Ever had any experiences with the Police due to your Mental Health?

The police escorted me to the emergency department one night, because I was suicidal. One officer, named Sarah stayed with me, until I was sent to the inpatient psych unit. She was very nice, talkative and non-judgemental. I remember her discussing her upcoming wedding. Sharing this actually helped calm me. I will never forget her.

Since, I have never been in trouble with the law, I was curious to know what being in hand cuffs was like. I asked, but she refused to cuff me.

I'm sorry you've had multiple involvements. Doesn't sound nice.

Believe it or not, that's something I commonly hear.. hospital healthcare staff are sometimes unprofessional and rude when they're supposed to be helpful. I am not sure why. I think many of them become rather blasé. But I'm glad the police were always alright with you.

She really does sound lovely and I'm glad they had that impact, many of them don't realise how much of an impact they can have I think. As for the handcuffs, well I can see how you would be curious, I used to be years ago, but they hurt quite badly and often leave red bruises, especially if they're applied too tightly.

Just going to bump this thread, if that's ok with the mods in case anyone else wants to add anything.

People (from the UK) might be interested in reading the (click ->) Mental Health Cop Wordpress blog. There should be resources from the US and other countries out there too.

Just wanted to add the information on the california 5150 holds that I was familiar with when I lived in California.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/di...00&section=wic

Interesting because when I was very sick with anorexia at the time my mother died of cancer....my anorexia was caused by the stress & trauma I went through with my mother & the home care person who abused her & caused so much trauma to me. My GP had put me in the hospital because I was very sick & he was trying to figure out why I wasn't able to eat. The hospital didn't have a psych ward, but they had a on call pdoc & psychologist that my GP had called in to work with me. My blood work had come back very anemic & my GP said that I either needed a feeding tube or a picc line or a central line. I initially went with the picc line but it got infected & they had to stop it. My mother had died the night I went back into the hospital & the funeral was delayed because of rain. It was a complicated situation & I was only allowing close friends & family to know where & when the funeral was to be held to keep the abusive people away (my mother's bf & the home care person who was his neighbor). Because they had to take out the picc line, the pdoc told me that I was too sick to leave the hospital & if I left I would die within a few days, so if I tried to leave he was going to place a 5150 on me so I couldn't leave the hospital (danger to myself). Found this information out through the nursing staff. I talked to my GP & explained how important it was for me to be at my mother's funeral. He said he couldn't release me because of the report the pdoc had left in my file, but he would look the other way without saying anything if I left AMA so the pdoc wouldn't have a chance to write up the 5150 on me which would then give them the authorization to have the police go out & pick me up if I did leave.....but they couldn't write up the 5150 if I had already left AMA.

All this stupid drama around my mother's death & her funeral & she was just a nobody & the only thing she had that the home care person wanted was her house that she owned. One thing my mother left me other than the house was the PTSD that came from all the trauma I went through with her.....that still haunts me 7 years later. At least I didn't have the police coming to my home or to the funeral to pick me up & take me back to the hospital......thankful I had a considerate GP who really did care.

The thought police become involved just because they can.

I've had some minor, indirect police involvement, but I am too afraid of the shame/disapproval of being hospitalized for a failed attempt or just ideation.

The police was first involved when they found out that I had carried prescription pain killers with me to school. After I had tried to take some to calm myself down, I realized I took a little more than I wanted to, and then I morbidly finished off the bottle with a "**** if I die!" mentality. Not long afterwards, I began to panic. A friend noticed the panicking and reported me. What I had taken was not toxic, but it was decided that I had attempted suicide.

When the school administrator explained the situation to some of my teachers, apparently they insisted not to charge or expel such a promising student. Thus, I didn't get anything on my record. I felt really sick after the 'over dose', but I think that might have just been the anxiety.

My estranged biological mother caught wind this parasuicide attempt of mine and called the police on my dad and then-stepmom. She claimed that they refused to provide me treatment for a suicidal condition (they had put me in therapy). They arrived at my house while I was being 'watched' at my grandparents. I was hospitalized for about five days when I was put on medication.

