The loved one of a patient recently shared her experience with the staff at the Park Center Walk-In Clinic, an affiliate of Parkview Health.
A few weeks ago, very early one morning, I got a call from a college friend of my granddaughter’s. The friend said Molly* (my granddaughter) had sent him several texts in the wee hours of the morning, saying that maybe it just wasn’t worth it anymore and that she had enough anxiety medication to end it all.
Thankfully, the friend took her seriously and called campus security, who took Molly to the hospital. I was frantic. I’d known Molly suffered from panic attacks and anxiety, but I had no idea that it was so bad or that she was contemplating suicide. I had two overriding impulses: get her home and get her help. The first was easily accomplished, but I had no idea where to go to get her help.
I knew a nurse who advised me to call the Park Center Walk-In Clinic, an affiliate of Parkview Health. The staff there was so wonderful and caring—and fast! A therapist was able to see Molly the very next day to talk about what she’d almost done and why, and then arranged for her to see a psychiatrist the day after that to discuss and regulate her medication.
Before she went back to campus to finish out the last few weeks of the school year, Molly had been stabilized on her meds, she had a phone number to call in case she needed help, and she had a session set up for a complete evaluation as soon as she was back home for the summer. Both of us felt much better and less alone, and Molly finished out her school year without further incident. I cannot recommend the professionals at the Walk-in Clinic enough.
*The names in this article have been changed to protect the identity of the subjects involved.
