 So I think it's pretty well known that when you're in a crisis or dealing with intense mental health difficulties, A&E is probably the worst place you could be. However, today I wanted to talk about A&E and mental health. It's deemed a bad place to be just because it's a very high stimulating environment and when you're in crisis or struggling, being in a low stimulating environment is actually better for your mental. A&E certainly is not a low stimulating environment. Welcome back to my channel if you're new here. Hi, hello, I'm Lydia and today I'm doing a video like I said talking about A&E and mental health. Honestly, I did think I had already made this video but as it turns out I haven't so today I'm doing that. Now I want to do a disclaimer before I get on with this video and just say this video is based solely on my own personal experience as well as what I've seen others go through. Another disclaimer is I'm not saying to not seek help for your mental health at all. You should always, always seek support when you need to. I just wanted to make a video to give you some insight into what actually happens when you go to A&E because of your mental health, because there's not actually that many videos on it that represent truly the full process. It's just mental health but I want to go through every single step of what happens when you step through the door of A&E. I will never forget the first time I went to A&E for mental health. It was terrifying. I was convinced they wouldn't let me leave. I believed all the stigma. I had no idea what to expect. I was also really overwhelmed by how busy it was and how intense the whole experience was as a whole. For the sake of this video I'm going to go on what happens when you go voluntarily to A&E so you take yourself to A&E. As with anything in A&E, when you first arrive you have to book yourself in and what that is is you give your personal details so they know who you are. They find when the system may print you out a medical bracelet thing. They ask you for a reason as to why you're there. So all you have to say is I feel as if it was like that. And that's it. You don't have to go into details. You don't have to explain anything. You just say the reason you're there and then you wait to be called in. Honestly you shouldn't feel ashamed when you're in A&E. You shouldn't be afraid to say why you're there. They've heard it all. They've seen and heard everything. You are not going to shock them. You're not going to surprise them and they're not going to be afraid of you. I just want to jump in and say reaching out for support is a huge deal and that's a huge recovery win. The next stage is to go through triage. In this part you speak to a nurse and you give more information of the way you're there. So you start to talk and open up about why you're suicidal, why you've gone to A&E, what meds you take, all the bits and pieces of information. You still don't have to display everything but the more information you give them, the better it is, the more you can help you with. This is a necessary step. This is how they prioritize who they see first and how they allocate bed space. And honestly in this stage I have completely brought down crying because I didn't know what to do. I felt so afraid and intimidated by everything going on. I just brought down crying and that's okay. It's okay to cry. Once you've spoken to someone you're usually then taken to a cubicle or a waiting area. A doctor at some point will come and speak to you and at this point you'll be asked about everything. They ask you the questions about your current situations and whatever they feel they need to ask in that moment. Assuming all goes well and that you are medically clear and medically stable, you will then be referred to the psychiatric liaison team in A&E. The psychiatric liaison team or a team of people who come and see you usually one or two people and they basically assess you and give you the outcome of what's the next step. A huge misconception about going to A&E. A lot of people think if you go into A&E and say hey I'm suicidal they're gonna section you. When in reality a lot of the time people go home afterwards. An admission through cycle A isn't very common. They usually refer you to a crisis team or back to your community team for an urgent appointment. Remember this is different for everybody. No two people are the same. No two people are given the exact same plan. Now we talk about the joy that is the mental health liaison team. I've had my first year of experiences with them. I've had some good. Once you've been medically cleared the psychiatric liaison team will come down and speak to you. This is usually a support worker or a social worker and sometimes a consultant. They want to keep you as safe as they can while also keeping you as least restricted as possible. They don't want hospital hygiene. They come to an outcome and they go from there. They can vary from going home to being further assessed under the mental health act. I am going to do a video at some point talking about the mental health act because I talk about it a lot in videos and I'm not convinced everyone who watches these videos actually knows what a mental health act assessment is. Honestly though if you need help don't be afraid to get it. Don't be afraid to go to A&E to ask for help. They are there for a reason they have a job to do. They are there to protect you usually say. A quick little thank you to my Patreons, Junk Shop Library and Sky High Tower. Thank you for being Patreons and if you'd like to support my channel there are links in the description down below which would mean the world. My Amazon wish list at the moment is getting ready for me to move out. I wasn't going to announce this publicly. I haven't spoken about it publicly. Me and Bekro have actually split up now and we are separating. However our tendency doesn't run out until April so I just wanted to put that in here. It's an emotional thing and I don't want to talk about it publicly. But yeah my Amazon wish list in the description are things that will help me out with a move of and it's massively appreciated. Thank you for anyone who watches this video and if you are struggling I really am sorry for what you're going to throw. Thank you for watching and I'll see you guys soon with a new video. Peace.