate intervention leading to the right care. And like an ER, they are about cutting through bravado. For people willing to say, I'm not fine, but I want to be.
“It's really a shift in culture. And it's a shift in thinking as well that mental health or mental illness or mental disorder should not be seen as a as a failure of someone's character,” said Thurgood.
Intermountain Health’s access centers are also the most cost-effective option for mental health emergencies.
Click here find a center near you. Or if you or a loved one are experiencing an urgent mental health crisis, call 988.
