Did your love one hate you for pressing charges in order to get court ordered meds? Was it worth it?
While I didn’t have charges pressed in this manner, my mother filed commital papers on me. I was angry with her at the hearing and asked the judge if I could speak to her and he allowed me to call her. There was an emotional moment when I spoke to her and painfully (and melodramatically) said “don’t you know what you’ve done to me.” I recall she said she didn’t know what else to do under the circumstances. Shortly thereafter, I signed myself into the hospital voluntarily. She apologized later on after I told her that no one asked me if I would go voluntarily until the hearing and I couldn’t transport myself, because someone took my keys. I accepted her apology. I was handcuffed and transported in the back of a small bus, although the people who did this apologized profusely. I accepted their apology as well.
Per Dr. Amador’s book “I’m not sick, I don’t need help!”, studies show that you can apologize for actions like these. However, I’d recommend reading the book first before pressing charges if feasible, so you are familiar with better methods of communicating with you loved one after (and during) treatment.
Disclaimer: While I am a part-time caregiver of my brother and father with SMI, I was diagnosed with SZA over thirty years ago. I’m an advocate of appropriate drug treatments for SMI, but I feel they are incomplete treatments and additional CBT, supportive talk and psychosocial therapies are helpful where feasible. Any drug advice is from personal experience or research and not a substitute for qualified Psychiatric care.
well, i contacted the police concerning my son when he spat 3 times in my face while deluded and responding to voices…i had to get him treatment…i did not have to go to the courts to get it done, i just contacted the police and told them of his aggression and my nervousness and frustration concerning him…under the law i could get him sectioned to a psychiatric hospital…
the police were nice about it…they arranged to call by our house before 6am as the neighbours would not see my son being taken away in a police car.
if you think your son/daughter is posing a threat or are very aggressive you might be able to get them sectioned. You could contact the police to find out what your legal rights are
wishing you all the best and let us know how you get on
@Maggotbrane thank you for responding. I feel I have no other choice since my love one is too sick to know that they are sick. They are not willing to voluntarily go to a hospital. I think they are scared of being permanently hospitalized. I just hope they will forgive me once they are out of psychosis. Your story gives me hope.
@cara thank you! I called the police so many times that I just gave up on that route. I think some police departments are better than others and really try to help people. They never sanctioned my love one.
My daughter didn’t like it when she was taken by police. But she NEVER stayed mad at me after I called the police, or after I testified in front of a judge. There were over 40 police visits to our home, and only a few times they took her. However, she found the hospital non-threatening as the staff were overall very kind. A few times she thought about going voluntarily, but the one time she did, she came home again rather than commit herself. It took many police visits and jail and hospitalizations to get her onto a successful medicine. She barely remembers correctly what her life was like when she was in psychosis for those years. It is almost 2 years now on medication without any lingering delusions or hallucinations.
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