How can I get my DH sectioned?

[silverribbonxmastree]

My STBXH has a terrible coke addiction. He isn't functioning anymore. Just shuts himself in the house (I moved out with kids) and ignores the world. He suffers with extreme paranoia but won't accept he has a problem. It is only a matter of time before things implode (ie - not paying bills, dealing with emails,...).

I don't hate him but I can't support him anymore due to his extreme behaviour - he needs professional help and to recognise he has a problem to be able to move forward. I worry that he will end up dead at the rate he is going.

So to my problem - divorce proceedings have been issued (and ignored). We will need to sell the house as part of the divorce. I can't access the house to get my stuff as he has locked me out and his behaviour is v unpredictable (sometimes ok sometimes volatile). I will try to get some kind of court order in this regard.

As he doesn't leave the house (or v rarely to get food) his behaviour is restricted to the house. He has trashed the house. Everything is upside down.

For his own sake, he needs to be sectioned. Any advice greatly appreciated?

Contact the MH crisis team for an assessment. But you should also let them know that you are unable to advocate for him further and you are not caring for him in any way and this will be your final involvement.

Urgently get advice from a solicitor regarding the divorce and property.

You have to walk away from trying to get him help etc after this. It's been 5years of your life too and you can't cure his addiction. Who is his next closest adult relative?

You very definitely can't be detained under MHA for drug (or alcohol) addiction. You could possibly be detained for drug induced psychosis however.

You need to either

1. Ask his Gp to refer to mental health services
2. Ring up and ask the AMHP to consider an MHA

He sounds in extremely poor health mentally to me...

You can't support him anymore. You have yourself and your kids to think of, you'll end up a wreck.
Phone the police to force entry to your home to get your things. Maybe they will register the sight of him and do a referral however it's unlikely.
It's inconceivable to me that addiction isn't accepted as a symptom of MH issues but that state of MH services in the U.K. Very sad but you just can't do any more for him you have to plough on to save your own life now.

But that's the* state

He only has elderly parents and me.

GP had referred him previously for some kind of assessment but he ignored the telephone consultation.

In my heart of hearts I think my biggest fear will come to be (him dying alone). I know it has to come from him to go forward but it's horrible standing by and watching it unfold.

I might speak to the mental health team to gauge their opinion

People are incorrect..they absolutely will section someone if its down to drug use if they are a danger to themselves or others.

My bil's sister was sectioned last year for psychosis and paranoia as a result of cocaine use. She was convinced there was men in her loft who were waiting to murder and rape her and barricaded herself in her bedroom with an axe and was hitting the walls with it because she could hear voices.

Police came and took her to be sectioned.

If he is using, he is in possession, to be using the amount he is, most likely he has a good stash in the property, more than for normal personal use. Would you consider reporting him for possession & then if he is arrested get the locks changed while he is in custody?

I have no idea how much he is using as he always minimised or denied. Maybe 3 or 4 wraps a night? I really don't know.

He's been psychotic a few times but is mainly just extremely paranoid.

Police have been involved a few times and weren't interested in charging him. I guess he is small fry in their eyes.

God, it's such an eye opener. I can't believe how destructive drugs can be

There's so much casual misinformation on this thread, without splitting hairs as to who is right and who is talking shit
Contact :

Your Local Mental Health Trust Main Phoneline for your locality
Your/His GP
Your nearest Addiction Service

There is also this:
cocaineanonymous.org.uk/

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and comments.

It’s unlikely you can, but contact the GP and the crisis team.

Other than that it’s a legal matter, so your solicitor should lead it. Sorry it’s all so shit

@BrilliantBetty

Contact the MH crisis team for an assessment. But you should also let them know that you are unable to advocate for him further and you are not caring for him in any way and this will be your final involvement.

Urgently get advice from a solicitor regarding the divorce and property.

You have to walk away from trying to get him help etc after this. It's been 5years of your life too and you can't cure his addiction. Who is his next closest adult relative?

Op already has a solicitor for her divorce & property. Unsurprisingly.

What daft advice

Honestly I know I could be a rabbit for all you know but I really am a psychiatrist
I detain people under the MHA a lot. I know what the criteria are
Drug and alcohol addiction are not diagnoses for which you can be detained under MHA
Drug induced psychosis is a separate diagnosis for which you possibly could be
Not being able to be detained under MHA doesn't mean you can't get help but for any addiction you have to seek help yourself and have some motivation to quit. You cannot be forced to do so on anything other than the very short term.

