*MEDIA RELEASE*

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                              CONTACT: Michael J. Yates

DATE: January 14, 2019                                                                      PHONE: 865-719-7221

Ridgeview expands walk-in crisis hours

Oak Ridge, TN – In 1978 M. Scott Peck’s The Road Less Traveled begins with a simple truth, “Life is difficult.” In his 1993 follow up Further Along the Road Less Traveled, Peck would add, “Life is difficult and complex.” In these two highly popular books, Peck contends that life was never meant to be simple, nor easy. Today, we might add, “Life is also painful.” This simple truth is particularly vexing to a culture that has grown increasingly more pain-averse.

Make no mistake, life is indeed painful, and for the most part, when you’re physically hurt, injured, and in pain, you know where to turn for help. An ear ache, a stomach bug, a sore back and countless other physical ailments can be treated by contacting your primary care doctor or stopping in to a “minute clinic.” In the case of a sudden accident like a broken bone or chest pain, the local emergency department can also provide timely access to care.

But where do you turn when your pain and hurt is of a different kind? Imagine the pain and hurt associated with paralyzing anxiety, or a sadness so deep and dark you can’t ever imagine seeing light again, or an addiction so strong your experience of trying to get well is a legacy of failed efforts? Far too many have turned to alcohol, drugs, and prescription medications to suppress painful feelings or emotions, as our current opioid epidemic validates, while others tragically turn to forms of self-harm or suicide.

Ridgeview’s Mobile Crisis Team is the place to turn for help. The team is comprised of master’s level clinicians with specialized training. The crisis program is designed to help people who are experiencing a mental health crisis and provide them with support in getting the timely access to care they need. The Mobile Crisis Team is available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week serving Anderson, Campbell, Morgan, Roane, and Scott counties and can be contacted at 865-481-6175.

An extension of fulfilling the Crisis Team mission and to help more people directly, Mobile Crisis also has a walk-in clinic that is available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Ridgeview’s main location in Oak Ridge at 240 W. Tyrone Road – signs will direct you to the Mobile Crisis entrance in the rear of the building. These expanded hours also allow family members to be involved with an individual’s care outside of typical business hours.

For people in less critical need of care, Ridgeview’s Same Day Access clinic located at the Main Center entrance allows a person to walk-in each weekday from 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. without an appointment to receive a mental health assessment and to determine what type of care may best treat their needs and promote their hope, healing, and recovery. Many emotional and behavioral pains can be treated by a therapist or other psychiatric interventions and care. However, some emotional and behavioral pain is so acute and severe, waiting to access the regular walk-in hours may be unbearable, and that’s when Mobile Crisis can help. 

Truly, life is difficult, complex, and painful. Know that Ridgeview is here to provide timely access to quality mental health services and to promote hope, healing, and recovery to the people we serve.

*END*

Picture: Some members of Mobile Crisis Team

From left to right, front row: Kasey Lawson and Florence Paquet (bench)

From left to right, back row: Mindy Amos, Sabrina Johnston, Chris Myers, Claudia Werner, and Kelsey Cox

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Michael Yates is the Director of Development at Ridgeview Behavioral Health Services

Ridgeview is a private, not for profit community mental health center with locations in Anderson, Campbell, Morgan, Roane, and Scott counties.