My search for a psychiatric bed in an overburdened health system

My Search for a Psychiatric Bed in an Overburdened Health System

By Helen Santoro If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting “988.” Eight days before my 33rd birthday in April, a social worker at a crisis clinic near Denver determined I was an imminent danger to myself. She placed me on an involuntary 72-hour mental health hold. What came next wasn’t treatment, but a search for a bed. Clinic staffers called area hospit…