Month: June 2019

Behavioral Health

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I pick Tim up around 11:30 a.m. from Charlotte Douglas Airport.  He had been in Canada for a week vacation with friends.  In the weeks prior to this he’d been having all kinds of stress at work. Difficult supervisor, HR and manager wouldn’t help, he thinks because rumor has it she’s got dirt on higher-ups. Then he was involved in a multi-car accident where the driver at fault fled.  We found out while Tim was in Canada that Tim’s car was totaled and we’re getting $4500 for it, which is actually more than we expected considering it had over 170,000 miles on it, but it’s going to be quite stressful for him to find a replacement car.  His “vacation” was a disaster. His four friends coupled up and he always felt like a fifth wheel. They were very insensitive to his feelings and to his input about their schedule.  There’s much more to that story.
Yesterday I took an eight-hour “Mental Health First Aid” class, so when I picked Tim up and he started crying, I was able to remain calm, used ALGEE and had Tim call the crisis number I’d been given. He’d been having suicidal thoughts all week and his depression was much worse than it’s ever been per self-report. I filled Will in and asked him to let me handle everything since I’ve been through suicidal ideation myself and have some idea how to help Tim. We got back to the house at 12:30 while Tim was on the phone with crisis counselor. They said they would send someone out within two hours and if no one could get out that soon, they’d send an officer to check on him. No officer came. Tim fell asleep on the family room couch around 2:15 and awoke just before 3.  He decided he’d call the hotline again at 3:45 if needed.
Frances arrived at 3:10. She apologized for it taking so long, she was out in Stanly County when she got the call.
We got to Behavioral Health at CMC Randolph just before 5:30.  I left just after 9 when they made the call to keep Tim overnight.