Posted by Dory on June 7, 2007, at 9:30:53
In reply to Re: how does the hospital work? *maybe trigger?? » jammerlich, posted by sunnydays on June 7, 2007, at 9:02:16
my H has been hospitalized numerous times, both willingly and unwillingly. Your T can only do anything if you are about to act on suicidal thoughts, but you should clarify with him/her where their boundaries are about that so you can feel comfortable. That's what i did because i needed to be able to talk about the feelings without fear of being locked up.
Your big factor is risk. How much of a risk are you to yourself and others? That is what docs are trying to determine. How long you have to stay depends on their determination of that, and quite frankly other factors such as the particular doc you're talking to, the funding of the hospital, insurance vs none, etc. Basically, the less risk you are the quicker you get to leave, but it's subject to a lot of other factors.
If you are told to go by your pdoc or T they are generally aiming for a self-admittance under recommendation. That is not the same as being forced, but you cannnot just leave when you please. Generally it means 24 to 72 hrs hold so they can observe and stabilize you. If you are really forced, as in kicking and screaming and refusing to self-admit, then it's generally a madidtory 72hr hold and must be confirmed by 2 pdocs (that's the law here anyway). My H referred himself and then when he threw a fit and threatened to check himself out he was informed that he was under hold.
My pdoc has told me that if he really felt i needed to go and wouldn't he;d have the police pick me up. Thats what they do here, i don't know about where you are. They called the police when H pitched a fit in the ER too.
Generally speaking, and again this depends on where you are, insurance, etc, you would have to be pretty out there to be forced to stay longer than you feel you need to... they likely will make you stay until a pdoc assesses you.
If you have been admitted, but pose no risk to yourself or others, they have to release you after 72hrs if you request reassessment. i am pretty sure the 72hr thing is pretty standard. Even if they want you to stay you can still check out under what they call AMA (against medical adice).
So, the worst possible thing is a 24-72hr hold for suicidal behaviour. Which is better than being dead.
Talk to your T about the limits she/he has and maybe make an agreement about it.
poster:Dory
thread:761588
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20070525/msgs/761600.html