Treatment and Recovery of Slit Wrists
Hello, all!
I've actually found a good deal of what I'd like to know, but I'm hoping for more in-depth information, as well as checking my sources and facts.
Setting: Northeastern US; we'll say Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for ease of reference, but it's in that general area.
Time: Modern day
Search Terms: "wrist slitting", "deep wrist laceration treatment", "hospital treatment cut wrists", "deep laceration home care", read the Wikipedia page on suicide methods, found a Youtube video re: laceration care and treatment, and this page. I found this Snopes page, too.
Character A is an adult man, 25 years old. He is reasonably tall (The low end of the 6-foot range, a little more than 182 cm), skinny (But otherwise healthy), and he has bipolar (II).
During a very bad depressive episode, he slits his wrists parallel to the arm. The cuts are deep, enough for a lot of blood (That scares the soul out of his discoverer), but not enough to kill him. If I can get away with him only nicking an artery and not making a huge hole or anything, cool, but I won't be disappointed if I can't.
He is aiming specifically for a gory, painful death, which is why I went for the slit wrists (He believes he deserves it). However, I don't mind having him try to OD on pills if this is implausible; I need a really scary scenario that nevertheless results in failure, and Character A surviving, preferably with some nasty scars.
What I would like to know is:
1) How long would he need to be in the hospital to recover from his injuries?
2) Other than stitches, what kind of treatment would he get? The story begins with Character A in a hospital bed, and his discoverer flipping out at him. If I were to illustrate this scene, what would Character A look like, in terms of how he's in the bed, any bandages or things he might be wearing, etc.?
3) What kind of home care would he need, after his release?
4) How long would it take for his injuries to be healed enough to live normally? I understand that, because of the injuries to the wrist, they might be stiff to move. How much would they scar, with proper procedures taken into account?
I'm pretty solid on the psychological side of treatment; I'm aware of the mandatory 72-hour suicide watch, and it's possible that Character A might need to stay in the hospital a little bit longer, because his suicidal urges are pretty serious. He will be going into therapy, and I have some pretty good sources on how the treatment of bipolar II would go, re: medication.
Thanks a lot for any help you may be able to give me. I really appreciate it. c:
I've actually found a good deal of what I'd like to know, but I'm hoping for more in-depth information, as well as checking my sources and facts.
Setting: Northeastern US; we'll say Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for ease of reference, but it's in that general area.
Time: Modern day
Search Terms: "wrist slitting", "deep wrist laceration treatment", "hospital treatment cut wrists", "deep laceration home care", read the Wikipedia page on suicide methods, found a Youtube video re: laceration care and treatment, and this page. I found this Snopes page, too.
Character A is an adult man, 25 years old. He is reasonably tall (The low end of the 6-foot range, a little more than 182 cm), skinny (But otherwise healthy), and he has bipolar (II).
During a very bad depressive episode, he slits his wrists parallel to the arm. The cuts are deep, enough for a lot of blood (That scares the soul out of his discoverer), but not enough to kill him. If I can get away with him only nicking an artery and not making a huge hole or anything, cool, but I won't be disappointed if I can't.
He is aiming specifically for a gory, painful death, which is why I went for the slit wrists (He believes he deserves it). However, I don't mind having him try to OD on pills if this is implausible; I need a really scary scenario that nevertheless results in failure, and Character A surviving, preferably with some nasty scars.
What I would like to know is:
1) How long would he need to be in the hospital to recover from his injuries?
2) Other than stitches, what kind of treatment would he get? The story begins with Character A in a hospital bed, and his discoverer flipping out at him. If I were to illustrate this scene, what would Character A look like, in terms of how he's in the bed, any bandages or things he might be wearing, etc.?
3) What kind of home care would he need, after his release?
4) How long would it take for his injuries to be healed enough to live normally? I understand that, because of the injuries to the wrist, they might be stiff to move. How much would they scar, with proper procedures taken into account?
I'm pretty solid on the psychological side of treatment; I'm aware of the mandatory 72-hour suicide watch, and it's possible that Character A might need to stay in the hospital a little bit longer, because his suicidal urges are pretty serious. He will be going into therapy, and I have some pretty good sources on how the treatment of bipolar II would go, re: medication.
Thanks a lot for any help you may be able to give me. I really appreciate it. c: