Help Is Available in California
If you are struggling with your mental health, a San Diego crisis center can help you regain control and gain a solid foundation toward a healthier, happier life. People will often avoid necessary treatment for mental health issues for many reasons, especially continued stigmas surrounding mental health treatment. Every year, tens of millions of Americans struggle with a mental health disorder, and only about half get the necessary treatment. You should know you are not alone and there are several options for getting the help you need.
Alter Mental Health is a San Diego crisis center offering an alternative to inpatient hospitalization. Our mental health treatment center offers around-the-clock medical and emotional support from a team of qualified, caring clinicians and nurses. Clients are able to get the immediate care they need in our safe, non-hospital setting treatment center. As a Joint Commission-accredited facility, you can trust our commitment to providing high-quality, effective care.
What Is a Mental Health Crisis?
A mental health crisis is when a person’s emotions, behaviors, and thoughts can put them at risk of harming themselves and/or others or being unable to care for themselves in ways like accessing food, shelter, and clothing. Mental health crises can be triggered by stressful events and do not necessarily happen only to those with previously diagnosed mental health disorders. It can happen to anyone at any time, impeding the ability to care for themselves or make decisions.
How Can a Crisis Center Help?
San Diego crisis centers provide 24-hour observation and support by trained clinical staff to stabilize a person so they can take the steps needed to manage their mental health. Crisis centers provide a safe place to heal while a team of clinicians identifies and treats the issue or issues at hand. They will begin the treatment process through various evidence-based therapies, medications, and at times holistic methods to stabilize your mental health condition and get you on the path to long-term recovery. Comprehensive treatment centers will ensure you have a plan and resources in place to continue with treatment and avoid future crises before being discharged.
A crisis center in San Diego can help people struggling with the following mental health disorders:
- Generalized anxiety disorders
- Panic disorders
- Trauma and PTSD
- Bipolar disorder
- Major depression
- Personality disorder
- Schizophrenia
- Schizoaffective disorder
10 Signs It’s Time to Call a San Diego Crisis Center
People may not seek the help they need for mental health issues because it can be difficult to independently identify the signs and symptoms. Often, people may feel like they will eventually snap out of it or think they can try to push through the pain, which may lead to worsening symptoms. It may not always be clear-cut when experiencing a mental health crisis or needing help.
A person does not need to experience a total mental health crisis to get help from a crisis center. Mental health symptoms can quickly deteriorate; if you feel overwhelmed by these symptoms, a crisis center may be able to help you. Although every person’s experience with mental health issues is unique, some signs that it is time to call a San Diego crisis center include the following:
- Intense feelings, worries, fears, or sadness: While we all experience some feelings of anxiety or depression at times, it may be time to call a San Diego crisis center when these feelings become intense, you cannot shake yourself out of them, or they interfere with your daily life.
- Withdrawing from others or isolation: It is also normal to feel you need your alone time. However, frequently wanting to be isolated or no longer engaging in activities with loved ones you once enjoyed can signify a mental health crisis.
- Increased risk-taking behavior: The person may exhibit high-risk behaviors such as driving fast, driving under the influence, violence, substance abuse, and risky sexual behaviors that are out of character for them. Research has shown that specific mental health conditions have been linked to changes in risk-taking behavior, such as bipolar disorder, anxiety, and depression.
- Abrupt changes in mood: Mood changes can indicate a psychiatric disorder, especially extreme mood swings. The person may quickly switch from feeling happy and elated to angry and agitated.
- Changes in sleeping or eating habits: Mental health problems can affect a person’s appetite and how they sleep. They may sleep too much or too little, experience intense fatigue, or have unhealthy eating habits. These changes can also contribute to worsening mental health symptoms.
- Lack of self-care: People may not care for themselves, such as bathing, brushing their teeth, or changing their clothes. Changes in appearance can be an indicator of a mental health crisis.
- Self-medicating or substance abuse: An individual experiencing mental health crises may use drugs or alcohol as a way to self-medicate. Substance use disorder can lead to addiction and co-occurring disorders.
- Feelings of agitation, anger, or violence: A person in a mental health crisis can experience new feelings of irritability, restlessness, moodiness, and feeling annoyed, especially in situations they may not have otherwise felt that way before.
- Experiencing psychosis: People in a mental health crisis may experience some loss of contact with reality. The person may have difficulty recognizing what is real and what is not, including paranoia and hallucinations.
- Self-harm or suicidal thoughts: If a person is exhibiting self-harming behaviors or experiencing thoughts of death, including suicide, they may need help from a crisis center. Suicidal thoughts and planning may be a medical emergency requiring immediate care from a hospital or calling 911. You can also call the Suicide and Crisis Helpline at 988 if there are suicidal tendencies present.
What Makes Alter Mental Health’s San Diego Facility Unique?
Alter Mental Health San Diego provides access to alternative inpatient hospitalization for acute mental health crises. We use trauma-informed, evidence-based therapies to create personalized treatment plans that will help stabilize mental health disorders. Our crisis stabilization unit (CSU) offers short-term treatment in a non-hospital setting, reducing the anxiety and isolation that many people experience in emergency hospital situations. To ensure clients receive the individualized care they need, our CSU only accommodates 16 or fewer clients at a time with a high clinician-to-patient ratio. Part of our unique treatment programs includes long-term care resources and planning so clients can successfully integrate back into home life with enough support. We also incorporate holistic methods such as nutrition and recreation services for a whole-person approach, which can be vital to recovery.
Call Alter Mental Health for Help From a Top San Diego Crisis Center
Alter Mental Health specializes in PTSD Treatment in San Diego and can provide immediate, professional intervention if you or someone you love is experiencing a mental health crisis or nervous breakdown. Our San Diego crisis center provides clients with the type of therapies, around-the-clock care, and safe environment needed to regain control of their mental health. Comprehensive treatment programs are able to treat most mental health disorders and provide the necessary aftercare plan for successful long-term recovery. Please call us today at our confidential helpline at 866-986-1481 to talk to one of our assessment counselors and begin the admissions process as soon as possible, or contact our team online. We’re ready to start helping you today.
