reporting?

Does anyone know if T's have to report non-suicidal self injury in adults?

Nope - whom would they report to? If you're over 18 in the US or Canada you're records with T are completely confidential - they're not even allowed to discuss you with your family, without your express consent.

The laws maybe a little different in the US but here are the only circumstances in Canada where confidentially can be broken.

1. You are an immediate danger to yourself. And this means SU not for SI.
2. You have expressed intent to harm someone else, and they believe you will act on your intent and have the means to carry it out.
3. Abuse of a minor child.
4. Driving a motor vehicle while impaired.
5. You have been abused by a health care provider.

If you're in a care setting where various health care providers are on your team, anything you say can and will most likely be shared with the other providers on your team, as part of the continuity of care. But that's it.

--splitimage

i wouldn't have thought so.

how about doctors do they need to report patients who are SI and if so to whom do they report to ? if you are an adult.like if i was cutting myself and doc knew legaly what do they need to do.

In the USA docs and therapists need to report adult and child abuse to the protection agencies and police and if you are a harm to yourself or others they would report this to the court to get you committed. Harm to yourself is being suicidal.

I had a psychiatrist tell me she could report me to child services for cutting and being suicidal. I did not go back there.

i understand now. had to read it a few times to get it.

Um, I specified NON-suicidal in my question... Harm to yourself like small bruises/burns is not a death wish

I understand, I told you what the law was and your SI falls outside of this.

so if i told my T that i SI she would report me to the cops

granite thats what i thought when i read it the first few times. but she means if you were suicidal then they would. i told my t and nothings happened yet. i think you have to be careful what you say tho.

No, a harm to yourself is suicidal. Your SI does not fall under adult abuse.

warning mention of SI.












so if i went to my doc appointment and my NP noticed that i cut the bottom of my feet she wouldnt have report it to anyone or to my T.i did this a bit ago and i am worried if i go to my appointment with my NP she will notice because she does feet checks do to my diabedese and i have fresh scars that are not quite healed.esp after this race thing i did sat.i am worried it will cause a bunch of crap ifse decides to report it to the great powers to be whoever they may be.

Your medical info is confidential and it can't be shared with your therapist unless you signed a waiver for your doc to share with your therapist. Your doc can't call the cops on you. What you are doing isn't against the law.

As a diabetic, isn't choosing your feet to cut the worst possible place?

yes but it is easier to hide .i know she will lecture me about this also

Not all SI is suicidal, but yes, it all has to be reported. Youre endangering yourself.

SI isn't suicidal? Who is SI being reported to thetheft?

It can be. But not everyone who cuts themselves or burns themselves is actually trying to kill themselves. There are people who do it to kill themselves. But most dont. (I've read every artical there is on the subject for a paper i did in school.)
And usually police. They put a watch on you or something, where someone has to keep an eye on you, because they assume you are trying to kill yourself.

If you did a poll here I think that people would agree that SI is SI and suicide is suicide. The mental health community has just started to understand SI. I'll also bet that you can't find anyone here who had a therapist call the police for SI.

This may not be useful to you, but I always figured that if a doctor pushed about my scars (I no longer SI), I would explain that I was under a therapist's care and give the name and number of my therapist. I know he won't disclose anything without my specific permission, and I figured any medical professional who felt my scars indicated any danger would be reassured to hear I had a therapist supervising me.

Just my thought on it.

I had a friend who was under-age and committed for self harm.

I think it might be an iffy subject and open to interpretation.

It mostly depends on your arrangement with your T. For the most part, if they are aware of the fact that you may SI, and are treating you for this, it will not be reported to anyone else. However, depending on the agency/practice that you work with, they might say you are required to be looked at by a medical doctor to make sure you are physically okay. This is really just to cover their butt in case you are sitting there with a serious injury covered up. If something were to happen, they could get blamed for not doing anything. But you should not be in a position where you are in danger of being committed just for non-suicidal SI. It is different for under-age people, but it is fairly difficult to committ a non-suicidal adult in the U.S. in most cases.

Underage, so a parent put the child there? This is different than an adult, where to be committed the person who wants to commit you needs to go in front of a judge. Taking away an adults freedom to choose is serious business.

Short answer: Not likely.

Long answer: If they think you're doing SI and have a plan to attempt suicide, then yes, they can/will report you. If they're in an organization which has policies around self injury, then maybe. Like if you were in a program that said if you SI you get kicked out - then they'd likely have to report it to someone. But to the police, not likely. If their notes get subpoenaed or they're under court order, then maybe - if they think your self injury makes you at risk and that you might be a bad parent, then if something like children's aid is involved - it could be reported because it could be dangerous for the child involved.

I'm in a social service worker program, the guidelines for breaking confidentiality are (but also include agency guidelines, which may be more extensive):

- Intent to harm yourself or others (serious bodily harm, which most SI is not. However if you're cutting near arteries or are at risk due to other preexisting health conditions that changes how serious the SI is considered)
- Abuse of a child, or a child at risk (or another vulnerable person at risk, like a senior citizen or someone who has a severe disability that makes them unable to care for themselves)
- Court order/subpoena

Thank you all for the input! I feel more confident about being able to safely discuss this with my T now without having to worry about drastic repercussions for a few small incidents.