Journalist Pulls Back Curtain of Psychiatric ER

Tagging along with Bellavia, however, turned out to be more challenging for Sugg. For instance, even though Bellavia would explain to families what Sugg was doing and ask whether it was all right if Sugg sat in during their medical visits, Sugg gathered pretty quickly that many families were in crisis and couldn’t decide at that point whether they wanted to be included in a newspaper article. So Sugg would say to them, “I would like to sit in and take notes and see what’s happening and chat with you, but I guarantee you that none of this is going to be in the paper unless later, when I contact you, you agree to it. In other words, they didn’t have to make a decision that night, but I was still gathering potential information for my article.”

On still other occasions, families would appear to feel comfortable about Sugg sitting in during their medical visits, yet she wasn’t comfortable about it.

For instance, she said, “there was a boy of 13 or so with his mom, and one of the questions was, ‘Are you sexually active?’. And I thought, I don’t think it is right that I am sitting in on this. Yet, on the other hand, I was thinking, I can really help educate the public, get them to understand what these kids are going through, that these [psychiatric disorders] are medical illnesses that can be treated.”

Just being in the emergency room with so many mentally ill children and their distressed families took its psychological toll on Sugg. “It was very disturbing to see kids in such pain,” she said. “There was a 3-year-old boy who had tried to kill himself and his younger brother. There was a 14-year-old boy kicking his feet against the exam table, upset about his parents’ divorce. He was kind of shy, looked up at Dr. Bellavia, and asked, ‘Can I just come here once and a while and talk with you?’.”

Nonetheless, Bellavia and Sugg got through their one-night collaboration, and what had started off as just a one-night affair actually turned into a seven-night one. “I had to cover my regular health-and-medicine beat at the Baltimore Sun at the same time,” Sugg explained, “so it would be like one night a week at the emergency room as well. I would just go in there prepared, wearing comfortable clothes, carrying my tape recorder, tapes, water, and crackers. Time was on my side for observing and talking with families because they had to wait so long for their children to receive medical attention.”

Also, as these seven nights went by, Sugg came to better understand psychiatry and to hold psychiatrists in higher esteem. “It gave me an appreciation of how complicated, how deep psychiatry is,” she said. “And Dr. Bellavia was wonderful! She would be so busy sometimes at three in the morning, doing paperwork and trying to get these kids admitted, and I could see that these families were haunting her, too.”

Also, as the seven nights went by, Bellavia came to acquire a better understanding of journalism and to acquire a greater respect for journalists. “Diana would be in the background and sometimes even talk with the families,” Bellavia said. “And sometimes it was helpful to have her there, she is very sensitive.”

But perhaps the biggest rewards accruing from their collaboration emerged after Sugg’s article about it was published on Sunday, February 13, 2000.

On a light note, for example, Bellavia and her husband went out for coffee and donuts in Baltimore that morning, and Bellavia was amazed to find not only Sugg’s article, but a photo of herself on the front page. During the next few days, Bellavia’s colleagues teased her about being a star.

On a more serious note, however, Bellavia said, “I think the article made me more appreciative of the power of the media and how it can impact child psychiatry issues. I was skeptical at first as to how much of my experience with Diana was going to be portrayed as truthfully and as sensitively as I would like. But after seeing the article, I acquired a new respect for journalism and especially for journalists like Diana who write about serious issues that need national attention.

“Local television stations also followed up on the article,” Bellavia continued. “There was discussion about the need for more services for children with mental health issues. I think the article also received national recognition, and that was worthwhile, given that the problem in Baltimore sort of represents a microcosm of the experience in the country.”

And Sugg will never forget the phone call informing her that she had won an APA award for her article. “I had some health problems,” she said, “so when I got the call, it made me feel really good. Also, because top people in the country had looked at my efforts and had judged them as excellent, it helped me believe in myself again.”

So now that all is said and done, would Bellavia once again participate in a similar venture? “Yes, I definitely would,” she said. “If what I do not only helps my patients and their families, but also educates the public about the lack of mental health services for kids or about other child psychiatry problems, yes, I would do it, absolutely!”

And as for Sugg, would she undertake another investigation like the one at Hopkins? The answer is yes. In fact, she is already at work on another child psychiatry piece—this time about depression and suicide in youngsters. “The emergency room story was well-received in the community,” she said. “People found it moving, people thought I got it right, so they are now entrusting me with personal experiences for this article as well.”