Wow. Sorry you went through all that. At first, I seriously was inferring that you were a resident of some country other than the USA because of how unusual the whole sequence of events sounded. However, I see that is not the case. Maybe there is way more variation of how things are handled from one state to another than I realized. That's a good thing for me to be aware of, if I am ever visiting another state and get into some mental turmoil. I thought this stuff was more standardized.

Then again . . . maybe the law is more standardized (like with regard to "least restrictive" placement) but people's interpretations can vary all over the map. I kind of doubt these people who handled your situation were totally in harmony with whatever the law is where you are.

Over the years, I've noticed that providers and the system in general can worry more about any possible liability to themselves than about the real risk of your situation. I base that on having worked as part of "the system." (as a nurse) There is liability for inappropriately restraining someone. However, there is way worse liability for failing to hold someone who then gets seriously harmed due to an impaired state of mind.

In response to your questions:

#1) My understanding is that only an MD (or possibly a nurse practitioner in some remote areas) can "put" anyone on "a hold." All the police can do is bring you to a psych facility and turn you over as someone they believe should be assessed. Once they leave the facility where they have brought you, they have no say over anything. That's how it is in my state. In re-reading your post just now, it looks like it was the MHD who phoned and booked the bed. That completely astonishes me. I've never lived in an area where there are MHDs. I never even heard of them. Sounds like they have quite a bit of authority where you live. I'm wondering if an MHD is part of the police department. I have heard of the police departments having specially trained cops who intervene in situations of psych difficulty.

Once I was in the middle of a situation where a psychiatrist ordered a hold on a child before that child had even been assessed by anyone. The pdoc did it over the phone. I advised the mother to leave the child in the facility for that night, but to call a lawyer first thing in the morning. The child was released the next morning.

#2) Strictly speaking, I don't think they legally have to contact your therapist about anything. As far as them unlawfully holding you. I think they could get out of that easy enough, especially since they released you in less than 3 days. If brought to court, the admitting doc would say that they seriously "feared" for your safety based on yada, yada. The courts give doctors rather wide lee-way to make a decision like that, in the short term. There are good reasons for the courts to let doctors have that much discretion. It's only if the pdocs want to keep you beyond a week that they really have to have all the ducks in a row meticulously. If you object (in my state) it does go to a hearing before a judge at the end of a week, and it is very hard to keep someone against their will.

#3) They would have a responsibility to alert someone of the need for an animal to be cared for, if you told them that your cat needed care, while you were away. What amanda says above about animal control being able to step in is what I'm sure is the case in my state, too. If your friend says they never called, I'ld be inclined to totally believe her. Having worked in these places, that is just the kind of ball that gets dropped all the time. To the extent that they thought about it at all, they probably figured the cat would survive a few days with no care and just didn't worry about calling your friend. Here is another thing to consider when trying to figure who is lying to whom. Sometimes the person who tells you that something was really done is going by what that person was told by someone else.