To go to A&E for mental health? I don’t feel like I’m properly me

[shouldigotohospital]

I’m not sure what’s wrong with me. Have tried 111 but an hours wait. Am known to crisis for post traumatic stress, but they shut at 8. I know where I am, date, time of day, who I am, but I don’t feel like I’m in my own body and feel weirdly scared of everything. Put the big stuff light out to see if I could sleep and had to turn it straight back on because I was scared there was something waiting in the dark.

Everything doesn’t feel real like it’s all in my imagination, heating and sight aren’t right and hands don’t feel right

I’ve never had this before

I’m not sure if I should go to hospital or not. Am only 10 mins in to hours wait. A&E is across the street. Can they do anything in this?

A CPN is going to call me to see if they need to admit me. I don’t think it’s psychosis but not sure.

They said not to go to A&E as chances are Iwould wait in the the waiting room 6 hours to be transferred to mental health unit anyway which isn’t in that hospital, it’s a different one.

I agree with @OnlyFannys . A&E will be a really stressful place to be and they are not really equipped to deal with these incidents.
Let a trusted friend or family member know how youre feeling. They may be able to join you but you might be able to deal with ghis yourself using grounding exercises. Here's a link to a reliable site but there's loads of others
https://www.lpft.nhs.uk/young-people/lincolnshire/about-us/whats-new/grounding-activity

Also the Samaritans are available 24hrs.
Call free 116 123
They're also trialing a text chat service but unsure if that's widely available.

You've already taken 2 steps to managing this. Firstly you've recognised that somethings 'not right'. Now you're reaching out and asking for help. You have a hospital across the road and a telephone to hand (your safety net) but I suspect you'll be able to handle this yourself. Try the grounding exercise and take it from there.

If you feel you need to go to A and E, please ignore people saying it is not appropriate. A and E has access to liaison psychiatry services, so if you cannot access your crisis team may be the best place for you to seek help if you feel you need it.

Please look at the NHS link posted above if you still need help and follow the advice. Don't feel.bad about going to A and E, a mental health crisis is just as much an emergency as a physical health crisis.

Hope you feel better soon

Hey OP, glad you are getting some support.

A&E is absolutely appropriate if you are in a mental health crisis, but 111 may be more helpful for people depending on their own circumstances. Most areas have 24/7 mental health support in lieu of the crisis team and 111 can direct you to the most appropriate one.

I also recommend Shout - you could even text them while you are waiting. Whatever happens reaching out isn’t easy and you are brave for asking for help tonight

Pretty surprised by some of the responses here. Mental health is absolutely something you should go to A&E for, if you feel able to. It’s such a wide and complex spectrum - just because you are ‘in control’ doesn’t mean you shouldn’t head there if you’re aware that something is wrong and it’s worsening. Saying that, calling a crisis line that specialises in mental health may be a good first option, so you’re not stuck in a waiting room with potentially other distressing and triggering incidents. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Some posters are giving awful advice. Do you really think every anxious person who feels a degree of derealisation/depersonalisation can go to a&e?? The service would be crippled.

i Would go now, next week is very unpredictable due to bank holiday then strike!

hope you are okay 💐

Thank you for the links, they did that on the phone. It did help a bit.

A and e is not just for physical injury. I think you should go. Partner is a mh nurse and although I've not discussed your symptoms with him as he's away with friends it sounds like you're experiencing derealisation which is very unpleasant and scary. I'd go and at worst wait a good while in a place you are safe and watched over. Take care x

No advice. I just wanted to wish you well op 💐

A&E dr here. We will and dosee everything and anyone is welcome to register, but if you aren’t actively suicidal MH won’t even be asked to review. Hope you feel better soon x

I'm glad you're getting help.

Someone’s going to phone before midnight they said.

You write as if the majority of people who goes to A&E should be there!

Absolute bollocks.

I hope you get the right help you need. Its not nice feeling like that.

Stay on here if you can. Would it help to talk to us about something that is always a happy thought for you?

Are you alone in the house? Do you have children?

Mental health crisis is a 999/A&E worthy emergency if you do not feel safe. If you need to go to hospital to get a sense of control over your current situation, feel safe and get help then I hope you've found your way to hospital.

I know it's already been suggested but well worth texting SHOUT while you're waiting for the call to come through. It might be a bit of a wait to be connected but they can and will help xx

If it's a new thing for you it's good that you're getting help, it might be that you end up needing to make a GP appointment for it after talking to them.

It does sound like depersonalisation. It can be a very scary feeling, but it doesn't mean anything is wrong with you or that anything has changed in your brain, it's just a coping mechanism springing up at the wrong time. Here's the nutshell version of my years long learning about feeling depersonalised:

1. Don't feed it while it's feeling bad - it doesn't 'go' anywhere, you don't turn insane, you don't have to keep monitoring it, and in fact constantly monitoring it is half the problem. Distract yourself rather than ruminating, treat yourself to some nonsense TV, eat chocolate, ask a friend to come round, do crosswords while listening to an audio book. When you wake up you'll probably feel way better. I don't mean that anything awful will happen if you do focus on it - it might feel like thinking about it will make you go mad, but it doesn't, it's just pointless. Say 'thanks brain, but there's really no emergency' and make a cup of (decaffeinated) tea.

2. Deal with the underlying issues - get into therapy, if one kind doesn't work try another, deal with the stuff you were 'over' years ago, or the anxiety that you can mask so well, or all the boundaries that you don't enforce to make other people's lives easier. Maybe change your relationship or job, if you know deep down that you're not in a good situation. The depersonalisation comes up when you've let that stuff bubble for so long that your mind thinks you need protecting from it, and the way to stop it from happening is to find and deal with all that underlying stuff.

I'm glad you are getting help OP. Hopefully. Hang on in there until midnight. It's really good that you have recognised these feelings before things get out of control. Sending hugs x

Well done for phoning and getting help.
People can be helpful on the internet, but they can only give advice mec you have been diagnosed.
you did the right thing calling for help.

Sorry but it's neither an accident nor an emergency, so no

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