2 years ago, a friend on mine fell from a climbing wall (huge negligence issue - won't go into it). She fell 30 ft and used her arm to shield her head from impact. Her bone was mangled and flesh very torn. After spending a fortnight in hospital having her arm repaired, she was discharged.
Ever since, she's suffered terrible pain in this area and under close supervision of a really good Pain Team, has tried almost every form of pain control known to man. It just about manages it but on days where she's more active (has a physical job) she's in agony. She's on morphine now so her lifestyle has totally changed (no longer drinks alcohol, is careful about driving etc). They have literally tried everything to quell her pain. She has undergone more operations because they felt her nerve endings had shattered and re-wired/tangled). From a physical point of view, they can now only manage her pain - there are no more invasive options open for her. She's tried everything.
Ever since this accident, she also suffers terrible mood outbursts. They can be violent, and very, very upsetting for her family. She is now alone after her partner felt that he couldn't bear the mood swings. She doesn't blame him but she's not in a position to be able to explain what's going on. I've witnessed one and it was horrible. A complete mood change that changed her personality completely. Not like her, at all. She's also paying privately to see a Psychiatrist and he is able to help in the short-term (the man is a legend as far as I'm concerned - the time he takes to talk to her is fantastic, and he doesn't charge her half as much as what he usually rates) but in the long-term, he doesn't guarantee anything.
He's now referred her to a local Psychiatric hospital for assessment and she's worried about the stigma. I've tried too reassure her that, as her friends, we are behind her all the way, and we will support her as much as possible, as does her parents and sister. Her next appointment isn't for a fortnight, and she wants to know what to expect. Does anyone here have any idea of what'll happen to her whilst she's being assessed?
My very inexperienced thoughts are that they'll question her medication and also see whether she suffered any head-injury that wasn't detected whilst in hospital from her original accident. But this sounds vague and I want to be able to help her more. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.