Mental Illness: Where to go?
 

A family member of mine is suffering from depression and often uncontrolled emotions.

She has never seen a doctor about this...and we are the only ones she talks to on this issue.
We try to help and console her whenever we could, but I think it has gotten to the point we should seek professional help.

We don't have any experience in dealing with mental illness, so I am hoping someone here could give us some direction?
e.g. where should we go and who should we contact first? How do we go about getting a proper diagnosis and treatment for her?

For something like this she should go to her family GP or a recommended doctor, they will be able to help her with medication and recommend her for further help. Make sure she understands where she is going so she's not blind sided and pushes back which is very common since a lot of the time people do not want to accept they have a mental illness.

Like he said ^ said take her to her GP. If the GP sucks and just wants to prescribe some drugs plead to be referred to a specialist instead. The specialist will know what to do
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Doesn't Kevin Beiksa have some mindcheck website thing?

mind check | ever wonder? ?

Do not ask Revscene for advice.
Do not search the Internet for answers.
Go directly to your GP along with affected family member.

If you truly care about and love your family member, be it your siblings, parents, grand parents, uncles, aunts, etc - Going to your GP is the best thing you can do right now.

Medication can only do so much. You have to remember that it should be used in moderation. The other medication is your time, love, patience, and dedication towards your family member. Good luck!

Yes, going to the GP should be the first stop, but as someone who works in the field, you may not get very far. They can prescribe drugs and they can try to refer you out...but that may only involve them giving you a general referral and telling you to find a psychologist/psychiatrist on your own. A private psychologists will run $175 - $200 per hour and a psychiatrist covered under MSP who is taking on new patients can be hard to find.

Try the GP first and if that leads to a dead end you can also try The Mood Disorders Association of BC http://www.mdabc.net/ - at the very least they have support groups, but may also be able to help find a practitioner

You can search for counsellors and support through bc211 Home

Someone also mentioned Mind Check mind check | ever wonder?

i agree with bcrdukes, medication can only do so much. dont pump them with too much medications as it will just have long term side effects or make other things worse. patience, dedication and a lot of attention will help at this point. Make her think of positive thoughts and always try to bring her back to reality if she starts straying into uncontrolled emotions. But definitely go to your GP and talk about this first.

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I agree with bcrdukes here. Great advice as usual. Good luck OP.
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If her condition worsens, you can head to one of the major hospitals. They usually have a psychiatrist on call during the day.

STFU TOS'd

Some people may think this is absurd or unnecessary, but I would suggest going to the GP as an entire family (if possible.) This way, the GP will take the situation more seriously and so everyone directly affected understands the procedures and processes.

It also shows the family member who is suffering from this illness that you all care and want her to be better.

Hi, I work in a relevant field. GP isn't reliable for mental health cases. Since you said this is her first time, you need to bring her to either VGH or SPH (These two hospitals have good mental health departments in the Lower Mainland) and check in to Emerge and tell the Triage nurse what the issues are. Once she's checked in, she will be consulted with an Emerge physician AND a psychiatrist. If she's deemed to be in danger of harm herself, she would be certified, placed in a psychiatric ward and her rights will be taken away for the next 48 hours. What this mean is that she had to be kept in the hospital and to be further assessed by the phychiatrists, depending on her mental stability, she might have be kept in a seclusion room but thats only if she shows signs of endangering others or herself. Medication will be given and a care plan will be thought out. i know this is very overwhelming and a lot of new patients usually freak out when they see the seclusion rooms but as long as youre legitimately looking for help, the psych nurses will make your stay as comfortable as possible though the food will be a hit and miss.

So what happens next would be the psychiatrists deciding how severe the mental illness is, if it's not as bad, she would be discharged and be referred to the outpatient psychiatrist. If its bad, she would be re-certified and stayed longer in the hospital, though she would be transfer to stabilization units within the hospital for longer stays. In this case, she would be seeing a psychiatrist every day and also given medication three times a day. The doses will be depending on the severity of the illness as well as under the doctor's discretion. Again, once she's stabilized enough, she will be discharged and sent back to the community. But she would be following a community psychiatrists and prescribed with regular medication that she has to take regularly. (Most patients come back because they missed taking medication regularly and relapsed)

Feel free to ask me any questions.

