"Not being supported when in need"

My partner had not slept in 115 hours and I took them to the Albany Emergency Department mid-morning. They gave my partner 6 x 25mg tablets of quetiapine and sent us home.

Based on my observations, I believe my partner was not appropriately assessed or seen by a mental health professional. I went home and my partner became delirious and frightened so I gave them 25mg, waited an hour and gave them another 25mg, then waited another hour and gave them another 25mg. They fell asleep for 4hrs.

When my partner woke up they were better and then became delirious and scared again. I took them back to the emergency the following morning, early, as they had not slept again and were confused and constantly talking about things that weren't real. I told the emergency department that I was scared of my partner and they were delirious and I felt they were at high risk of misadventure.

I felt the doctor was not compassionate when my partner was delirious, saying they were someone else and ranting about untrue stories. My partner did not know what day or date it was, they answered questions incorrectly and were unable to follow questions from the doctor, often asking them to repeat them 3 or 4 times and talking off track of the questions about people they referred to as "imaginary". The doctor gave me a print out of sleep hygiene and sent me home with my partner saying they just need sleep. I believe my partner was scared, I was scared, we needed help and we were turned away twice without a proper assessment from a mental health professional.

We stayed awake at home a couple more hours before going to community health. When we arrived we were spoken to by a nurse who immediately grabbed the doctor and took us to an interview room where my partner was quickly formed under the mental health act as their delirium made them unable to be voluntary. 

I believe my partner's condition of Wernicke encephalopathy syndrome at such a young age could have turned out to cause permanent brain damage and has high mortality rates. 

Thank you to the doctors, nurses and psychiatrist, Kelly, at the Albany Community Mental Health department for being so thorough in their testing, compassion to their patients and giving my partner the best possible chance of recovery.

This experience has been traumatic for both myself and my partner as we felt we were not listened to and turned away by the people who I believe are supposed to help us. The psychological impact is profound.

I hope that no one else ever has to go through this experience. In my opinion, the processes for people who present to ED seeking help with mental health issues need to be re-assessed.