The Police (Wrong section?)

[Guy Out There]

I couldn't think where to post this so sorry for causing any trouble if it's in the wrong place..

I just wondered what the police policy was regarding mental health, i have very urgent information to provide to them yet i am unsure if they will take me seriously, is it their policy to listen and investigate all leads or do they just exclude information from 'crazy people' (as they might view me), also do they have the power to section me or do i need another independant assesment before that would happen?

I know this is a difficult question, i don't have very long and i need to get to the police soon so i thought i would ask here first.

Thanks in advance and take care, Jack [Guy]

[Calla]

I certainly don't know the answer but is it something you can do anonymously? Especially if it is urgent?

[Guy Out There]

I wish it was Calla but i am unfortunatly the 'evidence', i prepeared a small package with my contact details and information to drop off in case i need to 'vanish' rather quickly, i just don't want to be chained in a hospital which would be distressing and make me a sitting duck.

[Calla]

I'm not sure but I don't think they can detain you if you don't do anything wrong. i.e violence or threatening. If you are just passing info on that you think they need to know they should listen to you. What they do with that info after that is another matter and depends on the particular person you speak to I guess. Hope you are ok.

[Luna-]

Gosh Jack, I have no idea. I don't know how the laws work where you are. Here the police would be required to take your statement but if they thought you were a crank they may not follow it up.

[Lindamomof7]

I have been involved with police here in the US but is it possible for you to get an advocate of some sort?? Do you have a mental health association that you can contact for help?

I know for here in US if you presented yourself correctly and then gave info that is needed there should be no reason why they shouldnt listen to you. Not everyone has our "history" info especially our police unless it involved the police in your past.

I think the key is of how you present and maintain yourself. Maybe it would be good to check out the commitment law where you live. We go through "observation" if needed before commitment but they can legally keep you for "observation".

Hope this helps? good luck...

[Guy Out There]

Thanks for the info,

Linda, we do have an advocacy service here, i will try to contact them but i am unsure of how much time i have, i will speak with them and see what they can do.

[Lindamomof7]

good luck and let us know how you make out

[harp]

Why do they consider you a 'crazy' person?

[Guy Out There]

Why do they consider you a 'crazy' person?

They may consider me a crazy person because i've been diagnosed with schizophrenia and i'm still awaiting treatment. There is alot of stigma attached to schizophrenia..

[spiritual_emergency]

I just wondered what the police policy was regarding mental health, i have very urgent information to provide to them yet i am unsure if they will take me seriously, is it their policy to listen and investigate all leads or do they just exclude information from 'crazy people' (as they might view me), also do they have the power to section me or do i need another independant assesment before that would happen?

I know this is a difficult question, i don't have very long and i need to get to the police soon so i thought i would ask here first.

... i am unfortunatly the 'evidence', i prepeared a small package with my contact details and information to drop off in case i need to 'vanish' rather quickly, i just don't want to be chained in a hospital which would be distressing and make me a sitting duck.

First of all, it's been my experience that police will be open to listening but if, in the course of that listening, they come to believe they are speaking with someone who is manic or psychotic, they may bring you for a psychiatric assessment. That would likely mean transfer to a hospital and I know you would very much like to avoid that. The laws do vary in that respect so you might want to check that out first. The mind.org.uk site does have a section related to the Police and Mental Health. You can find it in their Rights and Legislation area.

Secondly, it's also been my experience that people who are undergoing an experience that damages the egoic structure can be highly intuitive and sensitive to the environment. The mere fact that they think something weird or possibly dangerous is going on does not mean those very exact things are not happening.

Thirdly however, it's also been my experience that if the ego does start to disintegrate, this produces enormous fear in the individual undergoing that crisis and this fear is symbolically reflected back to them by the outer world. I tend to think of this dynamic as a matter of commonality that draws our attention. For example, it's as if you buy a red Honda and then you suddenly start seeing red Hondas everywhere. The truth is, they were always there, you just didn't notice them before because there was no common experience that prompted you to pay attention to them. By the same token, if you were not having the fearful inner experience you are having, you might not notice the same fearful elements in the outer world.

That said, the fact that you feel you need to go to the police tells me that you believe there is a risk of harm or corruption -- either to yourself or someone else. I would carefully evaluate if there is some way for you to make your report anonymously. I know you said there wasn't, but if you think more about it, there may be.

Also highly recommended if at all possible is to run the entire situation past someone else to see if they see the same things you see or interpret them in a similar manner. As noted, just because you are frightened of something doesn't mean there is not a rational and justifiable reason for your fear. But sometimes our fears can run away with us too, and it can be helpful to balance them out with someone else's perspective.

More thoughts, in a slightly different vein in just a moment...

[spiritual_emergency]

I wanted to share a bit of a story with you about my child's experience as they did go through a period when their ego boundaries collapsed and all this tremendous fear and symbolic content came rushing up. They had a few very specific concerns at that time:

One of their concerns was that someone would hurt them. In all fairness, they had actually stolen something from that individual so their fears -- that the other person might take retributive action -- were not entirely unfounded. My own feelings were that the other person would not take action but that was merely my opinion. I had no way of reliably knowing for sure if they would or wouldn't. For that reason, we developed a What if strategy.

Our What if strategy was based on the premise that we didn't know how events might go so we had to be prepared for them. So, we talked about what we would do if that individual did show up with the intent to hurt our child. For example, would we run out the front door or the back door? Would we go to the neighbors, the police station or the forest?

