Traumatizing mental health experience in A&E

[Flowersinthewindowstill]

I have had mental health problems most of my life , though never been in the system. Mental health issues mostly related to childhood trauma, which I’ve only just began to accept recently. A few days back I had what felt like a mental and physical breakdown. My legs would hardly function, I was hardly sleeping. I went to A&E as really wanted my symptoms checked out and had the most terrifying experience of my life. I appreciate I was experiencing mania and probably delusions but the whole experience truly made it worse.

When in the waiting room I wanted to leave and they wouldn’t let me. I did run out of the hospital but they came after me and were physically hurting me. I had to accept going back in. I had heard voices during this episode, which has never, ever happened to me before but they were positive. I was in a side room for hours with nurses and doctors. I made it very clear I had no intention of hurting myself or anyone if they released me, but they wouldn’t let me leave. They were also very vague about what was going on so once they sectioned me I was terrified. I walked around the wards a bit to try and talk to other patients.

I was then restrained by security. They struggled to restrain me even though I’m not that strong, and it took multiple people to do so. They kept getting rid of my partner and then calling him back. The nurse then asked him to leave. I was then restrained on a bed by multiple burly men who appeared to be roughing me up a bit on purpose. I was injected multiple times and given drugs. I didn’t really react much to the sedatives.

The next day I was finally seen by mental health doctors and social workers, who asserted they thought I was ok and could go home. I’m covered in terrible bruises and in quite a lot of pain now.

Is this a normal A&E experience for mental health or were theynparticularly bad? I now can’t leave the house and am more traumatised then I was going in.

Sorry OP, this sounds horrendous but you were refusing to cooperate. You were clearly not in a fit state to walk out of hospital. You required serious MH treatment and they had no choice but to bring you in physically when negotiation didn’t work.

It does sound like you needed to be sectioned for your own safety at that point but I would question why you were then sent home without any further support. I think that is a reflection on the dire state of the NHS MH system rather than on your need for treatment.
Do you feel like you need treatment now OP, although I can understand why you would feel traumatised by your experience yesterday? I’ve been restrained and forcibly medicated myself in the past but I can recognise that the staff didn’t really have much choice and they weren’t rough or unkind to me.

Who came after you when you first ran out of the waiting room, the police, I assume? As A&E staff or hospital security are not allowed to run after and restrain patients afaik

Sorry, I should have said they have offered me some support in the community, though I think they’re planning to discharge me soon. The people who restrained me inside the hospital were definitely security and they were definitely egging on my paranoia. I do realise looking back that I was paranoid and unwell, but my memories are pretty lucid of the whole thing (partner can verify), sonic suppose that’s why I had my concerns.

Thank you for the responses. Much appreciated. I am feeling much better now home, albeit shaken up.

You sound like you were absolutely given the correct treatment. You were not well enough to be discharged and were trying to access other wards and disturb other patients so they were correct to restrain you. Nobody wants to talk to a stranger in the midst of a breakdown when they themselves are having likely one of the worst days of their lives and the hospital has a duty of care to let other patients receive treatment in privacy.

Quite honestly a lot of MH “help” causes additional trauma imo.

If you were so unwell you needed to be physically harmed to be restrained it seems odd that you are suddenly fine to be booted out the next day.

What has your partner said about how you were treated ? Does he feel it was excessive or not to standard ?

If he does then I would consider putting in a complaint as while you clearly were unwell they should be trying to de escalate the situation not hurting to into complying.

Sounds about right. A&E can be brutal in the midst of a MH crisis.

You went for help and then tried to leave without it. What did help look like in your head?

You can't wander around wards disrupting other patients. You probably scared them, restraining you was the right thing to do.

Maybe it's time to engage in the community and see about getting all this sorted out.

I'm glad you're feeling a bit better. It must have been frightening for you.

Well, he thought I was unwell and needed to be given a sedative or benzo, something along those lines, but for the worst of the restraining (being pinned down on a bed) he wasn’t actually there as they’d insisted he go home.

I do appreciate I was probably seeing things in a somewhat distorted way but there were definitely some odd ‘jokes’ from the security people and the mental health professionals didn’t end up sending me to a psychiatric unit so it’s hard to know.

The fact you were suddenly fine to be sent home and were not actually admitted speaks volumes about what actual care you needed. Which presumably wasnt physical harm.

Unfortunately they probably have very little training on MH and how to deal with it.

I would speak to PALs as even if not a formal complaint situation I imagine they could learn from it.

I would also speak to your partner about never ever leaving you alone in a medical situation unless you are actually admitted.

They also wouldn’t let me have any devices such as a phone aside from when he was there.

I do think the fact you were sent home doesn't seem to fit well with the manner in which you were treated

What else do you think the hosp should have done?

The NHS is known for throwing the dangerously sick out, not taking them in.

You got treated.

Security do have to chase and restrain lots of types of patients - psychotic, demented, post-anaesthetic delirium, you name it.

It’s not personal. So sorry for you.

It’s probably more that she didn’t expect such heavy handed physical restraint to the extent it hurt her when she wasn’t trying to harm herself or anyone else.

