Police guard to prevent suicide

Hi @CrazyChick welcome to the forums.

Im sorry not one has responded to your post for a bit. Things must be really awful for you be in hospital with a police guard. And it's sounds like you have very little hope of living. Yet you took yourself to hospital so there's something in you that wants to survive. Do you know what that might be or look like?

And I hope you have a kind police that treat you with respect and kindness. They're human too and sometimes it's just that they don't understand (like many people in the community too) why someone would want to end their life. So that might look like frustration, irritation, misunderstandings. Perhaps if they are amenable try to educate them about the way you feel and why you can't stand the pain any longer. You don't necessarily have to go into detail.

And apart from the way you're treated is there anything else that might help to keep you safe tonight? Could the nurses give you some medication to calm you or help you sleep?

@CrazyChick Hey nothing stirrs me up more than the police. It is a power thing they ae one of my triggers. I hope you did alright overnight and can get out of hospital asap. Love greenpeaxx

I've never had a police guard in actual psych ward before, all the ones I was sent to used their own hospital security guards for that. I have however had a police escort and a police guard in the waiting area of general ED and the mental health specific ED before admission to a psych ward. I've also had the above security guards on several occassions for that same reason. I can definitely understand how difficult the experience is and the concern that it will only make things worse.

My advice is to, as much as you can in your current situation, avoid drawing any extra negative attention to yourself and avoid doing anything that will make them even more concerned. I don't want to say too much so as to not scare you but I'm sure others here know what I mean by that.

As much as you can just try your best to get through each small moment in time during your stay and remember you will see the other side again at some point, you will return to the community and hopefully be left to your privacy and peace. This doesn't last forever. I understand that is very difficult in crisis but I would never lie to you.

Try to rest well if you can and hopefully you get the help you need at the moment.

Thanks for the support.

I was given some medication to help calm me, so was really tired by the time the police officer arrived & I was taken to a room. It was also the nicest of the local officers who was there. I slept well.

Today is a different story. I don't know why but I chose to speak with the officer. He wanted to know how much longer I would be in hospital. I told him I didn't know, but would know more after the doctor's rounds. He seemed quite kind asking about how my mental health is going, so I answered some of his questions. It wasn't until afterwards that I realised I shouldn't have agreed with him that I seem to be getting worse. I suspect he was just fishing for information to use against me. His attitude seems to be that I am not doing anything to try to get better. I was not willing to go into detail about the help I have been trying to seek, except to tell him I am trying lots of things to try to get better, but they don't seem to be working.

We also discussed him keeping awake at night. I apologised & asked if he had been aware of the arrangement the hospital made regarding me needing a police guard if I was admitted. As Officer-in-charge of the station, I assumed he would have known, but he said the arrangement must have been made when he was on holiday. He also admitted that he had to ask the hospital staff to clarify the difference between a voluntary & involuntary patient. I asked him if he could explain it to me. He said I already knew. His view was that as I had come in voluntarily, I was allowed to leave if I wanted. I told him that it wasn't entirely true, because if I left while a voluntary patient, if the doctor has concerns for my safety they can ask police to bring me back. So not really able to leave. I also told him that it wasn't really my choice to come in, his colleague had threatened that if I didn't present to the hospital, then the police would bring me in under the mental health act. He told me that wasn't a threat. But I disagreed. I told him that there was no way I wanted his colleague to bring me in under the mental health act, as the previous time it had happened I was treated horribly. The police officer was annoyed by this and told me to go back to my room and wait for the doctor.

Now that officer has been replaced by the one who treated me horribly last time. I am trying to avoid him, as am worried I might say or do something that I shouldn't, especially if he is rude to me or makes me angry.

Hopefully I am allowed to be discharged soon.

@Former-Member

Thanks for your kind words.

My local hospital is very small - only a few beds in an acute ward, + some aged care beds, + emergency bays. So no seperate mental health unit & no security. Previously I have been "specialed" - 1 on 1 nursing by an extra nurse who stays in the room with me. But they are short staffed with nurses so have arranged to use the police. It was explained that the police were there to ensure that I didn't harm myself in hospital. I don't know how they were going to prevent that as they sat on the couch at the end of the hallway, never coming to check on me. I doubt they would have noticed if I had hurt myself or even if I had run away. This was tested accidentally when one of the nurses came to get me to take me to another room for a telehealth appointment. Another nurse went to my room and found that I wasn't there & called out for the police & other nurses to look for me. Luckily for them I hadn't hurt myself or escaped, but I could easily have if I had tried. I feel safe when the nurses come around to check I am ok, & knowing that they weren't checking on me made me a bit anxious.

Yes easy to say be calm and avoid doing anything that could concern them. But in crisis can be hard to do as can get agitated and pace around - appearing to want to get out - though not really. When detained at the same hospital under the mental health act, I asked a nurse if I was allowed to leave. She told me that I was not allowed to and would have to get past the police officer to leave. I walked past him and left the hospital walking down the street. As I left I saw the doctor arrived which brought me to my senses a bit. I went back to the hospital and asked to be let back in so I could talk to the doctor. But I have also had negative experiences with my pacing and attempting to get through doors being interpretted as unwanted behaviour with consequences ranging from telling me to sit still, threatening medication or security/police & sometimes carrying out those threat.

Some things that helped me when agitated were to ask where it was Ok for me to walk around. Or to try to distract myself by playing on my phone or phoning lifeline. Other distractions include reading or doing crosswords. The most effective strategy to help me calm down is to have someone to talk to, but often no-one available. Even sitting near one of the nurses and listening to their general chat was a good help for me.

I coped ok today even with the police there & was able to stay mostly calm and without further trouble. So was let out this afternoon.

I wish there was a way to prepare for if/when I get agitated like that in the future. If the emergency services staff, nurses or others could help me to calm down then things would be better for everyone.

Thank you

I apologise @CrazyChick if I seemed to come across as undermining the difficulty of being able to manage behaviours in a crisis. That wasn't my intention. Like I said, I do understand. I have been to hospital over 40 times for risk related issues, most of them involuntarily and in a state where restrictive practices had to be used on me. I just didn't mention that, because like I said, I didn't want to scare you.

I understand what it is like to be very suicidal even today, as it remains to be one of my largest problems as far as mental health is concerned. And I must admit that I am at an advantage of being able to restrain the way I respond to my own crises so as to never be taken back again. I have learnt how to play the rules and know the system better than the professionals in it. I didn't mean to come across in an undermining manner. I know how tumultuous managing crises is. Mine have never really ended, I am just extremely impacted by the trauma I endured because of the system and by the very high level of stigma towards the issue.

The way I deal with that is by doing everything to avoid it happening again. I recognise this is a learnt set of skills regardless of how much I despise having to do that, and how much I wish I didn't have to. Also for me, crises are not just related to my mental health and that is why they have never really ended. Managing them alone is like a full time job and I have a lot of respect for any and everyone else who also does it.

I also know what it is like to not be able to see and believe that things do not last forever. I still have that problem myself. But I promise and I would never lie to anyone when I say that this specific situation will not last forever, even if managing crises is a long term issue for you.

I must also admit that where I live they are not very great at taking crises seriously and the way the system is designed, and the severe lack of services for people with complex mental health is a part of why I am like that. I have had no choice but to learn how to skate on thin ice, on my own, because there is literally no one else. We have actual mental health units, but it is almost impossible to be approved for admission, and there are almost no outpatient services.

But that's enough about me. I am sorry you are in this situation and if I ever came across as making it seem easy. It is not by any means.