Psychiatric Emergency Services

“I don’t remember too much around the time I went here due to my mental health crisis, but I will never forget how I was treated in a place intended to help the mentally ill in a time of crisis. I am a Bipolar I who lost access to my medication a year ago. I went to the ER when I was in crisis and was instructed to go to PES asap and get on medication. My boyfriend had to speak for me due to me being in active crisis. I have joint issues in both of my knees and was barely able to move around the facility due to me losing my knee braces while I was in crisis (bipolar I mania makes you very scatterbrained). The way I was treated by staff intended to help the mentally ill launched me into a full blown panic attack. They were hyperfixated on my knee issues and started trying to imply my partner was abusive. Not at all the case, he was trying to help me communicate when I was too ill to. The ER was called since the treatment I received launched me into a full blown panic attack. PES could have saved me and is set up to save people from psych ward stays with undertrained technicians who are often incredibly abusive. No person in active crisis should experience the treatment I experienced. If you mentally equipped to assist the mentally ill, which the young man around my age dealing with me obviously wasn’t, don’t work in a mental health facility. It’s very obvious the staff here have absolutely no training on crisis management, had they have possibly had that (and mobility aids, chronic pain often aggravates people with mental illness and that seems like a thing any medical facility should have), I could have been assisted. Instead, they called EMS who escorted us out the building as if I was some sort of criminal. The most heartbreaking thing they said to my partner is ‘you did everything right, these places just don’t really care about people in crisis’. They obviously thought I was some drugged out homeless woman. I’m a software consultant with an apartment and all I needed was to get back on my meds, hence going there. Because of the lack of care from an ‘emergency services’ facility, I was put in an inpatient facility where I was physically and mentally abused for days. PES was my final hope and they failed me. You guys aren’t an emergency service, you actively failed me while I was in crisis. Because of my experience and the stigma I faced, I’ve actually been inspired to try to get people together to open a facility that ACTUALLY cares about people in crisis. PES should not be a person like me’s final hope. To the staff at this facility: if you’re going to treat mentally ill people so badly they’re having panic attacks because they’re scared of you, don’t work for a psychiatric emergency service. You harmed the wrong bipolar young woman, and I promise you that I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure a place like this isn’t any young woman’s final hope before being abused senselessly at an inpatient facility. None of the employees or care staff I saw that day should be handling people in psychiatric facilities. The disgust I have for this facility has inspired me to contribute to the change Austin desperately needs for the mentally ill.”

“As an inpatient I was treated very well and got the help I needed. I found a calm environment there even though there were other patients there who also had a variety of seriously troubling conditions. The staff was considerate and every one of them called me by my first name from the minute I arrived. It was so soothing and kind to be treated as an individual person and not a number. Seriously. All of the staff, from receptionist to janitor, from cafeteria staff to security staff remembered my name. I got the help I needed and will always be grateful.”

“I've been here twice now, once for me and once for my friend. For me they helped me get started with their clinic to replace the psychiatrist i used to be on that stopped taking my insurance. For my friend who needed hospitalization and had been treated poorly by Seton Medical Centre, they called all the hospitals until they found one that had space for her. Their compassion and willingness to do what was needed to help was wonderful. I do wish there were more on-site services. There aren't doctors on the weekend and they are always too busy on the weekdays to get everyone to see a doctor who doesn't show up basically the moment they open. I imagine they need more funding, which isn't really their fault, more the fault of the state of our mental health care in this state.”

“Omg!! the reviews are just not good. I agree It is important to address any challenges that arise regarding the mental health of patients. For those working here, it is not the job for you if you get frustrated or overwhelmed. You must have a high level of patience and concern but most of all understanding. After all, they are all someone's loved ones.”