家庭心理健康之旅:急診、疾病、康復(fù)、穩(wěn)定
In March 2010, Pam Lipp received the call she'd been dreading for months. She figured it would come from one of three places: the police, the hospital or the morgue.
2010年3月,帕姆·利普接到了一個(gè)她幾個(gè)月來(lái)一直擔(dān)心的電話(huà)。她想它可能來(lái)自三個(gè)地方之一:警察局、醫(yī)院或停尸房。
Instead, it was her husband, Doug, saying that he'd just received word that their 18-year-old daughter, Amanda, a freshman at Chico State University in California, was being held at a psychiatric crisis center after trying to throw herself in front of a moving car.
相反是她的丈夫道格打來(lái)電話(huà),他說(shuō)他剛剛收到消息,他們18歲的女兒阿曼達(dá)(加州奇科州立大學(xué)的大一學(xué)生),試圖跳到一輛行駛的汽車(chē)前,之后被關(guān)押在一家精神危機(jī)中心。
Amanda had lost her grip on reality and fallen into a state of psychosis. She'd started selling off her belongings and believed that cameras were following her everywhere.
阿曼達(dá)失去了對(duì)現(xiàn)實(shí)的掌控,陷入了一種精神錯(cuò)亂的狀態(tài)。她開(kāi)始變賣(mài)自己的物品,認(rèn)為到處都有攝像頭在跟蹤她。
Doug was away at a speaking engagement, so Pam jumped in the car with a friend and raced to the crisis center two hours away. When they arrived, they found Amanda, curled up in a ball on the floor in a fetal position, sobbing. "I was hallucinating. I thought I was a doctor. When my mom got there, I realized I was the one in trouble," says Amanda. "Nothing prepares you for seeing your child in such turmoil. I felt helpless," says Pam.
道格去參加一個(gè)演講活動(dòng),所以帕姆和一位朋友跳上車(chē),跑到兩小時(shí)路程之外的危機(jī)中心。當(dāng)他們到達(dá)時(shí),他們發(fā)現(xiàn)阿曼達(dá)以胎兒的姿勢(shì)蜷縮在地板上,抽泣著。“我產(chǎn)生了幻覺(jué)。我以為我是一名醫(yī)生。當(dāng)我媽媽到那里時(shí),我意識(shí)到我才是有麻煩的人,”阿曼達(dá)說(shuō)。帕姆說(shuō):“沒(méi)有什么能支撐你在這樣的混亂中看到你的孩子。我感到很無(wú)助。”
Amanda was soon diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a mental illness characterized by manic highs, depressive lows and possible periods of psychosis. Although the diagnosis provided a new direction to what had been an all-consuming journey for the Lipp family, it was just one stop on the bumpy road to navigating the mental health system. The Lipps are not alone: Nearly one in five Americans experiences a mental illness in any given year, but fewer than half of them receive treatment.
阿曼達(dá)很快被診斷出患有雙相情感障礙,這是一種精神疾病,其特征是狂躁情緒高漲,抑郁情緒低落,并可能出現(xiàn)精神錯(cuò)亂的時(shí)期。盡管這一診斷為利普一家過(guò)去筋疲力盡的旅程提供了一個(gè)新的方向,但這只是通向心理健康系統(tǒng)的坎坷道路上的一站。不僅僅事利普一家:每年都有近五分之一的美國(guó)人患有精神疾病,但接受治療的人還不到一半。
Early signs
早期癥狀
Amanda first started acting out when she was in middle school in Fair Oaks, California. She had extreme mood swings and explosive arguments with her parents. Pam and Doug, who run a small business together, hoped it was typical adolescent signs that would soon fade.
阿曼達(dá)第一次行為異常是在加州費(fèi)爾奧克斯上中學(xué)的時(shí)候。她的情緒極度波動(dòng),與父母發(fā)生激烈的爭(zhēng)吵。帕姆和道格一起經(jīng)營(yíng)著一家小公司,他們希望這是一種典型的青少年癥狀,很快就會(huì)消失。
Fighting for care
與治療抗?fàn)?/strong>
Amanda's bipolar diagnosis was a turning point — it meant that she could begin to receive the treatment she desperately needed. But it wasn't easy to find at first.
阿曼達(dá)的雙相情感障礙診斷是一個(gè)轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn),這意味著她可以開(kāi)始接受她迫切需要的治療。但一開(kāi)始并不容易找到。
The crisis center would only hold her for a maximum of 72 hours, and Amanda needed much more treatment than that. When Pam asked where her daughter would be sent next, the doctor told her Amanda would be discharged and likely end up back in the center.
危機(jī)中心最多只能收留她72小時(shí),阿曼達(dá)需要的治療遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不止這些。當(dāng)帕姆問(wèn)醫(yī)生她的女兒下一步將被送往哪里時(shí),醫(yī)生告訴她,阿曼達(dá)將出院,很可能會(huì)回到中心。
Figuring out finances
搞清財(cái)務(wù)狀況
While Amanda was in the hospital, Pam was gripped with fear over the treatment. "I was terrified that insurance would run out and we'd lose our savings and everything we'd worked for."
當(dāng)阿曼達(dá)在醫(yī)院的時(shí)候,帕姆對(duì)治療感到恐懼。“我很害怕會(huì)用光保險(xiǎn)費(fèi)用,耗光積蓄,失去我們?yōu)橹冻龅囊磺小?rdquo;
Live strong
堅(jiān)強(qiáng)地生活
Many families end up running into similar obstacles — they don't know where to go for proper care or they're worried about the cost. But there's also the stigma of mental illness that prevents people from reaching out because they fear that it might affect their jobs.
許多家庭最終都遇到了類(lèi)似的困難——他們不知道去哪里得到適當(dāng)?shù)闹委?,或者他們?dān)心費(fèi)用。但心理疾病的恥辱阻礙了人們伸出援手,因?yàn)樗麄兒ε逻@會(huì)影響他們的工作。
Finding hope
尋找希望
Hard-won strides in the area of mental illness helped Pam and her family get through the crisis intact, but it was a difficult road.
在心理疾病領(lǐng)域來(lái)之不易的進(jìn)步,幫助帕姆和她的家人度過(guò)了危機(jī),但這是一條艱難的道路。
"We're so proud of Amanda and everything she's overcome," says Pam. That doesn't mean she's stopped worrying. "We experienced a mental health emergency, an illness and a recovery, and now we're stable. But every day I wake up and worry, could she relapse?" For anyone with a history of psychosis, another breakdown is always a possibility.
“我們?yōu)榘⒙_(dá)和她所克服的一切感到驕傲,”帕姆說(shuō)。這并不意味著她不用再擔(dān)心了。“我們經(jīng)歷了心理健康危機(jī)、疾病和康復(fù),現(xiàn)在我們很穩(wěn)定。但我每天醒來(lái)都會(huì)擔(dān)心,她會(huì)復(fù)發(fā)嗎?”對(duì)于任何有精神病史的人來(lái)說(shuō),再次崩潰總是有可能的。