I do not believe that my biological mother did this out of concern for my safety, but rather another attempt out of many to screw with my dad and now adopted-mom. I'm convinced she may have borderline personality disorder. She has called the police on my dad before for "threats" and "physical intimidation" in situations where no communication/interaction could have possibly occurred.

Back in February of this year, I started taking an over-the-counter antidepressant called 5-HTP. My boyfriend's father said that the 5-HTP was like a miracle drug for him. I've been on and off just about every kind of antidepressant in the last 10 years..so I figured I would try something new. Within a few days of starting the 5-HTP, I started experiencing some pretty wild symptoms. I was very irritable and very focused at the same time. I started to lose control of myself. I was no longer capable of making sound, safe, or even legal decisions. It was like there was no such thing as consequences. I also started rambling and mumbling nonsense throughout the day and finally, I experienced many hallucinations. These symptoms persisted for about 2 weeks.I went to my Dr and he referred me to a sleep specialist. I had that appt on thurs morning. The specialist had no clue what was wrong with me and the only advise he gave me was to stop taking the 5-HTP (which I did immediately). That same night my neighbor came over to visit me and she found me tearing my basement apart. I had found an old easy bake oven and apparently decided that I needed to drive to Walmart for easy bake oven supplies right that moment. It was after midnight and I planned on bringing my 3 yr old daughter with (which was completely insane and TOTALLY out of character for me). My friend ended calling my Bf at work because she was scared I would actually take my daughter. She ended up distracting me until my BF got home. She said that while she was waiting, I was falling asleep every 5 seconds. I also told her that while I was visiting her, I was getting my grocery shopping done. I guess I was completely acting out this hallucination. My BF assumed that I had to have been taking some pretty hard drugs. He didn't believe that U wasn't on anything..so at 3am when I decided to go to the store..he did NOTHING to stop me because he let his anger cloud his judgement. I made it about 3 blocks before I fell asleep and went in the snowbank. It took me about an hr to dig myself out. I realized I forgot my wallet so I ran home, grabbed it, and then took off again. I made it about 4 blocks before I fell back asleep..I woke up before I went in the ditch and just kept going. I remember seeing big brown garbage cans flying over the hood of my car (see what I mean?? NO sound decision making going on this night). A little while later... I woke up back in a ditch. As I was trying to remove myself from the 2nd snowbank..a police officer pulled up. I told him I was exhausted and I had fallen asleep while driving. He asked me if I had anything to drink..told him NO..so he then have me a breathalyzer (my BAC 0.0000). I was acting a littl off do naturally the police ask if I am under the influence of any drugs. I told him that the only stuff in my system is going to be my prescription meds. The cop then had me do a field sobriety test, which I failed miserably. He then asked for permission to search my purse and car. I said absolutely, go for it. A little while later another officer comes up to me with a picture of a little white pill and he asks me if I know what it is..I had absolutely no clue and now I was starting to get confused by all this craziness. Not long later the cop that showed me the picture came back up to me and informed me that they had found 3 of those white pills in a cellophane in my wallet. I was then placed under arrest for 4th degree DUI and 5th degree felony possession of Methylin (Ritalin). I have absolutely NO idea where the pills came from. I had lNEVER seen the pills before and I don't know anyone that has a prescription to them. To this day, I still wonder where the hell I got them from. I was taken to the station where I said things to the police like, "I can see fairies painting golden murals on your walls" I didn't know what I was saying or doing..although I was still smart enough to ask for a lawyer. After questioning me, the took me to the hospital for a blood test and then booked me at the jail and threw me in a cell. This was about 4am Fri morning. I remember absolutely nothing until Saturday afternoon when I woke up. I woke up feeling completely back to normal and almost like I woke up from a dream that I had no control over. Monday morning they released me. I came to the conclusion that I was suffering from serotonin syndrome because of all the medications I was on that could cause it.. And the only thing I did at all different than normal was take the 5-HTP. A month or do after all this, I started seeing a therapist. Immediately he diagnosed me as Bipolar. He retired a few weeks later so I switched to a new therapist. I told her that I really didn't think I was Bipolar. I also explained the whole weird situation with me and how I suspected serotonin syndrome. After listening to all my symptoms and behaviors, she informed me that she was almost positive that I had actually been suffering from a SEVERE manic episode. She tI realized there was something really wrong when I started hallucinating and rambling absolute nonsense right in front of my kids. I lost all control over my actions and it was almost like consequences didn't exist in my mind. My boyfriend thought that I had started taking really heavy illegal drugs. I went to my Dr who sent me to a sleep specialist. The only thing the specialist really did was tell me to stop taking this over-the-counter