Get to know your local fire department. They have EMT’s. Call direct.
This behavior is illegal where I’m from.
The crux of the problem is the blurred lines of the medical and legal aspects of the problem. Legally, I believe only the police can take people elsewhere against their will, even if it were a hospital. There’s also a legal threshold of being a threat to themselves and others for this to happen.
So this puts caregivers in a bind that almost encourages conflict and puts them in harms way. So either things have to get to a point where caregivers feel threatened or the person under their care is suicidal, neither is a good situation for the cops to handle. Fire departments and ambulances teams are better equipped for the medical part of things, but the inherent escalation put into the legal framework and the lack of authority to ‘arrest’ citizenry make their involvement untenable.
A team approach seems the most sensible solution, but it’s probably the most expensive and would lead to long response times.
I am so distressed reading these posts as I too, am having such a hard time trying to help my unofficially adopted son who is 30 and I took him in at 22.
He is what his therapist believe SZA and most definitely anosognosia. This MI is so damn debilitating to everyone involved. I am so sick of hearing that statement if they are not in harm of themselves or others there is nothing we can do unless they ask for help. This is the craziest statement as they are ILL and cannot or will not ask for help. Like Dr. Drew said how many people have to die from this to get the attention it needs. We as a society need to help them, this is out of control and our homeless population keeps growing as we stand by and do nothing. Come On wake up: We need to help them as they cannot help themselves.
My son, will now be homeless again as he is very ill, rude, disrespectful, out of touch, delusional, doesnt work, cant keep a job as he believes everybody is out to get him. He lives off of us and contributes nothing… as he is too ill. We have tried everything we can possibly think of to help. His therapist, and PO both agree he needs meds and other resources for help but nothing… MI dept. wont touch him unless he asks for it. HELLO…not going to happen. What are we as caretakers supposed to do as he has made our life hell but we are still here trying to help because we love him and he has nowhere to go or anybody else to help him. He has been in the foster care system his whole life and does not even know his biological family. His previous adoptive parents kicked him out at 15 and never spoke to him again, dropped him off at a group home and never turned back. I can see now that he was too much to handle but cant imagine doing that to any person. However, he is soon to be removed from our homes as he is unpredictable and irrational, so now what??? My heart breaks for all the families going thru this. It is so not ok. I seen another post from a elderly couple who are again dealing with their son who is not taking care of himself. It is an epidemic that needs to be addressed. How long will society keep ignoring the obvious? the HIPPA law is a joke as you mentioned, they supposedly protect them for confidentiality. Caretakers and Dr.s need to work together for the sake of our loved ones. This is just plain in human.
2 Likes
I agree with everything you wrote , it aggravates me so much and don’t understand how this so called system can not see what’s going on . So many suffering , so many homeless that can be avoided if a few simple things can change . It makes me so angry .
1 Like
I live in a very small community and there are not enough resources. The sheriff dept are helpful only because they know my son and me, they also get new staff all the time and then we have to start over again. The last guys that came out almost tazed him because he wouldnt stop when they asked him to. OMG. The CRISIS unit is a joke, they dont even work the weekends and again have refused to touch him because he is not in danger of himself or others (at least not at the moment) how sad that they will show up asap if so and arrest him but no MI help as he does have a record. I have been an advocate of his the entire time, not defending his past behavior of arrest but making damn sure the courts know he is not well. They just want to wash him so they dont have to deal with him, saying the are protecting the community; how about HELP the damn people that need it instead of putting them in our jails. Very sad situation. He is severe in his MI but presents very well in spurts. When I have called before, they show up and he smiles and insists nothing wrong with him. It is a vicious cycle for sure. This shxx keeps getting crazier. I pray for change.
2 Likes
That is totally uncalled for what they did to your son. I would want to press charges against police but they would probably win.