Risë Schreiber, Director
Garry Vickar, MD, Medical Director
314.839.3171 or toll-free 800.447.4301
Mental health and chemical dependency services are available. Free, confidential evaluations are offered seven days a week. Call to schedule an evaluation. Psychiatric programs available include:
- Adult inpatient
- Adult partial hospitalization
- Geriatric inpatient
- Geriatric outpatient
- Group therapy and educational classes
- STEPSsm (Schizophrenia Treatment and Education Program)
Adults
Each year 17 million people are treated for depression. If you have experienced at least five of the following symptoms for two weeks or longer, you may have depression:
- Sadness or unexplained crying spells
- Inability to find pleasure in activities and hobbies you once enjoyed
- Difficulty concentrating, remembering and making decisions
- Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness and hopelessness
- Decreased appetite accompanied by weight loss or weight gain
- Irritability, anger, anxiety or excessive worrying
- Changes in sleep pattern
- Unexplained aches and pains
- Decreased energy and fatigue
- Thoughts of death or suicide
While depression is the most common form of mental illness in adults, these are some other mental disorders:
- Anxiety disorders
- Panic disorders
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Bipolar (manic depression) disorder
- Schizophrenia
Older Adults
Our Geriatric Mental Health Service provides quality care to older adults by focusing on the mind and body.
Services include:
- Assessments and referrals
- Inpatient treatment programs
- Center for Senior Renewal outpatient treatment programs
- Aftercare planning
- Family education
- Geriatric home health nurses
Both inpatient and outpatient programs use many approaches for individual treatment. We want to improve a person's quality of life while maintaining their dignity. We do this through individual care, education, family support and follow-up home health visits.
Your Doctor
You are under the care and direct supervision of a psychiatrist when receiving treatment in our programs.
Your doctor works with you and the staff to help you move from an inpatient program to outpatient treatment. In addition to group therapy and educational classes, your doctor may prescribe medication.
Substance Abuse
Help for alcohol and chemical dependency may begin in the Hospital setting, if detoxification is necessary. Once it is safe to be discharged from the Hospital, treatment may include partial-hospitalization or outpatient programs during days or evenings.
These chemical dependency programs are available:
- Recovery Center partial hospitalization
- Intensive outpatient
- Relapse prevention
Our treatment team works with you and your doctor to develop a personal plan of care. Following discharge, you are encouraged to attend aftercare support groups offered by the Hospital.
Mental Health/Support Groups
Locations
Center for Mental Health
Christian Hospital
11133 Dunn Road
St. Louis, Missouri 63136 USA
phone -- 314.839.3171 or toll-free 800.447.4301
Get Map
BJC Recovery Center
North County
12434 Lusher Road
St. Louis, Missouri 63138 USA
phone -- 314.355.4180
Schizophrenia Treatment and Education Programs (STEPSsm)
Schizophrenia is a frightening mental illness that strikes one to three in every 100 people in the United States. It results from a biochemical imbalance in the brain and is the most disabling of all mental illnesses.
People with schizophrenia experience disturbed thinking, behave strangely and display inappropriate emotional responses. Schizophrenia does not discriminate: Men and women of all races and socioeconomic levels are at risk.
- Each year, 100,000 people are newly diagnosed with schizophrenia
- On any given day, 600,000 people receive treatment for the disorder
- Schizophrenia costs an estimated $32.5 billion annually to pay for hospitalization, social security disability benefits, welfare and lost wages
Symptoms of schizophrenia include:
- A decline in occupational, social and academic functioning
- Apathy and increased social withdrawal
- Decreased attention to personal hygiene
- Disorganized thinking and/or behavior
- Absence of emotional expression
- Delusions (fixed false beliefs)
- Hallucinations (perception of things that are nonexistent as in hearing voices)
Christian Hospital STEPSsm
Schizophrenia Treatment and Education Programs
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STEPS provides inpatient care, partial hospitalization and aftercare. The free aftercare support group is led by a STEPS registered nurse. It is not necessary to have been a Christian Hospital patient or be under the care of a Christian Hospital physician. It is, however, important that participants are interested in seeking and giving support to others who have been diagnosed with some form of schizophrenia. The group meets 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. every Wednesday.
STEPS also offers educational programs to help families better understand schizophrenia. Today, there is more hope for persons suffering from schizophrenia. Brain research is providing a better understanding of schizophrenia, as well as other mental disorders.
Garry M. Vickar, MD, FRCPC, is chief of psychiatry for the Center for Mental Health at Christian Hospital and medical director of STEPS. He is board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. After graduating from medical school at the University of Manitoba, Canada, he completed his psychiatric residency program at Washington University School of Medicine.
