arrested because of disorder

yellowted · Feb 22, 2012, 05:18 AM

hugs to you too x I am cool about being alone, it was my choice to break the links as they were detrimental to my well being! I have a few friends I see sometimes (not really close ones as i don't let people get close so i can protect myself from hurt) and do loads of voluntary stuff so I rarely feel lonely. I am very fortunate to live in the UK where we have a very good benefits system in place.. and although i do moan about them I have a really good care team.
have a go at making yourself a card, if you do not have access to a laminator you can use sticky back clear plastic , the stuff used for covering books or even just place it in a cut down plastic bag and tape the edges. if you get stuck PM me and I will help you

pīwakawaka · Feb 23, 2012, 05:48 AM

I sometimes get confused and disorientated during migraine attacks and have on occasions been found many miles from home. I always wear a MedicAlert bracelet and it has helped me many times. MedicAlert operates in Australia, Canada, Cyprus, Iceland, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States & Zimbabwe. The bracelet provides a brief description of my condition and a 24 hour hot-line phone number where my medical details, emergency contacts, allergies etc are kept. I pay a small annual fee for the service and I pay about the same amount as a donation. I'm guessing there are similar services available from other providers. If there is one on your country I would recommend making use of them if you have any sort of medical condition which the public/medics/police etc may need to know if you are incapacitated.

@likewater: I think I would be traumatized by an experience such you went through. I'm fortunate that I live in a country where police aren't normally armed (unless you can call pepper spray being armed) and where arrestees are not routinely handcuffed. There have been a few occasions where the police have picked me up because of my condition and they arrested me once, but that was before I got the bracelet. At those times I'm so "zombied out" that I don't feel emotion of any sort. And although I can't recall most of these incidents, none of what I can recall is in any way distressing. Perhaps I've just been lucky

Rose76 · Mar 09, 2012, 03:59 AM

likewater - I'm sorry for your terrible experience. I worked in a jail years ago. One day the pdocs there got so mad at the police for bringing in someone who clearly should have been brought to the local psychiatric hospital. The police officers agreed with the pdocs. I heard them say, "We came here because the local psych hospital turned us away and would not accept this person as a patient. We have brought the person here because we are too concerned to leave this person wandering on the Interstate."

The Director of the jail had been in the local paper quoted as saying, "I am in charge of the largest psych facility in the state. Something is wrong with this picture."

That psych facility is where I now get my care. If I become homeless, I might try to get arrested. But probably not, because the conditions at the jail are much worse than they used to be. What kind of a country are we becoming?

I hope you are in better circumstances at this time.

Rose

Mar 09, 2012, 11:19 AM

medic alert bracelets are the way to go. as ex law enforcement & emt i recommend them..as an asthmatic, did etc i had one...they are standard, recognized, do have the 24 hr phone back up etc.

one that is home made is nice but it is just that...in an emergency it is still your word..& a home made card is like a bank robber saying it is ok for me to take this $$ because i need it...the card won't carry much weight.

medic alert items..the necklace, bracelet, etc are items that personnel are trained to look for when assessing people as they arrive to provide care. they list conditions right on them & provide a phone # for their services. once called they give access to anyone you want as far as family, friends, dr's t, etc. you list your meds...everything...

doesn't cost that much for an annual fee & it is so much worth it for peace of mind.

you can pretty much list anything on the form & send it in (or on line now i imagine) but it is what i would go for..i don't have one now but i do carry a list of all my meds, contacts, etc in my wallet for when i do need it (too many to remember)..but if i was as ill as i used to be..medic alert would be slapped on my wrist.

(i don't work there, or have any affiliation with them..just saying it made life so much easier when responding to an emergency...for everyone)

likewater · Mar 09, 2012, 04:30 PM

Im waiting to see pdoc to see what dx is to have on bracelet. T thinks schizophrenia, but i' m not sure. Think i have more of a dissociative disorder, but maybe i have both. Pdocs are hard to get. Yeah, i' ll get bracelet for sure. Hopefully, i' ll never need it, but better to have it and not need it than other way around. Actually, might be good this happened. I think my bfriend and sister were in
denial about how serious my condition is. Now i think they might understand a little more that when i miss work it's not because i' m
lazy. In fact i work and drive and do a lot of stuff that' s really hard for me, and then it gets too hard like now- i got ear infection and sinus infection which is bad with asthma.

Mar 10, 2012, 12:56 PM

Wishing you a quick recovery.

pīwakawaka · Mar 11, 2012, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by likewater

Im waiting to see pdoc to see what dx is to have on bracelet. T thinks schizophrenia, but i' m not sure. Think i have more of a dissociative disorder, but maybe i have both.