antidepressant called 5-HTP. For 2 weeks these symptoms continued until I decided to drive to Walmart at like 2am. I fell asleep about 3 blocks from my apt and hit the ditch. I dug myself out in about an hour, drove back home because I had realized I forgot my wallet. I took off as soon as I found it and started falling asleep driving again almost immediately. I can remember seeing big brown garbage dumpster things flying over the hood of my car ad I hit them. Next thing I knew I was waking up in the ditch again. As I was trying to get out a police officer pulled up. He came up to my car, I told him that I thought I fell asleep. I guess I was acting pretty out of it cuz he asked if I was drinking, "NOPE" and he gave me a breathalyzer. My BAC was 0.0000. Then he asked if I was on any illegal drugs and I said the only things in my system are my prescribed medications. He had me do a field sobriety test which I failed miserably. I was then put under arrest for a DUI and agreed to a blood test and a search of my car and purse. As the police were about to take me to the station, the cop that searched my car approached me with a picture of little white pills. He asked me if I knew what they were..I had absolutely no idea and I was completely confused as to why he even asked me that. I wasn't confused for long..I was informed that they found 3 little pills in a cellophane in my wallet (Ritalin apparently). At first I thought they were totally lying until they also informed me that I was not only under arrest for the DUI but also 5th degree possession of a controlled substance. I was completely baffled as to how all this was happening to me. Back at the station I was telling the police that I saw little flying fairies painting golden murals on the walls..: obviously I was hallucinating again, I was taken to the hospital for a blood test and then thrown in jail (about 4am Fri morning). Saturday afternoon I woke up and it was like I was totally back to normal again.,like I had woken up from a bad dream that I could not control. I was released Monday and after giving it a lot of thought, I came to the conclusion that I suffered from serotonin syndrome. The only thing I had done different before I went crazy was start taking 5-HTP (over-the-counter antidepressant) and on top of that I was taking 3 other meds that could cause SS. A couple months later I had my first appt with a therapist. He almost immediately diagnosed me as bipolar. 2?mo later he retired so I started seeing a new therapist. I explained to her that I didn't think I was Bipolar..I also explained the whole SS incident. I told her it must have been serotonin syndrome and she told me that it actually sounded EXACTLY like a very severe manic episode. I was shocked and I didn't believe it until she told me the symptoms of severe mania and every single one matched what I went through. She also told me that thr was how my 1st therapist diagnosed me as BP. He immediately recognized my behavior as severe mania. She also told me this would probably help A LOT with court because in as severe mania as I was in, people can black out (I barely remember anything from the 2 weeks, not even my son's bday party), people lose control of themselves - cant stop yourself from doing certain things - you feel as if there is no such thing as a consequence - people completely lose the ability to make safe, smart, or good choices. It can cause people to ramble on nonsensically and it can cause hallucinations..and irritability. I suffered from ALL of these. My next court case is the 19th when I will be pleading NOT guilty (by reason of mental defect or insanity). If anyone had ANY experience with arrests or charges filed against you during a manic episode, please tell me about it and the outcome. I am really hoping once my therapist's letter is admitted into the court that the prosecution will either drop or significantly lower the charges because I have no memory of the crimes I allegedly committed and I had ZERO control of my faculties. I've never been in trouble before - totally clean record - and I'm a 4.0 college student that is graduating pretty soon. I have 2 young children and I want to become a criminal psychiatrist or psychologist but I would never be able to work in the health care industry again if I had a conviction of felony drug possession. So theoretically, my entire life could be ruined because I decided to try an over-the-counter antidepressant and the stupid medication caused me to have my 1st EVER severe manic episode. That would just be so absolutely ridiculous and unfair. Hopefully it works out for me..keep u posted if possible mold me that was the whole reason my old therapist diagnosed me BP so quickly..he thought it was a manic episode as well. At first I didn't believe it. I had no idea that
mania could get that bad..but when she started reading off the symptoms of a severe mania, I realized that everything she was mentioning, I had experienced during that 2 week period. She also said that the fact that it was such a severe manic episode, it might actually help me in court because ppl with as severe mania as I had usually don't have any control over their actions and they tend to black out during them too. They can also endup quite confused. They often start rambling complete nonsense and experience vivid hallucinations. I have a lawyer now and my next court date is Oct 19th..when I will plead NOT guilty to everything by reason of mental defect or insanity. I'll take it to a jury if I have to but I am really hoping that once all of my evidence is turned over to the prosecutor, that he will either drop the charges or offer me a plea for a way way lesser crime. If anyone else has been in a similar situation, please tell me your story and the outcome.

