Where's that post about what happens in the ER?

April 3, 2008 8:53 AM

I can't find the comment about what happens when you show up at the ER for a mental health issue. I'm pretty sure it was in an AskMe thread posted by an anonymous person with bipolar symptoms, and I'm pretty sure it was sidebarred. (Is there a sidebar archive? Pony request!)

Thanks in advance.

posted by desjardins to MetaFilter-related at 8:53 AM (18 comments total)

This one, maybe?
posted by TryTheTilapia at 9:09 AM on April 3

Seems like the right thread, though I thought I remembered a longish comment by someone who actually worked in the psychiatric unit of an ER.
posted by desjardins at 9:33 AM on April 3

My comment, which isn't all that extensive, in that thread was in response to a request for this kind of information.
posted by OmieWise at 10:04 AM on April 3

(If nothing else, I'm happy to see the last follow-up in that thread, which I missed the first time around.)
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:22 AM on April 3

Not helping at all, but this reminds me of a problem I find in threads where an expert response is called for: people who are qualified to speak authoritatively on a subject should state briefly why they're qualified.

Like, OmieWise, you say some pretty credible stuff in that comment, but I would personally find an answer like that more useful if instead of just mentioning having treated patients in an indirect way, you (and others in a similar position) would just say at the beginning, "I am a mental health care practitioner" or "I am a physicist" or "I am a university admissions officer" or whatever. Because everybody and his brother thinks they know an answer, and when evaluating a thread like that, a clear identifier helps sort out who's actually informed and who's just theorizing, guessing, or enjoying to the sound of their own mouth-breathing.
posted by loiseau at 11:08 AM on April 3

loiseau: I agree with you, but it seems that that some people -- especially doctors -- are reluctant to mention their credentials because they don't want to be on the hook for giving "official" advice. Some will disclaim their posts with a comment like "This is not medical advice," but maybe that's not enough? I'm not really sure.
posted by danb at 12:23 PM on April 3

"I am not Steven C. Den Beste, but. . ."
posted by 1 at 12:27 PM on April 3 [6 favorites]

Really, 1? I thought people were arguing that you were his alter ego.
posted by ibmcginty at 12:43 PM on April 3 [1 favorite]

That post made me cry. I'm so glad she found help.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 12:46 PM on April 3

As for the pony request, I like the idea of a sidebar archive, or at least an admin-supplied "sidebar" tag.
posted by brain_drain at 12:53 PM on April 3

loiseau, that makes things easier for you, but when I start out a post that way, it means - and would probably be interpreted by a court - that I'm writing a reply, addressing the poster, in my capacity as a doctor. I try not to do that here on MF. I try to act more as a teacher who is conveying general information.

Also, by not doing that, I avoid the whole litany of people who come with "no you're not - prove it - post your home address so I can come when you're not home and see if you have enough expensive belongings to qualify as a doctor," as well as the nutsoes who hate doctors or who love an opportunity to engage one in tendentious, endless debate because it makes them feel smarter.

Fuck all those people. I don't have time for them. Hope that was clear.
posted by ikkyu2 at 12:59 PM on April 3 [6 favorites]

I understand you but that's not exactly what I mean -- I seem to be having a hard time articulating it.

To me, it doesn't really make sense to directly refer to having treated patients in a certain way without specifying in what capacity you did that. (This is not referring to anyone in particular. Just part of my general observation and it applies to many professions.)
posted by loiseau at 1:53 PM on April 3

Really, 1? I thought people were arguing that you were his alter ego.

Oh, ouch!
posted by 1 at 2:05 PM on April 3

As for the pony request, I like the idea of a sidebar archive, or at least an admin-supplied "sidebar" tag.

Seems like making the archive of the sidebar available could be doable, or at least that of the most current, blogger-powered-since-2005 incarnation—the sidebar actually has a weird, bumpy history and I'd bet that everything pre-blogger is pretty much lost to the ages unless someone wants to get aggressive with archive.org or something.

The sidebar tag makes a crazy kind of sense, but the difficulty there is that many (most?) things that get sidebarred are comments, not posts.
posted by cortex at 2:24 PM on April 3

cortex: Why can't "sidebarred" be added to the comment flag drop-down as something only the admins can choose (since we don't have tags for comments)?
posted by desjardins at 2:31 PM on April 3

Well, if we wanted to create an admin-only system for tracking sidebarred content, we probably wouldn't need to do it specifically through the flagging system. I like the idea of tracking the stuff, but it's more that we don't have any sidebar data-tracking in place that's the issue there, not trying to figure out how to handle the data entry itself. So, suggestion gamely noted but kind of beside the point. :)
posted by cortex at 3:05 PM on April 3

There used to be a sidebar archive. I'm sure of it because I requested it. What happened?
posted by joedan at 3:11 PM on April 4

I guess Matt eated it.
posted by cortex at 3:16 PM on April 4