NAMI-Yolo - a chapter of NAMI, the Nation's Voice on Mental Illness
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How Do I know when
it's an Emergency?

Families and friends sometimes have a difficult time making the hard decision to phone for emergency help when a family member or friend with a psychiatric disability is experiencing severe symptoms.  Sometimes the situation is clearly an emergency. Other times, it's not so clear, especially when a person's psychiatric disorder is emerging and/or family members and friends are inexperienced. Here are some guidelines from NAMI-San Francisco to help:

The situation is an emergency when your family member or loved one is:
  • Inflicting or attempting to inflict serious bodily harm on another.
     
  • Gravely disabled: unable to provide for own food, clothing, shelter to the extent that death, bodily injury or physical debilitation might result without treatment.
     
  • Attempting suicide or behaving as though he or she intends to follow through with verbal threats.
     
  • Mutilating or attempting to mutilate himself/herself.
     
  • Acutely distressed by hearing or seeing things which do not exist.
     
  • Expressing serious thoughts about hurting themselves or someone else
     
  • Experiencing uncontrollable anxiety or anger.
     
  • Having a severe reaction to psychiatric medication.