When is a mental health crisis too severe for telehealth? Warning signs families shouldn’t ignore
“If someone is becoming suicidal, psychotic, manic, unstable or unable to function, the clinician has to consider whether that person needs to be seen in person or needs a higher level of care,” Alpert, author of “Therapy Nation: How America Got Hooked on Therapy and Why It’s Left Us More Anxious and Divided,” told Fox News Digital.
“The priority has to be getting an accurate picture of what’s going on and keeping the patient safe.”
Benefits and drawbacks of virtual care
Telehealth plays an important function in mental healthcare and offers many benefits, Alpert noted.
“As a provider, I can see far more people in a day doing virtual therapy than I could if I were doing in-office treatment,” he told Fox News Digital.
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For the patient, it eliminates the commute to the therapist’s office, which could be a limitation for those with busy schedules.
“So it does allow more and better access to care in many cases, but it does have its limitations if someone has a severe psychiatric disorder,” Alpert said.
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There are certain things about a patient’s appearance — such as hygiene, movements, agitation, intoxication or general behavior — that aren’t as obvious on Zoom, he noted.
“Someone can pull themselves together for an appointment and look relatively fine for 30 minutes even though they’re falling apart outside of it,” he said.
Signs that in-person is best
If the patient keeps getting worse despite frequent appointments, that’s a big warning sign, according to Alpert.
“At some point, the treatment plan has to change, whether that means seeing the person in person, getting an emergency evaluation or moving them to a higher level of care,” the expert said. (iStock)
“More appointments aren’t necessarily more treatment,” he told Fox News Digital. “If someone is becoming more suicidal, paranoid, manic, disorganized, aggressive or simply unable to function, you can’t just keep scheduling another video call and assume that’s enough.”
“At some point, the treatment plan has to change, whether that means seeing the person in person, getting an emergency evaluation or moving them to a higher level of care.”
“It’s helped a lot of people get care who otherwise might not.”
Article source: https://www.foxnews.com/health/mental-health-crisis-severe-telehealth-warning-signs-families-shouldnt-ignore