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Friend reported me to Social Services

210 replies

RainbowPeppercorns · Yesterday 11:46

I have been a carer to my elderly parents for many years now. They are both in their early nineties and Dad has just been diagnosed with a terminal condition that means he probably doesn't have long.

Until a few weeks back he was in a care home whilst we made adaptations to their home with some assistance from Occupational Therapy.

He is now back home. We are nursing him in bed as he can't really get up.

It has been such a difficult time. Unfortunately there have been some clashes with my mother over his care. She used to be a GP and has always been very vocal and forthright. They also didn't have a particularly easy marriage. There has been verbal conflict and I ended up throwing stuff around and walking out.

All OK now, apologies etc. She still believes she did nothing wrong by shouting and screaming at me over a tiny thing but I understand as we are both suffering anticipatory grief.

I've been confiding in and leaning on a friend of many years. He was a social worker but had a nervous breakdown and left the profession. Unfortunately he has rang Social Services and told them I have been violent towards my parents.

The police have been to take a statement and my Mum is totally horrified and insisting she doesn't want me prosecuted. Adult Protective Services are investigating.

The case worker told me who reported me. Apparently they are legally obligated to do so.

I haven't spoken with friend yet but I feel really let down.

OP posts:
MrsKin90 · Yesterday 19:44

Mum is in her 90s with a dying husband she's unable to care for by herself = emotionally and physically vulnerable.

Dad's is in his 90's and dying = emotionally and physically vulnerable.

Daughter with a terminally ill dad and frustrating mother who takes part in a 'verbal' conflict and ends up throwing things around (resulting in police involvement suggesting physical harm) = an escalation to physical conflict (throwing things is not verbal) by a person who has the power in this situation, with care responsibilities over a dying person who is unable to contain her anger during confrontation with a 90 year old grieving widow.

Regardless of the backstory to the event, it sounds like a social services report was warranted to check on the level of abuse that occured and potential for ongoing risk of abuse towards vulnerable parties.

SnoopyPajamas · Yesterday 19:47

Okay. You do need a bit more accountability here, OP. Yes, your mum was wrong to shout and scream at you. But her husband is dying and realistically, she won't be far behind. She's probably scared out of her wits and just wants to feel a sense of control over the situation. You should have handled that better. I absolutely understand the stress you're under, but you seem to think her shouting at you excuses your actions. There's a "we both did wrong but she provoked me" undertone to your post, and I don't think you can afford to think like that anymore. You're at the stage where it needs to become "she provoked me - I need better ways of dealing with that".

OP, your parents are both in their nineties. They weaker than you and dependent on you. Throwing stuff around and then walking out - by which I'm guessing you mean leaving the house? - will only have made your mum feel unsafe, at a time when she already feels vulnerable. It will exacerbate the very behaviour you're trying to prevent. I know it feels like clearing your head in the moment, but if you're trying to bring down the stress levels of everyone in the house, it's not the way to go.

On your friend: I understand why you feel like he betrayed your trust, but it does sound like you're not coping. He may even have thought telling him was a cry for help on your part. It sounds like he was trying to do the right thing. If he's been a good friend up to now, tell him you were hurt but you understand, and try to maintain the friendship. Caring is tough. You need your friends around you. Don't throw them out of your life unless you absolutely have to.

On the social involvement: I know, it's horrible. But maybe you could do with some help, and this will be a way to get you that. You may even have needed a bit of a wake-up call, so the situation won't escalate. I know that's a tough thing to hear, but the truth is you lost control here. The sense that someone is keeping an eye on you might help you stay your best self in future, and put the brakes on next time it all gets too much.

"I walked out": you haven't given much information on this, but if by it you mean that you left the house in a temper, and left two ninety year olds (one of them bed bound) alone, with no idea when you might return . . . I can see why your friend felt uncomfortable. Your parents are vulnerable now in the same way children are. I know it's an adjustment to see them that way, especially when they don't want to admit it, and when your mum still has such power to hurt your feelings. But it's true. It's time for a perspective shift.

