Monday, November 06, 2006
'Medically vulnerable' find haven at Harborview - Seattle P-I
Center aids cases complicated by drugs and mental illness:
... There was a woman who'd jumped out of a moving car and now had multiple head injuries -- in addition to a cocaine and methamphetamine addiction, depression and suspected neurological problems; another patient, treated previously for bipolar disorder, had attempted suicide by jumping off a highway overpass and now had multiple fractures in her spine and legs; a 47-year-old man was found unable to walk or speak because he had suffered a stroke -- as well as testing positive for cocaine; and a 59-year-old veteran, diagnosed with depression and panic disorder, recently suffered adrenal failure. The list continued.
"It's the perfect storm of patients with medical, psychiatric and substance abuse overlaps" ...
In general, only the acutely mentally ill -- schizophrenics or psychotics -- can expect treatment in the state system ... Those struggling with depression, lacking insurance and getting by on low-level wages, often fall through the cracks.
...
Blanca Gonzalez, 39, struggled to keep her job as a kitchen worker while battling alcoholism and became such a frequent visitor to Harborview's emergency room that doctors there knew her on sight.
An uninsured single mother, Gonzalez had visited various clinics, complaining of gastritis, ulcers and other stomach problems.
"But it was really undiagnosed alcoholism," said Robert Ries, director of Harborview's outpatient psychiatry and addictions program.
Emergency room doctors eventually referred her to treatment, and now, six months later, she said her entire life has changed. ...
Center aids cases complicated by drugs and mental illness:
... There was a woman who'd jumped out of a moving car and now had multiple head injuries -- in addition to a cocaine and methamphetamine addiction, depression and suspected neurological problems; another patient, treated previously for bipolar disorder, had attempted suicide by jumping off a highway overpass and now had multiple fractures in her spine and legs; a 47-year-old man was found unable to walk or speak because he had suffered a stroke -- as well as testing positive for cocaine; and a 59-year-old veteran, diagnosed with depression and panic disorder, recently suffered adrenal failure. The list continued.
"It's the perfect storm of patients with medical, psychiatric and substance abuse overlaps" ...
In general, only the acutely mentally ill -- schizophrenics or psychotics -- can expect treatment in the state system ... Those struggling with depression, lacking insurance and getting by on low-level wages, often fall through the cracks.
...
Blanca Gonzalez, 39, struggled to keep her job as a kitchen worker while battling alcoholism and became such a frequent visitor to Harborview's emergency room that doctors there knew her on sight.
An uninsured single mother, Gonzalez had visited various clinics, complaining of gastritis, ulcers and other stomach problems.
"But it was really undiagnosed alcoholism," said Robert Ries, director of Harborview's outpatient psychiatry and addictions program.
Emergency room doctors eventually referred her to treatment, and now, six months later, she said her entire life has changed. ...
Labels: drugs, mental illness
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