Ive had several experiences with the police due to my mental health. Ive had them barge in on me during the middle of the night to help ensure my safety. I refused to cooperate but assured them i was fine so in the end they gave up and left. I also got so depressed that i stopped all communication with friends and family. The police were called to my residence to see whether i was dead or had run off. There was also the time when i was being abused and was trying to make a call to the hostel i was living at and instead it went to voicemail while i was screaming out in terror. The police then came to see me some time later in the hostel to enquire about my safety. Most of the experiences have been alright if a little invasive in terms of treatment. Ive had far worse experiences with paramedics who in my experience have been nothing but rude and insensitive. Interesting thread.

I had 2 incidenst for myself involving the police. I was drinking bee, not drunk, just sipping. My ex disappeard to a neighbors house. Whe him and her came back, she pulled me to the side and told me they had done some drugs. I flipped out. I went to cut my wrist, as the razor sliced my skin, I decided I was not suicidal. Instead, I went after ex, I blacked his eyes, broke his nose and busted his lip. The neighbor called the police. The police told us they had to take both of us to jail. I laughed at him and told him he had to take me to the hospital. Told him I had a mental illness and had cut my wrist. He decided he did not want that paperwork. He asked me if I could stay away from ex and not fight anymore. I told him yes and that I was going to hospital. He left us both there.
The 2nd incident, my friend had been raped whilile on a date. Her talking about it for days at a time triggered me. I flipped and tried to take 30 trazodone and 30 tegretol. My friend got the tegretol away from me, but I put all the trazodone in my mouth. Before I could swallow them, she stuck her fingers in my mouth and pulled out some of them. I swallowed the rest. I took off running up the street and hid in the woods. When she went to get my roommate, I made my way back to my apartment and locked myself in. I forgot one window was open. Friends daughter climber through the window and let the police in. They put me in the ambulance and took me to hospital. At the hospital, that police officer was telling me he could put me in jail. I asked him how he figured that. He said it was because I tried to commit suicide. I laughed at him. I was sent to a mental health facility for 10 days.

I've had many encounters with police, as well as fire department and paramedics. The only rude ones I've ever met we're paramedics. I've only had excellent experiences with police and fire department.

Well, kinda on the last one. I had locked myself in my T's bathroom and was cutting my wrists pretty bad. The police came first, but I wouldn't open the door, so they called the fire department. They broke down the door. I remember them peeking in halfway through to see if I was hurting myself. Once the door was gone several guys yelled "put it down!!" (The razorblade). I didn't, so someone grabbed my arm and took it. Then they dragged me out of the bathroom by my ankles and shirt. And then someone grabbed my arms and bandaged them up.
The paramedics were really nice that time.