Punishing them that way can't happen again. What if something had happened while you were gone? You'd feel awful. I know they're difficult, but there are better ways of dealing with them. Reach out. Ask for help. You can handle this. I know it's humiliating to have social services in your home, but they will have seen this kind of thing more than you imagine. It's a shit experience, but sometimes we need an outside perspective to open our eyes to the ways we're falling short. It doesn't mean the end of the world and it doesn't mean you're a bad person. Take the lessons you need to take from this and then pick it up and keep moving.

You can do it. You've already been a carer for so long. Think of this as just another stage you're moving through. Like childhood in reverse. Just as kids grow up and move from children to teens, and your relationship with them has to adjust, the same thing is happening now with your elderly parents. They're dependent, they're frightened, and they need your patience. You've become the parent now, in many ways.

This is a hard stage. But you will find your equilibrium. Things will settle. You've got this 🌺

Fernsarethebestplants · Yesterday 19:52

Long-term carers are indeed very vulnerable themselves, mainly to MH issues and risk of suicide. Caring like this burns you out, you can't sleep if the person need support at night, dealing with incontinence is exhausting, and there are far too few services leaving you in a terrible situation. I couldn't go through what I went through again, it was like a form of hell for both the carer and the cared for.

I would never condemn anyone in this situation; shouting is something that happens when people are exhausted, overwrought and already grieving.

Old people are just people, and they may be difficult, awkward, and bloody minded just like anyone, and very difficult to handle. They may have personality changes or cognitive decline, even if there is not official dementia (and there may be). Just because they are 90 doesn't make them easy to deal with at all.

In hindsight, stepping back is the thing to do. That's the counsel of perfection, though. I have shouted extremely loudly at my children, for example, but I don't think it would have been reasonable to call SS.

If one of my friends had called SS when I was at my lowest ebb, I don't know what I would have done. I don't think many commenting on here have recently cared for a terminally ill person in the current system and I hope for their sake they never have to.

WhoGives2Fucks · Yesterday 20:06

Nottodaybob · Yesterday 19:41

We do t know that the friend didn't say that first. Or didn't offer support. The friend may well have raised concerns with the OP who either dismissed them or declined help. We don't know, the OP doesn't say. What we do know is that the OP has shouted, screamed and thrown stuff, in the home where her bed bound father is living.

That IS abuse and if OP either minimised it, dismissed it or refused support, then to protect the elderly vulnerable person, SS needed to be called.

I very much doubt the friend said oh right, fair enough, then immediately called social services.

Well you may very much doubt what you like, but taking it at face value from what she’s written, it doesn’t appear that he offered help or anything at all. It’s seems to have came out if the blue without him speaking to her first. If he had spoken to her and offered help etc…. the replies here would be vastly different. We can only go on what we’re told here so no point in adding in potential scenarios.

Cherryicecreamx · Yesterday 20:06

That would be it for the friendship for me because you confided for support and it feels like the ultimate betrayal. I think I'd want to let him know that's it now.
Having said that I'm not dismissing what you have done, throwing things is a form of abuse, especially with your parents who are old and vulnerable. Hopefully this can be a wake up call to learn to manage your emotions more to not resort to throwing things - no good is going to come out of that.

LethargeMarg · Yesterday 20:10

Lifelover16 · Yesterday 13:28

Maybe he spoke to social services because he could see you and your mum were stressed and upset and needed extra help. Perhaps he was doing it from a good place rather than a malicious one.

exactly this. we encourage families we work with that are overwhelmed to self refer to social services as most have an ‘early help’ type stage which is very supportive.

speakball · Yesterday 20:11

I know from personal experience that it never pays to have any involvement from SS who will simply do whatever is easiest and cheapest rather than what's best.

so they won’t do anything then? seriously though why run through those scenarios. in the uk anyone who raises a safeguarding concern is allowed to be informed of any outcome. probably not much more than that be we are legally entitled to know if our concerns have been looked into, bought change etc.

PenelopePinkerton · Yesterday 20:18

Hoppinggreen · Yesterday 12:01

For doing what they are legally obligated to?

They are not legally obligated to at all if they have left the profession, which I take to mean no longer registered.

