costs or not, this is the facts. ive seen it down on paper. pretty much end of, its fact. opinion of yours or not, it doesnt change that she is going to die if they dont do something.
&many on here who no one has met say so and so should be sectioned, so and so needs to go to hospital, etc, same with hel, met her or not(and i have) she is seriously ill and she will die if nothing is done.
baby girl you need to stop down playing this, do what you did before, tell them how bad this is,you need help please, for me if not for you right now.
trying to wrack my brains so i might help: i can give you my experience of Glamorgan PCT, but you must be aware that this was a decade ago.
i was on a section3 in cardiff.... to keep me safe as no ED unit beds were available. through some lapse of professional insight (or perhaps i was a v gd actress) i was put on conditional discharge and allowed home. despite my family relatives living in kent they were able to contact my cpn, voice their concerns, and had me re-sectioned.
i dont know how this might relate to you, helen/sarah, i guess i just want to show that it CAN be possible for carers/ relatives/ etc to make their concerns known even if from the other side of the UK and get action.
no, i didnt want it at the time, and i resented my family thinking they had a right to get involved.... but it kept me alive until other help was available.
Who ever is her next of kin can order a MHA assessment. What comes of it will be the result of the assessment by 3 professionals including a 2 Drs and a social worker who are usually completely independant of the team who is currently treating her.
There are ways round things sometimes. If Helen needs a section it is not just her CMHT who can make this happen, social services have a department for emergency mental heath act assessments.
To add, independant professionals often err on the cautious side when doing a MHA assessment because they DONT know the patient. So you would be at an advantage there.
sometimes, she has bipolar so shes a bit... eurgh, you know?
so, i dont talk to her much, but she is worried for hel i know that much.
how do i do this then?
hel said shes put me down as her next of kin too.
If Helen has registered you as her next of kin, you need to contact the social services department in her area. There should be details online via the council website.
You need to phone up and ask to speak to the on call AMPH [approved mental health professional] stating you want to request a mental health act assessment for your partner Helen Lewis [you'll probably need her date of birth and address] and you need to state you are her next of kin.
Being her next of kin you have the right to request a formal assessment. They will come out to her house to do the assessment, thats how it works.
okay thanks ill contact them when im at hers and then i can be with her when they come out.
im sorry baby girl, but i seriously cannot lose you, i love you and im sorry im talking about you like this and doing this but it needs to be done, you know that deep down, you need help and im going to go to hell and back to make sure you get it.
I know your post wasn't aimed at anyone in particular fragile as glass I'd just like to add this. I don't know Helen, apart from what has been said here. I assumed a section would be for the best based on what people who know her have said. I have no information to suggest it wouldn't be helpful really.
If I feel I can make helpful suggestions for anyone I will try to. I know when I've received help I've appreciated it. Be that in the form of an understanding Psychologist, a caring GP or someone making a reply to a thread I've made.That's why I made suggestions, to try and help move the problem along and hopefully resolve it. As I said I realise your post, fragile as glass, wasn't personalised, I just wanted to state my intents and reasons for posting :)
I think requesting an assessment sounds like a really good idea. It sounds like that'd get a section sorted sooner rather than later.
you think im not aware that she could die before i see her? i ****ing live in the fear ill get a call shes dead every damn day, let alone by the 29th.
but i know she wont see them unless im with her, so there would hardly be a point in arranging them to go round if she wont see them, ill be with her so she wont have a choice. & i am sorting it out. im doing it the way that would WORK.
If she's that ill, I would be phoning them right now. What if she dies before you see her? Seriously could happen if she is this ill.
Please sort it out Sarah sooner rather than later.
But then again it's your choice..
I think you should think properly before you start typing away to be honest.
Sarah does absolutely everything in her power that she can for Helen, she does not need you telling her to sort it, I dont know who you think you are?
Your blatantly not replying to support Helen, your just hear to tell Sar to "sort it" Which is something ive seen her do for months.
She is doing her best, she isnt a trained psychiatrist.
People support in different ways. I think it's unproductive to start flaming and picking apart posts by others in what is meant to be a support thread.
baby girl ill talk to you later on the phone about all this, i hope you can post for support here, and please rant, dont stop because of certain people please, you need an outlet, id rather it here than nowhere.
