Growth of Mobile Crisis Intervention

Inpatient services are an essential part of community services. However, for some people, the highly structured and supervised environment of a hospital can be counterproductive to persons who are struggling to learn to handle symptoms in their own living environment. For them, hospitalization can produce dependency and overall lower level of psychological functioning. Persons entering long term hospitalizations tend to feel labeled and stigmatized and often lose their links to support systems in the community.

The 1991 NIMH Profiles of Psychiatric Crisis Response Systems and the NIMH 1987 Crisis Residential Services Report clearly demonstrated that most psychiatric emergencies need not involve removing the individual from their home.

In general, all the alternative approaches emphasized:

• Normalizing a person’s experience by supporting them in their own home or in a more home-like setting.
• Focusing on short term crisis intervention as one component of a broader system of supports.
• Maintaining continuity in daily lives and routines.
• Appropriating greater resources for on-going supports and crisis intervention.