Taking Your Child to the Emergency Room for a Mental Health Crisis


I recently came across this "open letter" from a parent about the experience of taking your child to the Emergency Room as the result of a mental health crisis.  The author, Julia Johnson Attaway, does a beautiful job of speaking to the fears that parents may experience when faced with this incredibly difficult decision.

As a School Psychologist, we complete Suicide Assessments with our Student Services colleagues - including Social Workers and School Counselors - more often than any of us would like.  I've seen firsthand the anxiety on a parent's face when they arrive at school to pick up a child who has expressed a desire for self-harm.  It's never easy to explain the options for seeking emergency mental health assistance, but I will definitely bookmark this article to share with parents in the future, in an effort to try to make this process a little easier for them.  I truly hope that none of our readers will ever need this information, but wanted to pass it along for anyone who might find it helpful.


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