(id prefer it to your team but thats a whole other step)
People support in different ways. I think it's unproductive to start flaming and picking apart posts by others in what is meant to be a support thread.
Flaming?
Oh, okay.
I didnt realise sticking up for my best friend was flaming.
My bad, just frustrating hearing that when I watch that girl support Helen beyond belief and then I see someone tell her to sort it.
Yeah, its not exactly productive, I said what I had to say.
Helen, I love you & Sar does & you know everyone else who does, I dont need to name
I love you very much, you should do as Sar says and open up to your team more, I know its difficult, but it needs to be done lovely.
Keep talking to us & the ones around you.
I love youuu
I think you should think properly before you start typing away to be honest.
Sarah does absolutely everything in her power that she can for Helen, she does not need you telling her to sort it, I dont know who you think you are?
Your blatantly not replying to support Helen, your just hear to tell Sar to "sort it" Which is something ive seen her do for months.
She is doing her best, she isnt a trained psychiatrist.
I was thinking properly, and if I were in her boat. I would phone them up straight away not wait around.
If I wasn't supporting Helen, I wouldn't have bothered to reply to this thread, so assume wrong.
I didn't say she was a trained psychiatrist.
I'm allowed my opinion.
"Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self esteem, first make sure you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes." - W. Gibson.
^ I agree. Sometimes you have to do things that aren't perfect to help someone.
Call them now. You say she won't see them if you're not there. Tell them that. And if things are as serious as you stated, they will surely see her forcibly? I think it's necessary at this point.
Actually, scratch that. If she is refusing treatment and you fear for her life call the police and have it done that way.
Just wanted to point out that Helen is almost definitely holding back a lot of information from her doctors and her team. Yes, this is foolish, but she's scared and addicted to this way of life. That doesn't mean she's attention seeking or lying or whatever, she's just confused and not even sure about how to fight this illness. She also has anxiety over leaving her mother, who is also ill, which is also undoubtedly very confusing and upsetting.
You also have to consider how this is for Sarah. Helen has posted (either on her thread about being IP or in a rant, I don't remember) that she kicked and screamed and cried when they put her in hospital. She believes she is not ill. She doesn't want to go to hospital. I imagine that Sarah is worried Helen will be annoyed at her for making Helen go to hospital, somewhere that has made Helen very scared in the past. Sarah has nobody to go to except the people on this website, and so of course she's going to ask us for help. She is also scared and confused, which is probably why she isn't sure what to do about this situation.
In addition to this, Helen is over 18 and as a non-relative I imagine it can be hard for Sarah to get Helen hospitalised, especially as she doesn't live in the same place. I'm no expert but this will make the whole thing harder.
That ended up a lot longer than I thought, but I just think people need to look at the whole picture. I do agree that Helen needs to be in hospital right now, but it's got to be so hard for her to decide what action to take what with her mental state being the way it is.
Sarah, I know how hard this must be for you sweetheart, and I think you're doing a wonderful job <3
Life is about love, last minutes and lost evenings,
About fire in our bellies and furtive little feelings,
And the aching amplitudes that set our needles all a-flickering,
And help us with remembering that the only thing that's left to do is live.
^ Yeah, that's my understanding as well. Although I'm not very clued up on these things.
I know that Helen is scared and holds back information, but the fact is that she has to start being open with them. She has to accept their help. No one can help her if she doesn't want to help herself, that is just the way it works. Sarah, I respect that you are trying everything you can, but if Helen doesn't want help (or say she wants it, or accepts it) then there is little you can do. You also need to look after yourself during this, because if you end up unwell you can't really help Helen.
I think the ordeal of being sectioned is stressful, no matter who does it, yes it might be more traumatic but it's a hard situation anyway so any way it's done will be hard. It might be worth seriously considering calling the police, it'd get the situation sorted sooner and wouldn't involve waiting until the 29th. It's an option for consideration anyway, even if it's decided against.
I agree with Claire. Sarah, it's important you take care of yourself, especially during this stressful time. It seems you're doing a great job with supporting Helen, you can arrange for her to get help but you can't arrange for her to want to get better. I hope you'll both be ok.