Perhaps she even thought they would speak to her and offer her a sedative or other emergency medication while allowing her DP to be present for moral support. Shocking I know. 🙄

For those questioning why I don’t understand why the hospital did what they did I DO. I understand that people have to be restrained for all sorts of reasons. What I’m questioning is the severity of the treatment of me. 99% of this came from the security. The fact that I completely came to when interviewed by the mental health team, who actually understood why I was traumatised and had come in. I do appreciate I was in a real state, but I was never really told explicitly what was going on, which added to the trauma. I think if they’d been a little more explicit rather than dropping hints that added to the paranoia the outcome would have been much better.

I do get the incredible strain the NHS is under, but it does make you wonder how often this kind of thing happens.

By roughing me up I mean once I’d calmed down some of the security still continued to be overly rough, literally squeezing my legs at one point and making inappropriate jokes. Sorry if that’s a drip feed - brain is a little fried still.

Community nurses who are mental health professionals have also commented on how I seem basically fine now I’m out. I think the point is the dissonance between how I was treated, in particular by security, and the follow-up. Which is basically ‘we’ll support you, but you’re fine to be out of hospital and do as little or as much as you like.’

If you truly believe the security were 'roughing' you up on purpose while restraining you, you need to make a complaint to PALS. They have to investigate.

I think everyone's interpretation of the situation may be a little different and it would be good for you to speak with professionals rather than MN.

I was then restrained by security. They struggled to restrain me even though I’m not that strong, and it took multiple people to do so

So security struggled to restrain you, it took multiple people to do so, and you are wondering if it was right?

With huge kindness, you have to see it through their eyes, little you, who admits you arent strong, were putting up such a fight it took " multiple people" to restrain you.

After it taking multiple people to restrain you, how could they know, that you weren't going to fly off the handle again within minutes , they too were scared of being hurt, so not only were they protecting you, they were protecting everyone around you

It’s probably more that she didn’t expect such heavy handed physical restraint to the extent it hurt her when she wasn’t trying to harm herself or anyone else

They didn't know that though. The OP was wandering around trying to talk to other patients. It would have been obvious that there was a mental health crisis going on. It would have unnerved people.

A&E get extreme mental health cases. They can't judge who will harm or won't.

Plus we've only got one side of the story.

I'm not sure what is wanted here. A complaint? If security weren't professional then absolutely complain. It's always worth getting all the info from everyone who was there rather than getting one interpretation of it.

Unfortunately a lot of ancillary care professionals are not trauma trained and don’t know how to deescalate and comfort a person who is manic, erratic, and out of control. The fact that they physically restrained you is concerning—either they overreacted or you were behaving so erratically that they did not know what else to do.

Either way it sounds horrendous but they may not have had the bandwidth to treat yoyr acute episode. Do you have regular psychiatric care? Medication? A plan for crisis care? This is something that you should have in place so you aren’t starting from scratch just hoping you meet the right people with the right approach in an emergency.

What else do you think the hosp should have done?
It’s not personal. So sorry for you.

There are so many comments like this on this thread. 😢

No compassion, no gentleness to an OP who has gone through a total nightmare and is vulnerable. She experienced a traumatic event through no fault of her own and is trying to cope with it. The thing is it is personal to the OP. Imagine getting physically harshly handle when you are already scared and not coping.

OP, sorry this happened. No doubt, people in an acute crisis can be difficult to handle, unreasonable and even dangerous. However, while it's possible that they needed to restrain you for safety reasons, I doubt the individuals involved are respectful, compassionate, or considerate at all times while carrying out the restraint. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for such situations to be handled in ways that disregard patients' dignity and wellbeing. Hope things shape up for you.

Well they did. She told them.

I believe you. I've been threatened with security unnecessarily in A&E more than once. The last time was for asking repeatedly for a sick bowl for my friend. I actually laughed when they threatened to call security because it was so preposterously out of proportion. I think they've got far too used to calling security these days, likely because of previous bad experiences with difficult patients.

It does sound excessive and traumatic. A&E is not in a position these days to care for patients having a mental health crisis. You needed quiet and calm, peaceful voices, and speedy assessment. You deserved that and it's cruel that this was their alternative.

OP, of course it’s horrible for you - the stuff of nightmares. Be very nice to yourself and try and recover - hospitals can
be fairly tough places.

I have awful experience in A&E too. To be fair, A&E is not the best place for MH issues, as it is not something that can be fixed easily and rapidly. The staff there just want to move you off somewhere else, or home.

Sorry to hear this.

In my area there are out of hours mental crisis hubs (Mind operate them near me ) and the purpose is to avoid A/E. May be worth a google - for the future

That sounds horrendous OP. Take photos of the bruising, write out the awful 'jokes' that were made and complain to PALS what happened to you. I can imagine thugs 'enjoy' the job of security at a hospital where they can taunt and be rough with vulnerable people who may not be believed afterwards. No one can argue with bruises though or the fact that you were fine to go home the very next day so really can't have been that ill.

Make a complaint to PALS.