Any advice for becoming a psych inpatient

Cooperspale

Hi, i need some advice for my brother in his 40s.
He has depression and is pretty much in crisis. 2 years ago he had a stroke but it wasn't picked up until a scan 3 months after it occurred. At the same time he had been made redundant and he just thought that memory and vision loss were stress from that. He was living alone after a relationship breakdown so had bad diet and big smoker. He also fell out with a friend he shared a hobby with. It all got too much and eventually we got him admitted to st pats in Dublin. He stayed there 6 weeks or so and they were the ones who organised the scan and found the stroke evidence.

He moved in with my parents after this but has been plagued by issues mostly headaches, memory recall, a couple of DVT, finding more clots in his head and the clotting agents not working. So as a consequence his mood has really declined steadily. He has become paranoid that people are talking about him etc and spends most of the day in bed and rising in the afternoon then keeping night hours where he obsesses about his memory loss and only ventures out at night to go to the shops. I contacted the relevant stroke organizations but it's all very decentralized and it was only in July he got an appointment to be assessed and tbh not much came of it. I organised for him to see a psychotherapist and he attended maybe 6 sessions.

He took up a job in March but only lasted a month because he had a major bleed after a workplace accident (warfarin doesn't help) and then he got a debilitating headache and was admitted to hospital where they found more clots.

So he moved back in with my parents. My mother does a lot for him, maybe too much at times. He's fed and washed for. So since then his mood has declined. Up all night, bed most of the day. Even when his daughter stayed in August he only got up in the afternoons. This past week he has been talking about ending things, even contacting an ex who contacted me. So my mother wants to get him into a hospital. She tried on Tuesday to get into a public small hospital but they wouldn't take him without a brain scan (Stroke), he spent the night on a trolley in st vincents with my mother in a chair beside him, only to be told next day that he didn't need a scan as he had one in March. He said several times that he was fed up of life but the doctor talked him round and they were sent home Wednesday afternoon.

We then tried to get him into st John of God, but they have refused. The GP is stumped but thinks maybe the case is too complicated. He won't go to st pats as he's paranoid about a staff member who resembles someone he is totally paranoid about.

And now it's the weekend and nothing happens in the health system on weekends.
Sorry for the long long spiel but maybe someone here has some advice for us. TIA

fits

I have no advice but did not want to read and run. a close friend of mine now deceased after a fall went through similar. It’s really hard to get services. So much falls on the family. I wish you well.

Big Bag of Chips

I suppose a psychiatric hospital would be wary of admitting someone with a complicated (recent) medical history, as they are not a medical hospital and would not have the resources and expertise to treat an acute, or chronic medical issue. If really is up to the GP to find out the best and most appropriate place for your brother. And I would not be accepting them telling you they are "stumped". It is part of their job to liaise with colleagues and services and look for advice. I would be phoning, calling in, sending letters on a daily basis until the GP found out what can be done.

Edit: You could also try contact your local Community Care centre. There are community doctors and public health nurses who would probably know more about services that are available to your brother.

Foweva Awone

Ring the St Pats information line, the number is on the website and there'll be someone on even over the weekend, they really are very good. He's far better to go back to where they have his history on file. Explain the situation with the staff member; they may well agree to put him in to a different ward, in my experience there is plenty of flexibility in that regard. Good luck!

LegacyUser

I'm sorry to hear about your brothers current situation.

It stood out to me that he won't go into Pats because of paranoia, does he have care in the community support and a social worker?

If not I would try and get some support that way also, if your brother is paranoid they may find other reasons not to go somewhere else. I wish I knew what other options your brother had regarding the hospitals but maybe you can speak to his GP and provide information and ask for advice the doctor cannot provide you with any information about your brother but you can provide him information about the paranoia and ask for advice regarding services.

AndrewJRenko

Are you absolutely certain that inpatient services is the best thing for him?