Behavioral Health Center & Facilities at Chippenham

At Tucker Pavilion, we provide comprehensive treatment for the conditions that make up the continuum of anxiety disorders. Anxiety can take many forms, and it's important that it be diagnosed correctly so that treatment can be adjusted to your or your loved one's individual needs.

Anxiety disorders affect more than 28 million Americans annually.

Unreasonable fears. Uncontrolled repetitive behavior. Trouble concentrating. Racing heartbeat. These are some of the symptoms of anxiety disorders. Characterized by overwhelming fear and unrealistic worries that appear for no apparent reason, anxiety disorders can dramatically impair a person's ability to function and perform everyday activities.

The nation's most common group of mental health problems, anxiety disorders affect more than 28 million Americans each year. While anxiety disorders are highly treatable with successful results, only 25% of those suffering get help. Many people are simply unaware what their symptoms mean and that recent treatment advances can improve their condition.

There are five conditions that fall under the category of anxiety disorders:

• Generalized anxiety disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Panic disorder
• Phobias
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

The symptoms of these disorders can be very similar, so it is important that you seek the counsel of a behavioral health specialist to receive proper diagnosis and treatment.

Bipolar disorder is a complicated disease that can be difficult to recognize, diagnose and treat. At Tucker Pavilion, we provide comprehensive treatment for bipolar disorder and can help you feel better getting back to managing and enjoying your life.

Bipolar disorder is caused by a biochemical imbalance in the brain, and is not a sign of mental or emotional weakness.

Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder, a cyclical disease of highs and lows. During the mania stage, individuals may feel so good that when family or friends recognize the mood swings, they will deny that anything is wrong. During this stage, some individuals may go on spending sprees, travel long distances, become promiscuous or disturb public peace and end up at the police station. The feeling can exceed pleasantness so severely that the manic episode may be accompanied by hallucinations and distorted thinking. In the depression phase of this disease, the person may fall into a state indistinguishable from major depression. These mood swings can be so severe that the effect on the individual's life can be devastating.

Bipolar disorder is not often recognized by the patient, relatives, friends or even physicians. An early sign of bipolar disorder is a persistent, intense elevation in mood far beyond what's considered usual for the individual. In its early stages, bipolar disorder may appear to masquerade as a problem other than mental illness. It may first appear as alcohol or drug abuse, or poor school or work performance. Unlike clinical depression, which can occur at any age, bipolar disorder is typically diagnosed before age 35.

Symptoms of mania

Symptoms of depression

At Tucker Pavilion, we provide comprehensive treatment for individuals suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD), or as it is more commonly known, clinical depression.

Depression is not a sign of weakness or a condition that can be willed away.

Clinical depression affects more than just emotions. Depression can change a person's behavior, physical health, appearance, job performance, sleep patterns and even the ability to handle everyday decisions and pressures. Depression goes beyond the grief and sadness that a person experiences when reacting to life's losses and disappointments, such as a death in the family, a relationship gone wrong or a conflict at work. In fact, sadness is only one of the symptoms of depression; feelings of anxiety, apathy or irritability may also be present.

Who is at risk?

Each year, 15% of Americans suffer from some form of depression. The disease accounts for at least one-half of the nation's suicides. At some point in their lives, one-fifth of all women and one-eighth of all men will experience an episode of major depression.

Symptoms of depression

There's hope in treatment

Depression is not a sign of weakness or a condition that can be willed away. Without treatment, symptoms can last for weeks, months or years. However, with the appropriate care, 80-90% of those suffering from depression can be helped. The most important step toward treatment of depression is asking for help. We provide hope, help and empowerment in a safe and calming environment.

The co-existence of mental illness and substance abuse is referred to as dual diagnosis (also known as co-occurring disorders). This condition can occur when alcohol and/or drugs are used to self-medicate symptoms of psychiatric disorders or as a coping mechanism to alleviate symptoms.

More than 50% of those with mental illness also have a substance abuse problem.

Often, the use of alcohol or drugs goes undetected by families and is misdiagnosed by treating professionals. Partly, this is due to similarities in symptoms for both conditions. There may also be a 'dual denial' of both the psychiatric disorder and the addiction. Viewed from the other side, studies show as many as 40% of individuals with substance abuse have an undetected or undertreated co-existing psychiatric illness; often depression or an anxiety disorder.