Jennick · Yesterday 20:22

Not much of a friend,a very difficult situation ,made worse for everyone by his actions , I wish you well ,and well done for being there for them.x

DecisionTime123 · Yesterday 20:30

I'm intrigued by all these reports of help being available to the OP - sorry - the abusive carer. Clearly, according to many posters here, she should not be allowed near her parents again, and they can then freely and gratefully partake of all the good quality care they will be offered. They won't want to see their disgraced daughter again of course, and will receive several care visits a day to cater for their every whim. Well, maybe to help with a sandwich and a bed bath. Because where I live, and because I work for a carers' organisation, I know that even that meagre level of support is hard to secure and may come at considerable cost. Maybe that's just where I live and work (covering whole of South/South East) and other posters are in areas where 90 year olds get lots of help.

So OP can take herself off and reflect on her apparent shame, whilst at the same time knowing that her parents are mostly alone and unable to cope. Or she can be vilified, maybe even criminalised, but still expected to provide the care. Serves her right eh?

Sillpresent · Yesterday 20:51

Do you have any mental health issues that your friend is aware of @RainbowPeppercorns ?

HowDoYouSolveAProblemLikeMyRear · Yesterday 21:20

If he thinks you're abusive, he isn't your friend.

If he thinks you aren't abusive, but the behaviour sounds bad enough that he could be in trouble for bit reporting, I'd someone else involved in the conversation did report, he could simply have asked:

"Earlier it sounded like you said XYZ happened. I know I probably got hold of the wrong end of the stick because it's not sort of thing you'd do, but I have to check because if it was XYZ then I'm obliged to report it"

Either way, i wouldn't trust him any more.

ThreadGuardDog · Yesterday 21:24

DecisionTime123 · Yesterday 20:30

I'm intrigued by all these reports of help being available to the OP - sorry - the abusive carer. Clearly, according to many posters here, she should not be allowed near her parents again, and they can then freely and gratefully partake of all the good quality care they will be offered. They won't want to see their disgraced daughter again of course, and will receive several care visits a day to cater for their every whim. Well, maybe to help with a sandwich and a bed bath. Because where I live, and because I work for a carers' organisation, I know that even that meagre level of support is hard to secure and may come at considerable cost. Maybe that's just where I live and work (covering whole of South/South East) and other posters are in areas where 90 year olds get lots of help.

So OP can take herself off and reflect on her apparent shame, whilst at the same time knowing that her parents are mostly alone and unable to cope. Or she can be vilified, maybe even criminalised, but still expected to provide the care. Serves her right eh?

Well that’s certainly not what I’m saying and I’m one of the posters in agreement with this friend reporting to social services. No-one really knows what OP told him but something clearly informed his decision to report, and it’s also resulted in police involvement, which is concerning and suggestive that OP hasn’t disclosed the full situation.

I don’t think for one moment that OP should be vilified and kept away from her parents. Having been in the position of looking after an elderly and dying parent I can well understand what she has to contend with. But there is a clear safeguarding issue here. OP lost her temper to the point where she was yelling and throwing things. That indicates huge stress levels and a loss of control, however momentary.

There needs to be intervention and support because the concern is escalation. And there are two very vulnerable elderly people potentially on the receiving end if OP snaps. I’m not for one moment suggesting that she will, or would, but that would be the concern leading to the report. Hopefully OP can request a carers assessment which will identify her needs as a carer and she can access some support for what sounds like a very difficult situation.

Sunbringer · Yesterday 21:35

Sorry… you physically threw things around your nonagenarian parents home?? Your friend did the right thing. An old lady shouting at you wasn’t a threat but throwing objects is violence.

godmum56 · Yesterday 21:43

HowDoYouSolveAProblemLikeMyRear · Yesterday 21:20

If he thinks you're abusive, he isn't your friend.

If he thinks you aren't abusive, but the behaviour sounds bad enough that he could be in trouble for bit reporting, I'd someone else involved in the conversation did report, he could simply have asked:

"Earlier it sounded like you said XYZ happened. I know I probably got hold of the wrong end of the stick because it's not sort of thing you'd do, but I have to check because if it was XYZ then I'm obliged to report it"

Either way, i wouldn't trust him any more.

except he is NOT obliged to report it.

