Experience with welfare check?

[slowdance]

Is there any way to get out of being carted to the psych ward in the back of a cop car if you get a welfare check called on you? My therapist has been threatening one. I'm going to cool down on the suicide talk in session, but I'm worried it might be too late.

 

[Notaname]

I had one called on me last week. I just lied. I even said I was having thoughts of suicide. I just lied about having something in my home that could hurt me. They asked about my medications I took and I just said I have no pills in the house that would hurt me. Don't know how much it helped that I had a therapist appointment later that day and I told the crisis counselor and cop about that, but they let me go just fine. The crisis counselor called me back like yesterday to check up. Just lie to them. This may be easier said than done because I have Autism/ADHD so masking has been an almost daily thing for me.

 

[slowdance]

I had one called on me last week. I just lied. I even said I was having thoughts of suicide. I just lied about having something in my home that could hurt me. They asked about my medications I took and I just said I have no pills in the house that would hurt me. Don't know how much it helped that I had a therapist appointment later that day and I told the crisis counselor and cop about that, but they let me go just fine. The crisis counselor called me back like yesterday to check up. Just lie to them. This may be easier said than done because I have Autism/ADHD so masking has been an almost daily thing for me.

That's a relief to hear that it's not a guaranteed sentence to grippy sock jail. I told my therapist that I'm not having thoughts of suicide anymore so I think I'm safe from welfare checks now

 

[maniac116]

The cops have absolutely no legal right to bring you to a psych ward unless you are
1) an imminent danger to yourself or others
2) "gravely disabled" to the point of not being able to provide food or shelter for yourself (in the US).
Ive had a few welfare checks. They ask if you're OK etc. Tell them you're fine & you're done.... Period!

 

[needthebus]

The cops have absolutely no legal right to bring you to a psych ward unless you are
1) an imminent danger to yourself or others
2) "gravely disabled" to the point of not being able to provide food or shelter for yourself (in the US).
Ive had a few welfare checks. They ask if you're OK etc. Tell them you're fine & you're done.... Period!

Legal rights exist only to the extent that they can be enforced.

It's very unlikely a police officer has ever gotten in trouble for bringing a person to a psych ward after a psychologist has demanded a welfare check and speaking with a person.

Cops are allowed to use their subjective judgment of whether you are an imminent danger to yourself or others. If they they think you are lying, or don't believe you, they can bring you in. Even if they don't think you are lying, it's really impossible to prove their subjective judgments are somehow complete bullshit.

An important thing to remember is that in order for them to make that determination during a welfare check, they must have access to you (depending on the country). If you don't answer the door, don't respond to what they say, and possibly are not there, it's very unlikely they have the ability to break down the door without a warrant unless someone has said you are about to ctb (depending on the country), and even then, it's very iffy because if a cop is breaking a door it involves property damage and so they are unlikely to do that unless they have clear reasons to need to do that.

cops and mental health professionals are also not likely to spend an entire day waiting for you to come out if you don't respond. however, they may pretend to leave and wait outside the door for an hour, because sometimes people getting a welfare check will say nothing and then once they think cops/mental health workers are not there, they will simply immediately try to leave and then the cops/mental health workers are outside and suddenly, it's no longer possible to say nothing to them (because not being able to communicate may indicate you are gravely disabled or mentally disturbed).

in-patient involuntary care can be extraordinarily expensive, degrading, and often leaves people more suicidal then when they came in. Often time in-patient care makes society feel better (see, we tried to do something!) and makes doctors and nurses richer (they get paid for highly specialized care that consists of you sleeping in a locked area on a cot while they doom scroll on their phones). in-patient care in a country without universal healthcare can be well over $10,000 and possibly even much more than that. if you are in a country with universal care, you can check the rules of the nearby in-patient facilities. if they aren't that bad, in-patient care may not be the worst thing ever if it's free, although it can effect your rights and the loss of autonomy can be degrading

if you are sad, and have been sad for years, and are older, then you may not want in-patient care no matter what since that sort of extreme depression has a lower recovery rate. if you are young and having a first depressive episode, people often recover from those and in-patient care may make sense. good luck and sorry you are here.

 

[maniac116]

Legal rights exist only to the extent that they can be enforced.

It's very unlikely a police officer has ever gotten in trouble for bringing a person to a psych ward after a psychologist has demanded a welfare check and speaking with a person.