The standard referral route is via the GP making a referral but if he doesn't want help that won't work
Another route in some areas is self referral to a crisis team if they accept that but again it won't work if he doesn't want it
The only way a person can be forced to have mental health treatment against their will is via the MHA and that is a high bar which requires there to be a risk to his own health, safety or that of others.
The way to access that is via the AMHP service.
It's not that MH services don't have resources to help OP's DH or don't want to it's that HE doesn't want help and as such he cannot easily be forced. He's an adult making bad choices. I think OP should walk away and leave him to it.

If he is doing things to the house electrics wiring he could be a risk to himself or anyone visiting the house, if the house is semi or terraced he could be a risk to the attached houses?

Drug and alcohol dependence is not covered by the provisions of the Mental Health Act so it is not lawful for individuals with these problems alone to be detained.

This is for good reason - it is not practical nor ethical to detain individuals to enforce detox from drugs or alcohol. In your DH’s case he does not feel he has a problem, so it is even less appropriate.

If he is unwilling to engage with drug and alcohol services they will be unable to offer any intervention. However he can self refer at any time.

If you are concerned about how he is coping being in the house all the time it may be worth requesting a home visit from his GP. They can make direct referrals to mental health services if they feel it is appropriate

House is detached.

Not sure what he has done to electric - possibly isolated switches on the board. I know he has ripped out phone socket and wiring

He doesn't answer the door and has disabled the doorbell.

Ultimately I agree that there is little that I can do. Only he can want to change then I can support that change.

It may be that he has a drug induced psychosis for which he possibly could be detained under MHA. As nearest relative you have a right to request the AMHP consider it although they may not agree.

I'm afraid that in the end though even if he was admitted under MHA and detoxed he would likely go back to it after discharge as he has done every time before by your own admission. I certainly wouldn't waste money on another private detox. For a person with no real motivation to change that's just a waste of time. The sad fact is that you cannot save him if he doesn't want to save himself.

@CovoidOfAllHumanity

Drug addiction is not defined as a mental illness within the mental health act so basically you can't if that's the only problem.

However if you are his nearest relative under the Mental Health Act (which if you are married then you are) then you do have a right to request a MHA assessment but you cannot dictate whether it does take place or the outcome. You request by phoning up your local mental health trust and asking to speak to the 'approved mental health practitioner' the AMHP and asking to make a referral for an MHA as the nearest relative.

This. The mha It is all you can do. No one tells you this is an option if you ask for help with him, but it is the only way to get the GP to take it seriously. Would have saved me 10 years heartache if gps I went to told me I could actually do this. They didn’t.

There are simply no beds in MH wards for voluntary admission and unless they are active risk to themselves or others no on will be sectioned

Please also consider that the paranoia may be cause of addiction not the other way round. When someone has serious mental illnesses involving psychosis they don’t know they are ill. Just the world is frightening. Drugs and alcohol may be a form of self medication to block out hallucinations. . Push for this to be examined in the MHA as well as the mental illness following the drug addiction..don’t make assumptions of what is cause and what is symptom.

How upsetting OP

Have you looked at your mortgage documents, do they require you to keep the house in a certain condition? Can you leverage that to get them to evict him. The more he destroys the house, the more difficult it will be to sell it and get your share out

Exactly the same happened to my ex. He overdosed eventually and I called an ambulance. He was then sectioned in hospital. He is suffering from paranoid delusions and none of you know whether it was caused by the drugs or if he's using the drugs to self medicate. So stop playing psychiatrists as drug addiction is very complicated and certainly is a MH issue. Op if I were you I would contact the crisis team and concentrate on his symptoms rather than the drugs. Let them determine what's best. In my case, ex was sectioned for 28 days then moved in with his parents seeing MH services weekly. He is now on the correct meds for him to treat his problems and living in his own place. We still get on and he has our teen ds once a week

Phone the police and let them know you think he has tampered with electrics. They will come and remove him and take him to a&e where he can be assessed by psych liaison. You can’t be detained for drug addiction...he can however be detained if he is psychotic and is a risk to himself or others which to me, sounds like he is. People are quick to dismiss addiction as “not mental illness” when it can be a comorbidity.