How to get somebody sectioned?

If she is in board with treatment you need to have her call the crisis team who will come out and assess her. Bare in mind though the chance of her being sectioned is very very slim.

I was given a 5 day stay in a crisis house last year. I had ran out in front of traffic. Was orbital down the phone at the crisis team. Very paranoid. Was told to go to a and e and I was literally screaming in a and e very distressed. I was very very sick. They wouldn't admit me to hospital the best they offered was this crisis house. No beds.

Also with the drug use if she admits that to them they will refer her to the deul diagnosis team and unfortunately they won't be of any help while she's using.

Sorry to be pesemistic but there just is not any mental health care in this country at the min even for the most unwell people.

You can’t. That’s not how being DETAINED under Sections 2 or 3 of the Mental Health Act works.

Well, I guess technically there’s nothing stopping someone from asking anything (“am I a dog?” “Can I have more cheese?” Etc) but asking to be sectioned is a tortology - it literally makes no sense and is not how the system works.

A person can ask to be admitted as a voluntary patient (although there’s v little point as there’s not enough beds for those who are placed under S2 or S3, let alone those people who just feel like they’d benefit from a stay on an acute mental health ward..

I'm so sorry you've endured this too. I would say I have PTSD from it all, but haven't been able to bring myself to discuss it with any professionals for obvious reasons.

OP, I think what @Bandolina is saying is very accurate. However areas do vary in terms of exactly what they offer. In some areas there are offers of trauma informed services, joined up MH/drug services and those which work more proactively with people who find it hard to engage. Please ring your local drug and alcohol service if you haven't, if you can sit with your DD and do it even better. I wouldn't expect inpatient treatment for her with how you describe her, but I have seen some positive stories of people being supported by community services. The starting point is just to call them (or the GP) and say "we need help". There aren't easy answers, but this is a first step.

I made a similar post a year ago about my brother who needed sectioning and everyone seemed to focus on the fact I couldn't personally "section" someone (I didn't think I could) rather than actually offering help (some posters were great tho). I was told by some posters in no uncertain terms that there were no beds, it won't happen, he has to be a danger to himself and others. I repeatedly said I think he is and I'm also worried about him drink driving and killing someone. I was actually made to feel guilty for trying to get someone "imprisoned", rather than I was actually trying to keep him and us (and the public) safe. And made to feel like I was exaggerating, family are never listened to and we KNOW when someone needs help, but people have to see it for themselves to believe you...

It came to a head a few weeks later when he went to the doctors to ask for some medication and flipped the hell out threatening the doctor and scared the SHIT outta him so bad that he tried to get on the phone to arrange getting him sectioned then and there. That's the kinda thing it takes, it never should have to get to that point but they don't do anything until it does. That made my brother even more angry and violent, but I don't think the doctor was physically hurt thankfully. He took off but police and doctors caught up with him next day. He was sectioned for a month. Half-way through they actually let him leave during the day as long as he got back at a certain time, but it depends what ward they're put on whether someone is allowed to do that or not. He had to have a tribunal to see if they could detain him for a month and thankfully they realised he did need it.

You have to keep pushing and don't be fobbed off-YOU know how serious she is and how likely something is to happen to her. Tell them you will hold them personally responsible if she comes to harm as a result of them not taking you seriously. I'm sorry you are in this situation, I know how hard it is-I hope she can get the help she needs.

That's my experience of the matter too unfortunately. There are countless people out there in desperate situations and extremely limited resources. The resources surrounding admission/inpatient treatement generally go to 2 places - the extreme most psychotic patients under the MHA, and then when funding allows - voluntarily for those most likely to respond to therapy; which will be those making huge personal effort to stop drug use and 'fix' themselves.

I don't say this to be cruel, but if you're holding out for someone else to step in and whisk her away, preventing drug use and rehabilitate her personality its just not going to happen. The story you describe is very common and just unremarkable really. I've consultated many myself occasionally referring to crisis team in A&E as this was just how the consultation went, often crisis team don't even see them they're just given the phone number and referred back to primary care...

To make it worse I don't have any solutions. There just isn't any simple cure it's all about prevention really. Ultimately you can just be there for her fo support but if she wants to get 'better' she needs to put some serious hard work in.

I would agree that being sectioned leaves you with a kind of trauma that most of the world cannot understand. It is bewildering at best and at worst medicalised abuse; I have bipolar disorder for a life time and find it so painful to recollect periods of detention and the ensuing pain

I wonder if they were thinking of mental capacity act, it might have been that the Dr thought they lacked capacity and admitted into hospital as a best interests decision. That fits better then the s136 which as you say is normally used in public place by police

no you can ask to be sectioned

I know lots of mumsnet bingo includes lots of is there asd or adhd and whilst nothing in your post highlights this. One thing I have noticed as a mental health professional is that women who are depressed in teens and often talk around having bpd are either traumatised children or undiagnosed ASD.

this doesn’t help you immediate situation but might give you some broader context to consider

@LakieLady I think you've given really good advice. Agency yes and no one is coming to fix things. It's really tough but it's the unfortunate reality. I hope she finds the right people to walk alongside as she recovers.

