Peer-run Respites
Is your loved one in the middle of what is described, alternatively, as an “extreme state,” “psychosis,” “emotional crisis,” “delusions,” or “paranoia”? Are you overwhelmed by their needs, can’t have them with you at home anymore, but afraid that it is not safe for them to live alone? Are you seeking help?
In a hospital
your loved one is called a “patient”;
the doctor and other employees maintain a professional distance and hierarchical relations;
the patient is locked-up, observed and under surveillance;
troubling behaviors, feelings, or ideas are minimized or eliminated “primarily by using psychiatric drugs or other types of confinement” administered with or without the patient’s consent.
Peer-run respite by Promise Resource Network in North Carolina. Photo credit: Taylor Knopf
The two main options in this scenario are either psychiatric hospitalization, or a peer-run respite. This open-access research paper explains the differences between these options:
In a peer-run respite:
your loved one is called a “guest”;
the employees build equal and mutual relations with the guest and “communicate in ways that are authentically validating”;
the guest is in an unlocked safe space where they have privacy;
troubling behaviors, feelings, or ideas are resolved by “listening to the guest, exploring together the literal or symbolic meaning of the crisis, and supporting the guest as they move toward meeting their expressed needs and desires.”