The purpose in developing a What if plan is to restore a sense of personal power and control because that helps to dampen down the biological response -- pounding heart, sweating palms, etc. If we're terribly frightened we don't always think clearly but if we think a situation through before it happens, and develop a plan that will allow us to respond to it, that can go a long way towards both validating our fears and addressing them in a manner that returns some personal control to us.

As another example, during that time our child was also terribly frightened that the house would burn down. When they shared this fear with us, that the house was actually burning or would, we would walk around the house with them, checking rooms for smoke or flames, feeling the walls for hot wires, etc. However we also developed a What if plan. What would we do if the house really was on fire? How would we all get out? Where would we all reconvene? How would we know we were all safe? Given that our child was gravely concerned that that the people they loved might be hurt, this helped to address their greatest fears and soothe their anxiety.

Note that it wasn't necessary to ever say to them that what they were experiencing was a hallucination or a delusion. We respected that they were going through both an inner experience and an outer experience and that both levels of experience were valid. We tried to help them cope with their inner experience by being with them, by exploring what the symbolism might represent for them, etc. We tried to help them cope with their outer experience by recognizing that we couldn't predict the future or how someone else might respond any better than they could. Maybe the house really could burn down. Maybe that person really could show up. If those things did happen, we had a plan in place to deal with them.

It seems to me that you've developed a bit of a What if plan for yourself already but it might be helpful to take it a bit further. For example, let's say you're concerned someone might hurt you. You might have a plan to run out into the street if they did show up but what then? Would you shout and draw attention to your predicament? Would you end up wandering the streets, possibly in even more danger, with no where to go? Would you quietly slip onto a train and go visit some distant relative in the countryside? What could you do and plan for now as a means of taking good care of yourself in the event that possibility became a reality?

Something else that seems to be distressing to you is the thought of returning to the hospital. I know you've said that you'll run away if that becomes a reality but the truth is, some hospitals and some caregivers are better than others. The trick is to know which is which. Besides, if you run away, you only get picked up and brought back but this time, with a black mark on your record. Something that may return some sense of control and power back to you is to check out the hospitals or care facilities in your area and find the one with the best reputation or the one you feel most comfortable with. Then, if for some reason you do have to go to the hospital, you can say, "Such and such is the hospital I should go to." If necessary, plan out what you'd have to say and how you'd have to say it to be taken to that hospital.

I offer the above as a suggestion but I should note that for some people, it's possible that a What if approach could backfire -- their minds might start spinning all sort of worst case scenarios that only serve to increase their fears and anxieties. If that's what happens to you, consider it a sign that it's simply not going to be a good tool for you and set it aside. Instead, use whatever coping strategies or tools you've developed thus far. Be open to learning new ones as well. You'll be better able to cope with whatever is actually going on if you can ~ calm ~ calm ~ calm ~ yourself and then make your own best decisions.

Best of luck to you Guy.

~ Namaste

[Guest ASchwartz]

HI SE,

You are correct, this is the wrong forum for your post. No harm done. This forum is for humor, jokes and very relaxing types of things. Nothing serious. Its a place to kick back, smile and relax.

Hope you understand.

Allan

[spiritual_emergency]

Hello Allan

Why am I not surprised that you have appeared to tell me how very "wrong" I am? Unfortunately, I'm not buying today. Perhaps some other time.

In the meantime, your desire to descend to personal criticism seems to have blinded you to the reality that Guy initiated this topic. (Guy, please remember that no one had anything critical to say about that until now.)

[Guy, I've put copies of my posts in your personal mailbox. It's been my experience that sometimes, my posts get erased by moderators and I put a fair amount of work into those ones. I hope there's something there that is helpful to you but it will be up to you to decide.]

[Guy Out There]

Thank you spiritual i responded to your posts using the PM system...

[Waiting]

Police will vary immensely in how they deal with people. Basically they will act on it if they feel it is valid. That will vary again on the individual police in question. I have a lot of experience with the police, mostly from working with them and the best I can say is might as well as try. Most are certainly good people, but they have often dealt with many liars etc.

[Lindamomof7]

Hi Allan

I'm a little confused??? And not looking for a controverial moment here on a sunday but why did you reply to SE for posting in the wrong section? It was Guy who asked if it was the wrong section??? SE responded to him as did the rest of us???

Am I missing something???

[Guy Out There]

Hi Waiting, thanks for your advice.. This thread was a while ago and i did go to the police in the end, they seemed helpful and offered me some much needed advice and information..

Linda, your point was part of a wider discussion focused on Allan's attitude towards certain members (based on a few posts he made and PMs), i don't want to rake it up but it caused a lot of controversy, there was several long arguments about it..

[Lindamomof7]

Hi Guy I am so happy you followed through with what you needed to do. I hoped it worked out to your best interest.

Yeah I do remember some stuff going on a few months ago but I didn't see how it was relevant to your thread. Sometimes responses are a bit odd and sometimes wonder the intent of even replying:rolleyes:

SE I am not talking about yours, it shows that you put alot of time and energy into your responses and I have never seen a negative one. Thanks for your efforts to always help

And on some off chance that people like us post something that might come across negatively, I would hope the community would act like adults and ask for clarification because usually it is taken out of context because of the nature of "writing" our feelings out.

So lessons learned in the past, and hopefully things go smooth sailing...