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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think sectioning shouldn’t be done lightly

252 replies

User5022 · 09/10/2019 05:55

Eg used because an adult decided they didn’t want to rest of a treatment. I always assumed it had a really high threshold.

OP posts:
TheMustressMhor · 09/10/2019 06:44

And NAC has to be given as soon as possible for the patient to have the best outcome. There isn't time to mess around and hold meetings about it.

You sound upset or angry? You must be worried about your relative, OP.

CAG12 · 09/10/2019 06:45

Are you the same person who started a thread about MH Act yesterday for your daughter? And you were considering appealing it?

Now it comes to light that she attempted suicide and didnt complete treatment to reverse it. This means she has suicidal intent, and is more than just 'an unwise decision'.

It hasnt been used lightly. Its been used apprpriately.

NooneToldMeItWasRaining · 09/10/2019 06:47

The threshold is too high in our experience. I suspect due to the lack of beds in the hospital Hmm

WeDidNotChangeTheLocks · 09/10/2019 06:47

She wouldn't have been sectioned for the physical treatment. Its more likely that she was refusing the NAC and the follow on plan of going to a psychiatric unit. Refusal of NAC is not an indication to section

Original poster
User5022 · 09/10/2019 06:51

People need to be given a change in the community. They were offering day patient and then the next thing they sectioned.

OP posts:
Ginger1982 · 09/10/2019 06:54

"They were offering day patient and then the next thing they sectioned."

They must have felt that they were a risk to themselves or others to have changed their mind to detain them.

Stompythedinosaur · 09/10/2019 06:56

The difficulty is that refusing NAC can result in irreversible damage and death quite quickly. Understandably professionals, where they feel this is a symptom of a MH issue, want to intervene.

That said, if you are the nearest relative you can discharge the section. The care team might go to court to ask to displace you if they feel that doing this is not in the patient's best interests, and then a judge would decide.

TheMustressMhor · 09/10/2019 06:56

@User5022

Is this the first time she's taken an overdose and has she got another diagnosis such as schizophrenia/bipolar disorder?

You must be very worried about her. Have you been to the psychiatric unit yet to see her?

MrsJoshNavidi · 09/10/2019 06:57

Sectioning isn't done lightly. Not at all.

TheMustressMhor · 09/10/2019 06:58

Is this your first experience of a psychiatric intervention, OP?

How old is your DD?

frumpety · 09/10/2019 07:00

Could there be legitimate concerns about the level of harm the person will likely experience as a result of not completing the treatment ? How much treatment has the person actually had ? Have they had the first two doses and 12 hours of the third dose ? Bit out of date with treatment protocols for this so may be different now.

What are the reasons the person has decided to stop receiving treatment ? Has the person indicated that there is a real possibility of further attempts to harm themselves ?

Original poster
User5022 · 09/10/2019 07:05

She wanted to leave and not stay the night. There was four hours on the treatment left at the time so most of it’s been completed therefore the risk is low.bloods taken earlier on in the day had improved significantly.

OP posts:
Bluntness100 · 09/10/2019 07:08

They do have a high threshold and they will have done it for her safety or that of the community. I wouldn't presume to know more than the doctors in this instance.

TellMeWhoTheVilliansAre · 09/10/2019 07:09

Her case was clearly escalated because trained professionals with years of experience felt treating her in the community wouldn't work. She needs more focused and specialised care. They're not doing it to annoy you, or her. They did it to help her get well.

It can be hard when you have a loved one upset and possibly blaming you. But you need to detach a little and realise it is the illness talking, and everything is being done to make them better.

Have you any supports? Have you has counselling of your own?

frumpety · 09/10/2019 07:10

This must be so difficult for you Flowers

Has she completed the treatment or has she been moved to somewhere else ?

Hesafriendfromwork · 09/10/2019 07:10

Ita not taken lightly. If your relative has been sectioned it's for her or others safety. You may feel it was done lightly. But it wasnt.

TheMustressMhor · 09/10/2019 07:11

Sectioning really isn't done lightly, User5022 and I should think this has come as a shock to you and your daughter.

I imagine that the doctors believe that there is significant risk of harm to your DD if she is not sectioned and admitted.

It will not just have been done because of her refusing the last four hours of NAC.

More likely would be that she is still suicidal or is showing signs of another mental illness which needs treatment.

TheMustressMhor · 09/10/2019 07:16

They're not doing it to annoy you, or her. They did it to help her get well.

This ^

Please try not to be angry with the medical staff who felt that in your DD's case, in-patient treatment under Section was essential.

Have you any family or friends you can confide in? Flowers

You will almost certainly find that once your DD has received support and treatment she will be safe to go home again.

FlowerTink · 09/10/2019 07:19

A family member has been sectioned 3 times, twice for medical refusal and tbh could have done with being taken in much earlier before it got to 'crisis point' so its definitely not a decision taken lightly. It takes support workers, social workers, psychiatrists etc to make the decision

Icantthinkofanewname87 · 09/10/2019 07:21

Sectioning isn’t done lightly at all - the exact opposite! If anything they don’t section people who desperately need to be sectioned for their own safety!

greathat · 09/10/2019 07:22

A friend couldn't get her husband sectioned. He then committed suicide. I don't think it's done lightly at all :(

MintyMabel · 09/10/2019 07:24

It isn't done lightly. In fact, in my experience they don't do it enough.

A family member with mental
health problems so severe they have attempted suicide four times. Needs in-patient treatment but refuses to go. We have begged for him to be sectioned but they refuse saying it isn't in his best interests. But they also won't say what is. So every day I await the call from his wife to say he has committed suicide.

What a fucking system.

Quartz2208 · 09/10/2019 07:25

Oh op not it’s not they have to be in danger health wise and not able to receive treatment outside of the hospital and here I think the back has to be
I know it’s hard and horrible and a shock but it is done to help

AmIThough · 09/10/2019 07:26

Sectioning isn't done lightly at all.

As PP, I had a friend who really needed to be sectioned, and all of his family and friends knew it. He did too. He told the psychiatrist he didn't feel like he was a harm to himself so they didn't section him. The next day he killed himself. It was his 7th attempt.

I also have a relative who took an overdose (survived). They were released from hospital on the same day.

If professionals think your relative should be sectioned, then they should be sectioned.

ChilledBee · 09/10/2019 07:27

At my local hospital,you see psychiatric patients in great distress begging to be let in.