It seems to be pretty hard to get someone committed, at least in my town. people who try to get themselves committed struggle to manage it here, which seems bizarre to me
An acquaintence of mine who'd had on and off problems since being discharged from the army, set himself on fire 2 years ago, and died. he'd been in and out of the local hospital ward relating to mental health, and the previous day before he actually managed to kill himself, had gone back there expressing he was a danger to himself and other people, and needed to return.
he had a history of attempted suicides and was a diagnosed schizophrenic, and on various related meds. they sent him away and told him someone would call him at home within the next few hours but no one did.
he was a really sweet guy and just meeting him a few times you could tell he was the kind to hurt himself before he'd hurt other people. but he was struggling to get the help he needed after being in the army, even though he tried to occupy his mind and keep busy by doing lots of walking. I used to print him OS maps off my PC for him to use.
After he tried calling them the next morning after they failed to call, he gave up and set himself on fire.
A couple of years ago, a local guy went into our main police station, stating he wanted to be arrested because he'd been having thoughts about stabbing people, but they wouldn't arrest him and let him go without help. 4 hours later, in the middle of the day on a fairly busy high street, he'd stabbed a random passing 21 yr old girl, who was 6 months pregnant, and both girl and baby died..
I have no clue how the police or mental health doctors make their judgements on how or when someone can be committed, but it seems to vary vastly from area to area, and be a totally inadequate system of assessment.
Someone recently told me that the guy who set himself on fire, had gone in the previous christmas time and that they questioned his motives because he was homeless at the time, and was questioned in a manner which implied he was just doing it to get a bed for the night
It's pretty alarming that someone who tries to surrender themselves, gets turned away for such a cynical reason. especially when they have a history of suicide attempts and have been officially diagnosed with schizophrenia
An acquaintence of mine who'd had on and off problems since being discharged from the army, set himself on fire 2 years ago, and died. he'd been in and out of the local hospital ward relating to mental health, and the previous day before he actually managed to kill himself, had gone back there expressing he was a danger to himself and other people, and needed to return.
he had a history of attempted suicides and was a diagnosed schizophrenic, and on various related meds. they sent him away and told him someone would call him at home within the next few hours but no one did.
he was a really sweet guy and just meeting him a few times you could tell he was the kind to hurt himself before he'd hurt other people. but he was struggling to get the help he needed after being in the army, even though he tried to occupy his mind and keep busy by doing lots of walking. I used to print him OS maps off my PC for him to use.
After he tried calling them the next morning after they failed to call, he gave up and set himself on fire.
A couple of years ago, a local guy went into our main police station, stating he wanted to be arrested because he'd been having thoughts about stabbing people, but they wouldn't arrest him and let him go without help. 4 hours later, in the middle of the day on a fairly busy high street, he'd stabbed a random passing 21 yr old girl, who was 6 months pregnant, and both girl and baby died..
I have no clue how the police or mental health doctors make their judgements on how or when someone can be committed, but it seems to vary vastly from area to area, and be a totally inadequate system of assessment.
Someone recently told me that the guy who set himself on fire, had gone in the previous christmas time and that they questioned his motives because he was homeless at the time, and was questioned in a manner which implied he was just doing it to get a bed for the night
It's pretty alarming that someone who tries to surrender themselves, gets turned away for such a cynical reason. especially when they have a history of suicide attempts and have been officially diagnosed with schizophrenia