SmallDFartyCarNRG · Yesterday 21:44

ThatGoldScroller · Yesterday 19:42

I don’t think I could ever forgive him. In the best case scenario, if he felt you needed help, then he could say that. At the very least he should have let you know.

Unless there is a massive drip feed to come?

It's a fishing post - OP only did the intro, everyone else has made the rest.

BluebellBeth · Yesterday 21:47

Don't worry, just tell them you need some support with care and respite. Ask for an assessment for your father and carers assessments for yourself and your mum, you probably won't see them for dust

supportAct · Yesterday 21:54

@RainbowPeppercorns were you violent OP? Your dm said she didn’t want you prosecuted not that you weren’t violent. Your friend seems to think you were.

If you were, and you told your friend, he has a duty to report you.

If you weren’t, ask him why.

Happyjoe · Yesterday 22:05

ThreadGuardDog · Yesterday 19:04

He did. He’s protected two very vulnerable elderly people, one of whom is dying. The fact that OP has lost it to the point of throwing things around is an indication that she needs support. Social services will organise a carers assessment for her to assess her needs in that role. OP is saving the state a lot of money by acting as a carer for her dad - they will have that in mind so support will be the intention. I have doubts that OP is telling us the entire truth, given that the police are investigating.

You honestly think SS is going to help?!
We've had SS on board with elderly care - it's not helpful bar a few grab bars and bed risers.
And no, I wouldn't fill in the gaps with my imagination over the police.

NewNameW · Yesterday 22:16

Have not read the full thread as OP hasn't replied so on the slight chance it's real and they are watching

Wouldn't you do the same?

Friendships and safe guarding vulnerable people is not the same thing. They don't have to go hand in hand. You can love someone to your bones but if you think they are doing a bad thing it's okay to speak out.

Would you sit back and watch your friend say how they smacked their child and threw their toys and think, yeah been there I've totally wanted to do that before - or think, yo, we've thought it but we haven't done it? This might not be okay.

They know you better than we do so they either know you've reached a limit, or this is generally your behavior and honestly sometimes even though no one wants to admit it, abusive people do get more and more comfortable in their stories and speaking it out loud. Not saying it's you, but your friend will know better than we do.

Territories · Yesterday 22:38

It’s a stressful situation for you for sure, but I don’t blame him for reporting you. He wasn’t there, he didn’t witness it personally and he is erring on the side of caution to protect vulnerable people. If there were more people like him, it might reduce the amount of abuse towards the sorts of vulnerable people that social workers come into contact with

so I’m not saying you yourself are this awful abuser, I’m just saying that the system working as intended is for the better good of everyone. And although it’s stressful for you, just try to see it as everyone wanting to make sure your parents are ok and that you’re supported

LancashireButterPie · Yesterday 22:39

saveforthat · Yesterday 12:37

Is it true that social services are legally obliged to tell you who reported you? I thought you could report anonymously. Surely that would put people off reporting?

I reported the horrific treatment of a toddler when I was a HCP. Social services absolutely told them who had reported them and they turned up at my hospital workplace screaming abuse.
Would I do it again? Yes, absolutely, but you do need to think through the consequences.

Territories · Yesterday 22:43

godmum56 · Yesterday 21:43

except he is NOT obliged to report it.

sure. But just because he may not be in the profession now, it doesn’t mean he’s forgotten his safeguarding training. In public sector roles, you generally get best practice drilled into you, it’s not a hat you immediately take off when leaving. I have worked in a few public sector organisations and there’s certain knowledge that you gather about internal processes, which tends to stay with you. I might not think about the day to day business as usual things anymore, but my spidey senses definitely go off if something doesn’t feel right for more serious things

HappyMamma2023 · Yesterday 22:50

I would have reported you too OP

mumumental · Yesterday 23:02

We probably don’t have all of the information. I sincerely hope that the dying man didn’t witness the throwing episode.