Hm. I know that if you're sectioned you can be forced to take medication but is it the same for physical illnesses? Like if you had cancer, could you refuse chemo/radiotherapy? Or could you refuse transplants/operations etc?
The reason im asking is because when i took an overdose i didnt want treatment, ie to be put on a drip, to go to hospital but the police said i HAD too. I have never been sectioned.
So.. yeah.. can you be forced to have treatment? xx
I was , but i was under section and wasn't told because it was a police section (136) ... i think if the police made you go and actually took you by force you were probably held under a 136.
If not.. im not sure. I know for chemo and stuff in cancer patients i think it's there own decision, unless theyre said to be unfit to make their own decision then i think its we're sections come in .
Sorry if that wasn't a very good answer. Just from personal experience
x
So do whatever it takes
‘Cause you can’t rewind a moment in this life
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I'm not sure on what the rules actually are but I can tell you my experience. I was diagnosed with cancer whilst in a psychiatric unit and to begin with I did agree to treatment. I went through chemotherapy but when it was found not to be gone I was saying I was going to refuse radiotherapy. The nurses didn't argue with me as such but in the end I agreed to have it so I'm not really sure what would have happened if I'd continued to refuse. However, one night they thought I had a high temperature (sign of infection which can be deadly when neutropenic) I was refusing to go to A&E. They said if I didn't agree to go then they'd get me sectionned. So I guess in some cases they can force you to have treatment if they think your mental health is affecting your ability to judge whether you need/should have treatment or not.
Don't know if this helps answer your question or not but I'm quite interested in hearing others experiences/knowledge of this.
Sometimes the way in life seems cloudy...But remember, after the storm comes clear skies
This girl won the right to refuse a heart transplant, despite being 13. However, if your mental health is affecting your judgement, then they are able to force you to have treatment.
I have been learning about this at college.
Basically no you can't.
If you are in a hospital and are critically ill and you are unfit to make a decision then the doctor has to do all they can to preserve your life.
Say if somebody has cancer... and they have written an informal document and said that they don't want anymore treatment... the doctor will give it them anyway, if they didn't... It would be euthanasia, wouldn't it?
The job of a hospital is the preserve life... if your life is at risk they have the power to give you treatment without your say so. Unless it's like a joviss (Can't spell it) witness... still they sometimes go ahead and give treatment in those circumstances anyway without say so.
Well I think that's right anyway. Sorry if it's not and not at all helpful.
=]
~Beauty without intellence, is a materpiece painted on a napkin.~
If you are sectioned you can be forced to have both medical and psychiatric treatment I think. I believe the only exception to this is the new mental health act means psychiatric patients can refuse ECT. (I'm sure I heard this somewhere,but I might have just imagined it as I can't find it on the news website *scratches head*)
I think that if you refuse, you need a legal document stating that (ie a DNR) otherwise if your life is in danger the doctors can do whatever to keep you alive. But I think you have to be at a point where you can't consent, either unconscious or declared mentally unfit or something.
Last edited by sherlock holmes : 12-11-2008 at 11:59 AM.
Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look back, everything is different…
you once called your brain a hard drive, well say hello to the virus.
When I last OD'd I asked to have the drip removed so that I could discharge myself, and they were very p*ssy about it, I guess because it's not a very good idea. I agreed to continue the treatment in the end though, so I'm not sure what would have happened if I had continued to insist that they removed the drip. You can discharge yourself against medical advice though (as I did once the drip had finished), as long as you sign a disclaimer that says you realise that you're going against the advice of a doctor.
I've been forced to have treatment on a section 136 by the police. I fought them back but they just put me in restraints. But for chemo and stuff only if you're under 16. Or perhaps if you're mentally ill. The nurses told me they'll heavily sedate me and drip feed me because I'm not allowed to eat or drink because they're poisoning me. So I'm in a similar situation. Hope things get better. X
PM me if you want a PDF copy of the ICD-10or the Mental Health Act 1983/2007. I ALSO HAVE THE DSM-V BOOK and am a pharmacology student.
I have a visual impairment / neurological problems so I need people to type in clear text and no funny fonts. Also excuse any typos, my vision blocks things out.
I have autism and have problems communicating, PMs included.
Just becasue I type well doesn't mean I speak well. I am only part time verbal.
It really depends on the circumstances but as a health proffessional anyone can refuse treatment (unless sectioned of course), a patient can however not refuse treatment if you deem they to be incompetent. The grounds for deciding if a patient is incompetent generally in my proffession is: if the patient is under 16 years of age, if the patient has attempted or is expressing thoughts of self harm, or if you have short term memory loss.
So if you fit into any of those 3 catagories then legally you have to be treated and the police can be called if you still refuse. This is basically the reason many people get sectioned because a Dr. has deemed them incompetent to make wise choices about there health and well being.
It is mainly for legal purposes, so then the patient cant complaint that treatments were forced on them, because by being sectioned a number of health proffessionals deem you incompetent.
These are the guidelines i have to work with. Hope it helps
if you took the OD then surely that is NOT the same as if you had cancer?
ie, you took the OD, you didn't 'get OD'd'
so they're dealing with the physical consequences of a psychiatric problem
in which case, you can be sectioned, and you can be treated against your will.
Fay xxxxx
'When all of your wishes have been granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed'
When I ODd ages ago, I refused a blood test and they made me sign a disclaimer saying I was leaving against the doctor's advice.
However, when I ODd recently they said they had to put me on a drip and I said no. They said if I left the hospital without treatment the police will bring me back and stay with me until the treatment was finished.
So yeah, I guess you can be forced into things like that.
Well, when my step father was dying of cancer, his kidney packed up (he only had one) and he was asked whether he wanted it treated or not. Not treating it would have meant him dying. He said he didn't want the treatment, but unfortunately for him, they treated it anyway - the doctor later told him that he was drifting in and out of conciousness and they couldn't make his words out.
So, you can have a choice. But in my step dad's case he was terminally ill. He died a month later anyway.
i think there was a case a few years ago when a psychatric patient detained on section had gangrene and was advised to have his leg amputated but wanted to refuse and hope that drugs would clear it up. there was a court case about it and it was decided that although he was sectioned that was unrelated to is leg, and he was competent to refuse the amputation. it all turned out happy that he recovered fine (from the gangrene anyway)
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