Mental Health & Institutions in Holland
I'm trying to find information on how the Dutch do inpatient mental health care. I know here in the US, you can go to a hospital, say you're having suicidal ideations, and they'll admit you (generally speaking--I'm summarizing my sister's experience
( Read more... )
Paxil is the drug Paroxetin, sold as Paxil in the US and as Seroxat in the Netherlands. I found a website with apothecary's information which said that Seroxat is only available with a subscription from a doctor/psychiatrist. So if your character is taking it, she will certainly be known to at least one person as using it. So that might be one person to reach out to - her psychiatrist will know the right channels to reach out to. S/he will probably not be pleased that the character stopped taking the drug because apparently the side effects of stopping are quite horrid. (But, again, this is just from what I found through Google, I have no experience with this myself.)
Like Lied_ohne_worthe mentioned, going to the ER is not usual here for psychological problems; the option would probably not even occur to me, since in my mind the ER is only for physical injuries! She probably could though, I mean, it's a hospital. But like her psychiatrist, they would know the appropriate channels to reach out to and they'll send her there, or given the cities you mentioned they probably have 'in-house' treatments.
For Rotterdam, the main hospital would be the Eramus MC. They have a website in English! eramusmc.nl
For Amsterdam, it'd be the AMC (Amsterdam Medical Centre). amc.nl, though sadly it doesn't seem to be available in English.
She can also call her 'huisarts' (family doctor) who will, again, call someone else. During the night there will be another doctor filling in for her own doctor or she can call the 'huisartsenpost' (family doctor post) which can answer questions in case you hurt yourself and you're not sure what to do or whether it's severe enough to call an ambulance or go to the ER. I actually called them myself once, years ago, when I thought I was dying and it turned out I was 'just' having a panic attack. The lady was kind enough to stay on the phone for almost an hour until I'd calmed down. :) But they'll also send people over if need be, or call an ambulance for you.
With all three options - psychiatrist, hospital or family doctor - your character will end up at the 'crisis dienst' (crisis service). She can also call them herself; they are available 24/7 with a team of psychiatrists, psychologists and psychiatric nurses. They can also arrange a short stay, 'crisisopvang' (crisis stay/shelter). For longer stays, she will have to be admitted to either a clinic or a hospital; I think clinics are more usual here, they are known as 'GGZ instellingen' (GGZ institutions - the acronym stands for geestelijke gezondheidszorg, 'mental health care'). It will help if she has a psychiatrist to 'vouch' for her, who has her medical history on file.
Involuntary commitment is extremely rare and needs involvement from the police, a a judge and an impartial psychiatrist (so not the one treating the patient) who decide that the person in question is such a danger to themselves and their environment that they need to be committed. It's very unlikely this will happen to your character as she is still only thinking about taking all her medication and is not otherwise an acute danger to herself.
(Continued in next comment.)
Reply
Leave a comment