Indicators of substance abuse

• Inability to control or limit substance use
• Preoccupation with substance use
• Failure to fulfill obligations at home, school or work
• Continued use despite persistent social or medical problems
• Need for increased amounts of substance
• Recurrent use in situations that are physically hazardous (e.g., DUI)
• Withdrawal symptoms

Psychiatric illnesses common in dual diagnosis

Family involvement is crucial in the treatment of any illness, but especially in the treatment of someone who is dually diagnosed. Families are always affected when a loved one has a co-occurring disorder. They need educational information and guidance about how to help their loved ones recover. There are many self-help and support groups for friends and relatives of people with co-occurring disorders. Learning to understand and cope with a dual diagnosis is not to be done alone.

At Tucker Pavilion at Chippenham Hospital, our team for senior behavioral health care includes professionals ranging from doctors, nurses and mental health technicians to social workers, recreational therapists and dietitians.

Inpatient care

Caregivers, friends or family of someone aged 65 or over with emotional or behavioral issues who may endanger themselves or others can request a referral to the program at Tucker Pavilion to receive immediate short-term stabilization in a calming, reassuring inpatient setting.

We treat the following conditions:

• Depression with feelings of hopelessness, suicide or inability to care for oneself
• Anxiety causing constant fear, paralyzing worries or panic attacks
• Severe disorientation or memory impairment
• Inability to maintain adequate nutrition, which may threaten life or vital body functions
• Threatening thoughts or assaultive behaviors toward others
• Unusual or bizarre behavior with illogical thoughts or beliefs
• Emotional issues occurring with substance abuse or medical issues
• Inability to maintain psychiatric stabilization through outpatient treatment
• Any appropriate diagnosis in the 65-and-over population

Components of treatment include:

• Crisis intervention
• Psychiatric triage, evaluation and differential diagnosis
• Medication stabilization
• Family therapy and education
• Activity therapy
• Coping skills training
• Discharge planning
• Outpatient follow-up

Telephone calls and visitation guidelines

Family and friends are an important part of stabilization. Patients may make/receive calls during visitation times following therapeutic activities. Please limit visitors to two at a time to afford staff dedicated time to assist with questions/needs.

Geriatric visitation
Monday - Friday: 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Weekends and holidays: 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

At Tucker Pavilion, we are uniquely equipped to treat the underlying causes of self-injurious behavior and any other conditions that may also be, and commonly are, present. Services include intensive therapy, education, coping skill enhancement, and peer support for all ages.

Approximately 1% of Americans use physical injury, such as cutting, bruising or burning, as a way of dealing with overwhelming feelings or situations.

Studies have suggested that when people who self-injure get emotionally overwhelmed, an act of self-harm brings their levels of psychological and physiological tension and arousal back to a bearable baseline level almost immediately.

Self-injurers commonly report they feel empty inside, over or under stimulated, unable to express their feelings, lonely, not understood by others and fearful of intimate relationships and adult responsibilities. Self-injury is their way to cope with or relieve painful or hard-to-express feelings and is generally not a suicide attempt. However, relief is temporary and a self-destructive cycle often develops without proper treatment.

Warning signs of self-injuring

• Unexplained frequent injury including scratches, cuts or burns
• Wearing long pants and sleeves in warm weather
• Low self-esteem
• Difficulty handling feelings
• Relationship problems
• Poor functioning at work, school or home
• Hoarding of sharp objects, such as razors, knives and scissors
• Severe mood swings

Risk factors

• Impulsive tendencies
• Physical or sexual abuse during childhood
• Broken homes
• Alcoholic homes
• Rigid households where expression of emotion is discouraged
• Emotionally absent loved ones
• Tendency toward perfectionism
• Inability to express emotions verbally
• Dislike for body and self

Self-injury is a coping mechanism that temporarily provides relief. If not properly treated, it will escalate. It's important for someone who self-injures to learn how to combat the thoughts that lead them to believe harming themselves is the only way to deal with emotion and to learn that all emotions ebb and fade, even the uncomfortable ones.

Treatment of self-injury requires a strong support system and solid education to assist in breaking the cycle.