Degraded + detained by the people meant to help

Hi there @Fluffy01

A warm welcome to the SANE forums. Thanks you for sharing your story about the struggles you and your son have had with the MH system. It sure feel as if you have been let down and not had your rights upheld.

I'm sure the forum members will be able to offer you support, information and connection. I'm the moderator on duty right now. Feel free to ask the SANE forum team or the members if you need help with how to use the forum. You might like to check out the Guidelines as they can be pretty useful in understanding how it all works https://saneforums.org/t5/help/faqpage#community-guidelines.

Take care.

Whitehawk

Hi,

It is great that you have reached out for support on this forum.

I really feel for you and your son in this situation. Unfortunately police are very poor at handling mental health crisis. I have had some very unpleasant experiences with police when I have been suicidal.

I would recommend you contact QLD Advocacy Inc. who have lawyers who can provide advice. Or look into other mental health law services. Also Independent Patients Rights Advisors through local hospital service.

Although it must be a horrible experience for you and your son, it is also an opportunity to seek more support. It sounds like you weren't getting adequate support previously, so ask about what supports are available to help once he is released. Work with his treating team to put plans in place to support him in the future and if their are similar crisis incidents again.

Although your son maybe upset and annoyed by what has happened, it would help if he trys to see it as a opportunity to get the help he needs. Being a secure place it should be a safe place so he cannot hurt himself or others. If he is having scary thoughts about hurting himself or others it can be reassuring to know that he is safe from acting on those thoughts. Often support services overreact to the thoughts I express and take them as a threat, even though I wasn't intending on acting on my scary thoughts, so I have learnt to explain that I am not intending to act on them, and specify the thoughts that keep me safe. But this doesn't always work for me. It is easier to express his thoughts clearly if he is able to remain calm, so this is a priority.

It is good that at this stage he has not been charged with anything by police or incarcerated in criminal institution as this is common and brings additional stress & costs. Although involuntary mental health services are not good, many mentally ill people are put in prison instead which is much much worse.

Best of luck with it all & continue to seek support online and in the community. This is a very stressful time for you and is likely to be emotionally tiring, so be kind to yourself: take time off work or other commitments, accept help with household tasks, and self-care to get you through.

CrazyChick

@Fredd50 I am so annoyed that so many mental health services use a medical model of care, when it is so inappropriate. Person-centered, recovery-based, trauma-informed models much more helpful and proven better outcomes.

That is nothing short of disgraceful. Maybe advise the Qld Chief Psychiatrist of what happened. Try and find a local carers group to give you support and suggest options for better care for your son.

Thanks for that one. I thought that was a really helpful comment but the story about the "medical model" conversation also spurned a bit of reaction in me. Makes me wonder how much some of mine and others issues have been centered around modelling (or the modelling contract for that matter).

Hey @CrazyChick

I just logged in after a long time

Seeking comfort seeking solace

I was accepted into a law degree and thought I would reinvent myself as a human rights lawyer

Learning all about the social model

Of disability

That all traits are diversity

And disability especially for people

Who just aren't allowed to be or belong

Is not a flaw to be corrected

But diversity

Genes- environment- trait

That's just being human

Calling some traits undesirable'

Is wrong, eugenics

The social and rights based models are so strong

But the morality has plummeted

Nobody has heard of psychosocial disability

The changes that there were in national plans for trauma informed are gone

All the hope I had of one day living in a worll

Where I was accepted

Is gone

I don't know what to do

I just feel empty

Like I have no future

The dream of being accepted and valued as an equal part of diversity

Not a disease

A disorder

Something to be eliminated

Poor mental health meaning not "functional"

In a world set up for a narrow mind body type that sees no value in my traits

I walked in my imagination

So many times

Sure it was scary and dark there

But phenomenonally complex

Images and stories

I have a really great psychologist

Who supports me

My community here in Tasmania

Is far away from the troubles of the world

I got into a law degree

There's so many things I should just be living

But I just keep feeling hurt I can never go home to Victoria

Because they just moved back to the 1950s

Even my mum who was my staunch supporter

Has gone back in denial to cope

I don't know how to deal

I'm sorry to pour l this out on you

When I don't even know where you are or if you're in a lockdown state

But I felt suddenly so scared

So alone

Not knowing a single other person who is like me

And dreams of being accepted

And valued

Just for who they are

Not have it driven out of them

Learn what those stories of mine I walked in mean

Embrace being me

Maybe even learn to wonder in my imagination in a cool way

And write the stories into books

It would be so cool

But I feel like even though there's paid people who support me in this

Which would have been a dream last year

It feels like so much is missing

I've had to let my family go

Live separate lives

I might never see my parents before they die

And I have no people in my life who feel this way

Everyone sees their experiences as an illness

That I know

A problem

And the dream of human rights, of equality

Of diversity

Won't ever be

I don't know if I can live with that

I just don't

I'm so sorry to pour this out

I hope things are ok wherever you are

Hi @Fredd50,

Well done on being accepted into a Law degree and aspiring to be a human rights lawyer. It would be great to have someone with lived experience in an advocacy role like that. And the training should help you advocate for yourself too.

I do agree that diversity should be valued and psychosocial differences and trauma be respected more. It means so much to be accepted unconditionally. So often it feels like we are judged so negatively for being different. Many people say they will support, but mental health challenges can easily scare them away. People often say they don't know what to do to help, but so often all that is needed is a kind person who takes the time to listen without judgement.

Lockdowns and covid restrictions make things even more challenging for those of us with mental health challenges. They make it so hard to maintain contacts including family, friends, and even paid supporters.

Best wishes for these challenging times. I hope you can find support on this forum.