Cops are allowed to use their subjective judgment of whether you are an imminent danger to yourself or others. If they they think you are lying, or don't believe you, they can bring you in. Even if they don't think you are lying, it's really impossible to prove their subjective judgments are somehow complete bullshit.

An important thing to remember is that in order for them to make that determination during a welfare check, they must have access to you (depending on the country). If you don't answer the door, don't respond to what they say, and possibly are not there, it's very unlikely they have the ability to break down the door without a warrant unless someone has said you are about to ctb (depending on the country), and even then, it's very iffy because if a cop is breaking a door it involves property damage and so they are unlikely to do that unless they have clear reasons to need to do that.

cops and mental health professionals are also not likely to spend an entire day waiting for you to come out if you don't respond. however, they may pretend to leave and wait outside the door for an hour, because sometimes people getting a welfare check will say nothing and then once they think cops/mental health workers are not there, they will simply immediately try to leave and then the cops/mental health workers are outside and suddenly, it's no longer possible to say nothing to them (because not being able to communicate may indicate you are gravely disabled or mentally disturbed).

in-patient involuntary care can be extraordinarily expensive, degrading, and often leaves people more suicidal then when they came in. Often time in-patient care makes society feel better (see, we tried to do something!) and makes doctors and nurses richer (they get paid for highly specialized care that consists of you sleeping in a locked area on a cot while they doom scroll on their phones). in-patient care in a country without universal healthcare can be well over $10,000 and possibly even much more than that. if you are in a country with universal care, you can check the rules of the nearby in-patient facilities. if they aren't that bad, in-patient care may not be the worst thing ever if it's free, although it can effect your rights and the loss of autonomy can be degrading

if you are sad, and have been sad for years, and are older, then you may not want in-patient care no matter what since that sort of extreme depression has a lower recovery rate. if you are young and having a first depressive episode, people often recover from those and in-patient care may make sense. good luck and sorry you are here.

I was a psych nurse for decades.
If cops bring in someone & they aren't psychotic suicidal or homicidal then they're sent home.
As far as enforcing laws, you at some point need to assert your own rights.
The police have zero right to bring you in for no reason.

 

[needthebus]

I was a psych nurse for decades.
If cops bring in someone & they aren't psychotic suicidal or homicidal then they're sent home.
As far as enforcing laws, you at some point need to assert your own rights.
The police have zero right to bring you in for no reason.

ask all the dead black people in the US killed by racist cops while doing nothing illegal about asserting their own rights

perhaps they will respond from the grave

the best interaction with the police is the one that never happens

as a psych nurse, i'm sure you had the emotional manner of entitlement and privilege to easily get out of a welfare check with smooth talking. not everyone else has that luxury

please don't take my condescension personally, i hate all psych nurses, not just you

 

[maniac116]

ask all the dead black people in the US killed by racist cops while doing nothing illegal about asserting their own rights

perhaps they will respond from the grave

the best interaction with the police is the one that never happens

as a psych nurse, i'm sure you had the emotional manner of entitlement and privilege to easily get out of a welfare check with smooth talking. not everyone else has that luxury

please don't take my condescension personally, i hate all psych nurses, not just you

Wow! What are you so angry about? Entitlement & privilege? How are you sure about someone you don't even know? I didn't "get out" of welfare checks. I simply told them I'm fine.
And how did race get involved when you have no idea what race I am.
You hate me!!!?? Wtf.

 

[figcitylightscookie]

I don't have an answer as I'm not from the US, but your therapist threatening a welfare check is crazy. How does she/he think that's helpful at all?

 

[maniac116]

ask all the dead black people in the US killed by racist cops while doing nothing illegal about asserting their own rights

perhaps they will respond from the grave

the best interaction with the police is the one that never happens

as a psych nurse, i'm sure you had the emotional manner of entitlement and privilege to easily get out of a welfare check with smooth talking. not everyone else has that luxury

please don't take my condescension personally, i hate all psych nurses, not just you

Well, I don't hate you. I'm sure you have reasons for being angry

 

[Throsby_Geneva]

I had a bizarre experience at my GP once - she was re-prescribing some anti depressants. She asked me if I had thought about suicide. I said I'd thought about things like that in the past, but not now and was feeling great. Perhaps she misheard me because without my knowledge, she'd called the local hospital crisis team and they went to my house.

The funny thing is, i was so totally fine that I was out at lunch with a friend. Also, the crisis team just left a card in my letterbox, which as I never get mail, I only found a few weeks later. That there is a crisis team who goes to your house is a great thing, but the whole situation was just bizarre.