I get the sense that school was really awful for her. I wonder if she's ever really talked about it and had 100 percent empathy and validation? Schools can be horrific.

I don't have anything to add that hasn't been said, just wanted to offer a hand hold. My best friend has been in and out of hospital since we were teenagers- half her life now. It is hard enough seeing her suffer like that and being unable to "fix" things, I can't imagine how awful it must be when it is your child.

Personally I'd stay the hell away from NHS mental health services....they've certainly hurt me more than they've helped and I know of many others for whom that is true.

I also take issue with the 'people need to take responsibility for their own recovery'...yeah this is a lovely little phrase that absolves society from any sort of care and the obsession with targets and the off-loading those who don't fit into a neat little financial graph. The tories love this kind of thinking.

Many people do and have taken responsibility for their own recovery (I'm talking from mental health problems) as it has been clear that no other fucker could care less. But guess what? After decades of engaging willingly, throwing myself into everything offered, I am worse than ever. And I can see a point where I simply won't be able to engage any more, partly through physical and mental exhaustion and partly as the NHS has destroyed any goodwill and trust I might have had in them due to their repeated abuses of power, lies and the general dystopian hell that are mental health services.

Good luck OP. My main advice would be 'temper you expectations....drastically.'

Lakielady you are definitely mistaken on the detail

In order to be detained under MHA you require
2 Drs at least one of whom is qualified under S12 MHA therefore usually a psychiatrist (could possibly be a GP) and an AMHP who is usually a social worker (could possibly be a psych nurse)

You therefore need a minimum of 3 professionals to detain someone. This would be for S2 or S3.

S136 is a police power which can only be deployed by a police officer in a place to which the public have access ie not in someone's own home. This is the power to remove a person to a place of safety for an MHA assessment to take place.

Watch Gabor Mates Documentary 'The Wisdom of Trauma'. He talks about the current medicalisation of mental health and offers up an alternative view.

Gabor Mate would ask 'what happened to her?'

The other thing I would also explore is diet. A magnesium and vitamin b supplement would be really beneficial.

When people are running on adrenalin, the magnesium levels burn up quickly. This can heighten agitation and reactivity

Also, how is she sleeping?: is she very sleepy deprived and without routine? So many apparently benign factors can exacerbate mental health issues quite seriously.

It sounds like she may have untreated Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and is self medicating with drugs.

Gabor Mate is brilliant, compassionate and optimistic about the potential for healing trauma and addiction. While you are in the process of seeking support, I would urge you to read some things that can give you hope. And magnesium, hydration, sleep , and love 💞

The second you/she say that she thinks she has any type of personality disorder and that she wants to be admitted, is when you lose all chance of being admitted. Her behaviour is far too risky, they will say that admission will increase the likelihood of her harming herself.

She needs to focus on a drugs service before she looks at anything else.

Section 136?

Section 136 are issued by police, and in a public place.

You can usually request a Mental Health Act assessment via your local crisis team or Out of Hours duty team (social services)

That's what I helped my friend's wife do when her DH had a massive MH crisis. A psych nurse and GP rocked up at his house and, on the basis of his behaviour, issued a Section 136 that gives the power to detain.

He really unwell though, you didn't need to be an MH professional to realise that he needed treatment within about 2 minutes of talking to him.

This.

Wanting to be sectioned is a contradiction in terms. If someone wants to be sectioned, they won't be.

If she's under MH services, you could contact them with your concerns....either speak to her worker directly or to the Duty Worker. Otherwise, in a crisis you can attend psychiatric liaison at A&E or your local trusts crisis line.

Wrt the drugs, as pp have said it muddies the water somewhat as its hard to assess what's mental health related and what's drug related. Routine mental health services will likely ask her to address her drug issue first. However in a crisis situation eg serious self harm, suicide attempt etc, the crisis itself needs to be dealt with first before looking at the reasons behind it.

Good luck.....mental health services are seriously underfunded so you'll need it xxx

She wants someone to fix her
You want someone to fix her
Reality is that no-one can or will do it for her with no engagement on her part.
I am sorry. It is painful and difficult and worrying but there are no white knights or magic wands in the end you have to take some agency in your own recovery if you are ever going to get anywhere

Google who provides your local drug and alcohol services. They are all self referral. There will be a number to call and you have to start there. The NHS does offer inpatient detox but only to people with the most severe problems who also demonstrate that they have motivation to change and make the most of the opportunity by engaging with community services.

Especially if she is having thoughts of suicide, she needs to be assessed.
Sorry you're going through this OP.

From experience with DB it's incredibly difficult to get any support when drugs are involved. He's turned up at A&E multiple times begging to be sectioned, suicidal and beside himself, only to be sent home after a few hours. We've always found the MH teams say it's an addiction team problem, and the addiction team say it's a MH team problem. There's no support and accessing in-patient treatment is nigh-on impossible. We end up paying for a private treatment centre for DB between me and my parents. It broke us but he's been sober and well since thank god