EDIT: Also, if she refused any professional help but the family or friends feel that she is endangering herself, you guys can call the police and they can apprehend a person under section 28 of the Mental Health Act. What this means is that, the police can legally transport her against her will to the hospital to get get help.

Great advice from Chronix and bcr. The only thing I want to emphasize is that mental illness will NOT be like treating other ailments where you can take a certain drug, or do a certain action for x weeks/years and be all better. You and your family need to be dedicated to their well-being for the long term, and it's not going to be an easy path.

Does she get proper vitamin D? What about her diet... how many fruits does she eat a day?

Some mental illness stem from bacteria (Lyme bacterium) or arthritis where the immune system is attacking the brain.

:suspicious:

could also be thyroid issues... just follow what was suggested by chronix

My mom killed herself over a decade ago, she had emotional problems as well but I think a lot of it was caused by the fact that she was bored. She didn't have any challenges or hobbies that kept her focused and excited. Depression, at least in my experience and my mom's, has been hugely related to feeling "stuck" in life.

Obviously this is different for everyone but in my personal opinion depression is a spiritual disease

i don't know if anyone here listens to am980, but talk show host jon mccomb has been public about mental health issues that he has had and is dealing with.

hopefully there is some info here that can help:

https://www.facebook.com/VGHUBCHospi...?stream_ref=10

What can you do if she doesn't acknowledge her issues but is not a threat to harm herself or others?

I bet she's highly intelligent. Also, what does she do for a living?


Because I make easy money and I can live like such a free spirit, I rarely go through any serious depression.


If I had to work 9-5 and I were broke, I would kill myself for sure(Unless seriously medicated or had something to occupy my time/mind fully)

i duno if any of what im about to post will help but here goes:

my mom suffered from depression due to the fact that was struggling with english which drove her nuts (she really wanted to blend in with canada for us), she had metal break downs a lot & i didnt really remember if she got any help (i was 6 to 7 years old)


i on other hand suffer from depression because i always thought i was useless & in seems that everyone has been tell me about that, my dad was a great man that went to university in the states, worked in big companies & made big money (aka a smart bright man)

i on the other hand was nothing like him, i failed at everything i did, school always questioning my dad, i always get yelled at & i kept thinking that my family broke apart was because of me (my dad divorced my mom when i was 9)

i never really told anyone, at one point i really thought about killing myself but i duno why i didnt do it, i never seek any help cuz i thought these so called professionals are mostly bs (i know someone that paid 300 an hr just so the psychologist can say "im sorry i cant help, its your own problems"

i ended up having a new lease on life by seeing how fortunate i am to be living in this world, my best advice is if u do seek help try to spend more time with her & do things with her, try to stay positive

im 25 & i feel down from time to time, i still talk to myself & blame myself for everything that has got wrong with in world, i always have to force myself to stay positive or else i be off the track

i duno how much of this would help but this is just a little insight on how i dealt with my problem (sorry if i jacked your thread OP)

The other medication will also only do so much. The time, love, patience, and dedication of family and friends is truly invaluable, but they will not always be able to provide what a person that is suffering needs. Because where a person may feel uncomfortable talking to a family member about issues such as abuse, they may feel very comfortable talking to a counselor about it and working through it with them. I would, personally, encourage my family and friends to go this route rather than the GP route. Medication is often only covering issues that lead to depression or emotional mood swings, whereas counseling can address it.

I think you posted this in the counseling thread, and I think I responded, but in case I didn't, or for others that haven't read it, this is dead wrong: "so called professionals are mostly bs."

You're an example of a person that would benefit from counseling rather than medication, in my completely uninformed opinion. Although it sounds like you've got things on track. :woot2:

Does she even want to be helped?
Its a genuine question.
when someone is in this state of mind, its really tough to just " snap out of it".
They first need to realize that help s there and that theyre willing to seek it.

if she's under 25 have her contact the Kelty Mental Health resource center, she can go on their website, call or email them Child and Youth Mental Health Resources in British Columbia, Canada

the mindcheck.ca website is under the kelty mental health and fraser health

other good websites are:

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i think she does, if not she would have kept it to herself & not told anyone
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