Mentally Ill Teenagers Welcomed For Proper Treatment In Newly Opened Youth Behavioral Health Unit

Starting this month, teenagers between 13 and 18 who have a mental health problem and living in Washington State will be treated to the newly opened facilities at MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital. It is the very first health unit of its kind at Pierce Country, treating teens with anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, psychosis and major depression.

Statistics conducted by a mental health calculation in Pierce County showed that around one out of five teens between 13 and 18 will suffer a mental health problem in a given year. To combat the issue, MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital opened a new health unit with 27 beds that will shelter and treat teens age 13 - 18 with a mental condition. The facility was named Mary Bridge Adolescent Behavioral Health.

"Our state faces a significant shortage of treatment programs for youth and adolescents who need mental health care," Business Journals quoted Tim Holmes, the president of MultiCare Behavioral Health, as saying in a statement. "Here in Pierce County, we have had no options at all for patients under the age of 18 who were in need of inpatient behavioral health care," he added.

Teenagers with any of these conditions including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, psychosis, major depression and anxiety disorders will be treated in the new facilities. They will be admitted involuntarily, voluntarily as well as of commenced by their parents.

Teenage patients, regardless of the group they come into, all must meet criteria before accepted in the new facility. They must manifest proof of severe mental health disorder and should present a threat to others or themselves. On the other hand, they might have critical psychosocial issues. The stay in the health unit usually lasts around five - ten days.

The patients will undergo counseling, medication management, psychosocial assessment, psychiatric treatment, and evaluation. Moreover, the teens are going to be prepared to go back to their schools and homes.

The well-trained staff of the new facility will include a professional psychologist, psychiatrists, educators, social workers and nurses. "Our staff is going to be out on the floor with the kids all the time," The News Tribune quoted Chris Ladish, the neuro- and pediatric psychologist in Mary Bridge Children's Hospital, as saying.