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burghman1969
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Trig Sep 30, 2019 at 02:41 AM
  #1
Hello, I’m asking this question to help with a friend’s situation. She was involuntarily committed after an apparent suicide attempt on Tuesday. Taken by ambulance to emergency room, then committed to a psychiatric hospital on Wednesday. She had a vacation planned, and they agreed to release her on Saturday with the agreement that she would go to outpatient treatment. She says there was nothing she was required to sign, and states she will not go to the outpatient treatment since she signed nothing agreeing to it. Could she be forced back to involuntary inpatient commitment if she doesn’t go for the treatment she agreed upon to be released? Thank you for your input.

Last edited by bluekoi; Sep 30, 2019 at 11:01 AM.. Reason: Add triggger icon.
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Smile Sep 30, 2019 at 01:20 PM
  #2
Hello burghman: Thank you for bringing your concern here to PC. I see this is your first post. So... welcome to Psych Central.

I can't offer you anything in the way of an authoritative answer to your question. (I am neither a mental health nor a legal professional.) In general, though, I would presume there would no way for your friend to be forced back into involuntary commitment regardless of anything she does or does not do short of expressing suicidal intent to a mental health professional she's seeing or actually making another suicide attempt which would land her back in the hospital emergency room.

Also, given that she's been released from the hospital & it sounds like is not seeing any mental health professionals, I can't imagine who would be in a position to be following up on her & taking the legal action that would be necessary to have her re-committed. Personnel from the hospital can't follow her around & swoop down on her carrying her off to the psych ward if she doesn't follow through with arranging outpatient treatment. That's simply neither practical nor realistic to say nothing of legal. So I don't see how something like that could realistically happen. I presume at this point your friend is in the clear & able to carry on with her life as she so chooses. Given that she apparently did try to take her life, it might be wise for her to seek some sort of professional mental health treatment. However whether or not to do so is her choice.

I hope you find PC to be of benefit.

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Default Sep 30, 2019 at 01:30 PM
  #3
Thank you! I was looking for opinions, and certainly know that an opinion may not be how it actually works. But I would think she would have been asked to sign something had the terms been in some way binding. I just don't want her do go under that assumption and be surprised by the police showing up at her door one day.
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Default Sep 30, 2019 at 05:55 PM
  #4
It is entirely a state by state thing. I have been committed three times. In my state, the law is simple, you may be committed if you are deemed a danger to self or others. Period. But as @Skeezyks says, who is going to do that? She somehow doesn't have any apparent follow-up, which is scary and astounding, under the circumstances. I hope she's all right.

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Smile Sep 30, 2019 at 07:10 PM
  #5
Quote:
Originally Posted by burghman1969 View Post
Thank you! I was looking for opinions, and certainly know that an opinion may not be how it actually works. But I would think she would have been asked to sign something had the terms been in some way binding. I just don't want her do go under that assumption and be surprised by the police showing up at her door one day.
There again... I'm certainly no expert on this. And it is true that laws can vary from state to state. But I personally doubt even your friend signing some sort of agreement would really carry any weight in-&-of itself. I believe only a court can order a person to be involuntarily committed. So even if your friend had signed some sort of agreement, I believe representatives of the hospital would have to go to court & ask a judge to order that your friend be re-committed. And unless the hospital's representatives could successfully argue your friend is still in immanent danger of doing life-threatening harm to herself, I don't see that it's likely a court would have any basis to recommit your friend.

My personal opinion would be the idea of your friend signing something, if in fact something such as this was suggested by hospital staff, would be more of a scare tactic than anything. I really doubt a hospital would use it's resources to go into court to try to recommit someone they've previously released...signed agreement or no signed agreement. At least I can't conceive of something like that happening where I live... based on my own experience. I've been involuntarily committed twice. And both times as soon as I had walked out the door they forgot about me & moved on to the next patient. I never heard another word from anyone about it. Perhaps other PC members would have other perspectives.

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Default Oct 03, 2019 at 05:39 AM
  #6
Where I live, unless you are a threat to yourself or others, they can't commit you. It sounds then as though the mental healthcare team believes your friend doesn't pose such a risk. You also can't force someone to take medication or therapy. You can't do anything until such a risk comes apparent.

I've never heard of someone having to sign any conditions of agreement before discharge.
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Default Oct 07, 2019 at 07:19 AM
  #7
When I lived in Calif & was on many involuntary holds there for the same thing, the hold was good for ONLY 72 hours. After that, unless there was a court hearing to extend the hold, it became a voluntary stay unless you were still suicidal.

One time my pdoc stipulated that I NOT go back home with my H, but that was after an abusive incident & my mom was the one who picked me up & I stayed with her for awhile. The outpatient treatment was actually welcomed for me because transitioning back home straight out of the hospital was always difficult.

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Default Oct 07, 2019 at 07:22 AM
  #8
Quote:
Originally Posted by burghman1969 View Post
Thank you! I was looking for opinions, and certainly know that an opinion may not be how it actually works. But I would think she would have been asked to sign something had the terms been in some way binding. I just don't want her do go under that assumption and be surprised by the police showing up at her door one day.
In Calif, the only way police would show up is if she hadn't been released & had escaped while on the hold. Once released they can do nothing legally.

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