by middle-man » Sat Oct 29, 2011 12:00 am
Bourbon, I can tell you of my experience if it may help ...
Eight weeks ago i had an extremely violent, intrusive thought against my wife. This came from
nowhere and horrified me, as I Love and cherish her and i've never had any violent thoughts
towards her in the seventeen years we've been together (and none since). I immeadiately phoned a mental health helpline and was referred to an out of hours GP, who practically told me I was wasting his time because I had been drinking alcohol.
Absolutely distraught at this and the realisation that maybe I couldn't trust my own mind, I
seriously contemplated suicide. Only the thought of my son prevented me, so I went straight to the accident and emergency unit at our local hospital. There I was assessed by the duty psychiatrist and
I told him of my horrible thoughts, to which he recommended a stay in the psychiatric hospital to
which I wholeheartedly agreed. It wasn't until the day of my discharge 8 days later, that they informed me that they would have to tell my wife of these terrible thoughts. I phoned her
immeadiately as I thought she should hear them from me first, believe me when I say that was the hardest call i've ever had to make. She was of course shocked and scared, but let me come home anyway.
My point of telling you this is that, to hospitalise someone, the person has to be seen as a real threat
to either themselves or a member of the public. I cannot see this happening in your case as they would have acted immeadiately.
Regards telling the person involved, I would definately check and ask for a thorough explanation from the authorities before embarking on this yourself. You need to know where you stand on this.
I know from experience that they ask you the question "Do you think you are, or could be, a threat or be violent either to a member of your family, a child or the general public?"
To which you seem, from what you have said, clearly not to be Bourbon. There is a huge difference between thinking something or actually acting on it.
What makes this situation intolerable, whatever the end result, is the breach of trust.
I understand rules and codes are in place to protect people when necessary, but it certainly makes you think twice about what you might share with a mental health professional in the future.
I really hope the outcome goes in your favour on this and my thoughts are with you.
Dave.