family member threatening to kill themselves - need advice

[maxmissie]

A family member has mental health issues which has meant he hasn't worked for over a year. I think he's on meds and is possibly on a waiting list to see a psychiatrist, he had an assessment with a nurse a few weeks ago.

This last few days he has threatened to kill himself. The crisis team told him they can only help if he has attempted to kill myself or presumably is about to kill himself, but this maybe because it's been the weekend and they have limited resources.

His parents were due to go on holiday today but can't as they don't want to leave him on his own.

Any advice please. From looking at other threads I'm concerned that the crisis team won't be much help anyway. Is it better for him or his parents to ring them?, am concerned that if it looks to them like he has some support then they won't treat him as a priority but if his parents take a step back they're worried about the consequences.

Thanks.

If crisis team no help there will be a duty psych at A&E.

Thanks for the reply, will pass that on.

Still not sure whether it's helpful for him to go with parents or on his own or with someone else, just think that by having someone with him that people think he has support and so there is less urgency to help him. Meanwhile his parents can practically do very little, have their own jobs etc and desperately need a holiday themselves, after a year of supporting him alongside other things going on in their life.

But if they leave him to it they will be worried sick and he will have no support network at all.

I have been to A&E when suicidal and went with support. They're more concerned with what the person is telling them rather than whether they have anyone with them.

Crisis teams are grossly underfunded, as is most of mental health. However if you present at hospital, they'll have a MH liaison who can talk to him and assess the situation.

Thanks again. Am now trying to find out what's happening now.

Is it possible that he's feeling this way because his parents are going away? It's quite possible that the idea of being on his own (or being around someone he's not so comfortable with) could lower his mood. (I'm not saying he's necessarily doing this 'on purpose', but that such a change in routine may have a psychological impact.)

I'm sorry to hear your family member is unwell. If he is experiencing increased suicidal thoughts with plans of how he might harm himself, then either he or family must call the assessment team to inform them of this development. They will certainly want to speak with him to assess the risk further and take action if necessary.
If it is out of hours, he can go/ be taken to A&E where the psychiatric liaison team will assess him.
Having collateral information from a family member is often helpful - the help that he receives is based entirely on his mental health needs.

I'm also wondering if the thought of being left on his own is really scaring this person. The other thing is suicidal thoughts are very common in severe depression - one of the most common symptoms. Everyone gets very concerned but usually it is suicide ideation as in thinking of ending it all. I've been in this position on and off for 5 years. It isn't that we want to die - we just want an end to the suffering. I have made plans but don't think I'll ever go through with it.

There isn't really a great deal that can be done. If he is assessed by the crisis team at A & E (and there will likely be a long wait) the decision they make will be based on clinical need, so suicidal thoughts alone are not going to get him admitted, even if he would agree to that. As others have said, mental health services are seriously under resourced thanks to this govt, who despite saying MH should have parity with physical health have made huge cuts in MH budgets.

Just found this thread again, thanks for the comments since I last posted. The person in question (I'll call him Tim) ended up staying with a friend whilst his parents were away. His GP tried to be helpful and seemed to find that he is under a consultant but couldn't contact him. Tim wasn't aware he had a consultant. GP contacted social services but they had a six week wait, and he had previously been referred to them and then for some reason unreferred. In the end as no one able to offer any immediate help he was able to go to a friends whilst his parents were away.

Now he's back and he is still in a dire situation, his parents don't know what to do. He's on different meds from the GP and it seems that social services may be able to get involved sooner. He is hoping to get a referral from them to supported housing. Presumably social services may also be able to help with other things? No idea what is going on with the actual mental health team side, no sign of him seeing a doctor, presumably social services may be able to help with this or find out what has been going on?