To worry about what I told Talkspace therapy ?

[squishycat18]

TW self harm/su--cide

Hi all. I had a phone consult with the Talkspace service because I want some CBT for my low mood and anxiety. I'm freaking out a bit because I mentioned to them on the questionnaire and the phone call that sometimes I have thoughts of harming myself, which I suppose I do, but I'm not a danger to myself because these are just passing thoughts that I never act on and can rationalise away.

They know I have a child, they took down his name and DOB and now I'm worried that they're thinking I'm unstable and they will get social services involved. I was very hesitant to speak and get help at all because of this. When they asked me about it further I explained that they are just passing thoughts and I'm just really critical of myself, and would like CBT to help with that. But that I don't have thoughts of ending my life.

The rest of the call I was trying to be positive and realistic so I don't worry them too much, telling them my future plans and my motivation to do better. But I'm not on the phone to them to tell them that everything is great and I don't have any problems ... what's the point then lol

AIBU to freaking out or have I really been a huge idiot?

You don't need to worry about this. It's purely a safeguarding precaution - it just means that if things were to escalate (for example if you were indicating that you were planning to take your own life) they would be able to make sure your child was safe. It doesn't mean they're going to involve social services or anything like that.

If you have a second session with them, you can ask them about it for reassurance, by the way. If you explain that you felt anxious about it, they'll be able to clarify things for you. I promise you they're not trying to catch you out in any way.

I'm sorry you're going through this OP. It must be hard but you've recognised the problem and you're taking active steps to help yourself which is a big thing so you should be proud.

I honestly can't say with 100% about what you've disclosed and your child. Services are obliged to report when they think there is an imminent risk - I believe, others will be better informed.

What I will say is this, people who work in this field will hear things like this all the time. Some of my colleagues are ASIST trained which is a suicide intervention skillset. I wouldn't be surprised if Talkspace staff were too - or at least something similar. There is a big difference between suicidal thoughts vs suicidal intent and people doing those roles are generally able to differentiate between the two.

Active plans are a big risk factor. It's not uncommon for someone in your position to sometimes think it would be better if you ended it all. Where it becomes a risk is if you start talking about HOW you might do it. That's when the risk tips to suicidal intent. If they didn't ask more questions to try and uncover that, the chances are, they recognised your thoughts as normal in the context of your situation.

You're been open and honest and you're also taking steps to engage pro-actively with support. Keep doing what your doing and keep being honest. Tell them your fears as a mother and what this might mean for you, that's part of the process too and no doubt feeds into your low mood and anxiety.

I hope thins get better for you.

I wouldn't worry about social services involvement. They will have risk assessed you (and it sounds like they did). Anyone who works in this area will know that having passing thoughts of self harm, or even self harming in some ways, does not mean you are a risk of suicide or that your children are at risk. Many, many people have thoughts of self harm. It's actually extremely common. But they will assess whether you are at imminent risk of harm to yourself or others. And if you truly were, they would get you help - and they would tell you that they are doing it - because no one really can refer someone on without their consent. What I mean by that, is that it can't be a surprise. They would talk to you about the process and if there were concerns and what they were going to do next. They haven't done that, so I would take that as, they risk assessed the situation and are happy that you are engaging with support and not a risk to yourself or others.

I told my GP and a mental health nurse in October 2022 that I was actively suicidal, with a plan, and they lost my referral and never even followed it up to check I was OK. They knew I had DC.

Normally if they are going to report they tell you unless that in itself will cause further harm.

Thank you all for your lovely kind and sympathetic responses, I feel a lot better now.

@MyNewGenericUsername so sorry you've had such a horrible time and no help at all, I do hope things have gotten better and you are doing well now

@divinededacende @ManateeFair thank you both for your kind and informative responses, yes I think I will let them know that it was a big worry for me

@mindutopia thank you, I don't know why I can't shake the feeling that they will try to catch me out and intervene without my knowledge ... probably the anxiety talking haha

Former MH practitioner here. We are obligated to report a minor who resides with a person suffering with ill MH to local authority but this is “for information only” and they don’t follow up unless we tell them what specific imminent risks there are for a child. That’s why we do risk assessments which include asking you about plans, intents and protective factors. Based on what you are saying, I imagine you were assessed as low risk. Having said that, there isn’t anything bad about SS involvement. They are there to give you support. Nobody is going to take your child away without good reason.

Do you work in a specialist team like Early Intervention in Psychosis because I've worked in a related field and never heard of this? Who in the LA do you even report to? Surely they'd be overwhelmed with reports given how many people suffer with poor mental health and the proportion of those with children? Doesn't it go against data laws to share sensitive info when there's no real risk for "information only". Certainly goes against Caldicott Principles ...

I worked in several community and hospital settings and the procedure has been the same across them all. The reporting is done by logging in information on LA website and the triage will either close it or follow up with us for more information. We are explicitly told it is not our place to investigate and that we should make LA aware of any situation where minor is involved regardless of level of risk. The LA will then proceed accordingly. I assume trust policy complied with all the relevant laws. It’s not really my place to question, I just do as I’m told by the management although I also always found it a bit odd and had the same questions as you.
I am in a different specialism now and only required to report if there is evidence of actual harm/high risk.

Yeah, seems odd but presumably they complied with those laws etc - well hope so anyway!