I don't think it's necessary to have a definitive diagnosis on the bracelet. Mine says "Migraine followed by disorientation and confusion". This is mainly because I can be sufficiently dissociated to not being able to recognise any pain. The help line has a complete list of all the symptoms I might exhibit. As most people who have come to my assistance (including most paramedics and police) think that migraines are simply severe headaches, they do not associate my symptoms with a migraine. They were more likely to go for a stroke or heavy intoxication instead. In my case the important words are "followed by disorientation and confusion" as the paramedics then associate the description with the symptoms they observe instead of the the diagnosis of migraine.

Have a chat with all your support providers as to what would be the most appropriated description to have on a bracelet. There should be suficient room for more than a single word - a short sentence describiing your condition should fit.

Best wishes

Nammu · Mar 11, 2012, 03:34 PM

I'm so sorry that happened to you. When I lived in the Twin Cities they always seemed to know, and I ""woke-came to"" in a hospital--I was often picked up for being dressed inappropriatetely for the weather, but now that I live in the south thats a fear I have. I'm ''intergrated" but stress does cause flashbacks and disassociating. I too carry a card that I hope they would find that have my health info on it alpng with my T's number.

Have you been able to pocess this with your team? I find that the soon you can deal with it the easir it is to keep it from becoming part of the ongoing PTSD.

Mar 11, 2012, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stumpy

there are different types of sobriety tests police can use..one type does involve tracking the movements of your eyes.

it could be (just guessing here) that they did see that there was some sort of a mental health issue going on & decided to keep her off the road & let her calm down some & then retest after a time period. perhaps they weren't sure or their first test didn't come up totally accurate...i do not know how DID would effect the test if perhaps alters were coming & going...

so maybe the troopers were not acting out...perhaps the original test was performed at night outside, it was to her benefit to have the repeat test performed in the same conditions as the first (to eliminate any claims that the changing conditions might have caused a pass/fail situation) so that is why they used a dark room holding area.

your were cuffed behind your back for your safety & the officers. they do not know you or what your situation is. they just know that they must safely transport you to another location. this is standard procedure..regardless of if you are a killer or a traffic stop.

same with being secured in the station. until everyone is sure you are not a risk you will be secured. it is for your safety as well as those working. no one singled you out & considered you more of a risk than others.

2 troopers with firearms...standard. they don't know you. they don't know if you are psychotic, on drugs, have a weapon, a felon, rage issues...what ever. people do weird stuff. weapons are part of a law enforcement officer's uniform. they are not the first choice of action..there are different levels of action to go thru before a firearm but they will use it if need be. no one likes to but it is something there.

they are not going to remove their firearms because you are a small woman. ain't gonna happen. plenty of small women do plenty of damage..including kill. as an ex officer i made sure i was safe & i made sure you were safe. what if i removed my weapon to care for you & someone brought in a killer who got loose & pointed a weapon at you? what could i have done with no weapon?

none of us were there. none of us can judge...it does sound like a stressful situation...but any arrest is stressful. it ain't fun. it ain't supposed to be.

you could contact a lawyer...but honestly i doubt you would have a claim...to me it sounds like they were following procedure. don't forget you were disassociating pretty bad , & pretty agitated as well..which might have skewed your perceptions some...as well as presenting yourself as less than sober.

I'm sort of offended by this, and I'm not even the one who wrote it. You can tell by her/his initial post that she/he was very distraught and writing in a "support me" way. You don't have to come to these boards looking for advice. Sometimes you just want to be heard. And that's okay too. It's not just you, it's a lot of people. It's okay to come here and vent and not need advice. She/he didn't need this rationalized. If she/ he's anything like me, she/he's done rationalized it 100 times over. It was okay for her/him to come here and talk. This entire post you made makes it seem otherwise.

Nammu · Mar 11, 2012, 09:19 PM

This is so weird, when I first saw the title and responded the 2nd page and every thing after that was missing. So when I responded this morning I was missing most of the info. My typing isn't the greatest, but I go back and fix it, that didn't take either!

Now I see this is all in quite over. You were saved by the police though it was still very traumatizing. I can understand how it would be. I hate being touched too when I'm dissociating. Did you ever contact them explaining your medical situation and ask if there was any other less traumatizing way to deal with possible medical situations?

I hope you have gotten your diagnoses and your family is taking your illness more seriously. I read the info on the medialert seems like a smarter way to go, I'm going to look into that too. I hope your life has gotten calmer and you and your T have made progress on all this.

All the best.

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arrested because of disorder

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