Overheard in the Emergency Room: Mental Health Crises and Provider Bias
It’s time to retire “jokes” made at the expense of those in crisis.
Once, while in the ER for a complication related to my chronic illness, I had a room situated next to the nurses' station. One of the nurses asked a resident standing nearby what specialty they were interested in. The young resident mentioned that they wanted to go into psychiatry. The nurse was surprised but said it was great to hear because they need more providers in that field.
Then she made a joke offhand: “You should’ve been here during the full moon this past weekend; the waiting room was full of crazies.”
Neither the nurse nor the resident was likely aware that I could hear that conversation, and the nurse probably wasn’t thinking about who might overhear her comment.
Neither of them knew that I was one of the “crazies.”
I wish I’d spoken up and called out the nurse on her bias. Since I didn’t have that opportunity, here are a few things I would want both her and the resident to consider:
Mental illnesses are serious chronic illnesses.
Due to the sometimes unpredictable nature of psychiatric crises, it’s not uncommon for…
