Hospitalization: Forced and Voluntary

[Ellen042]

Hi.  I just brought this question up under an intro, but wanted others' input, so thought I'd start a new post.  To be blunt, I am absolutely appalled to hear others' stories of forced hospitalization and forced drugging on this site.  Guess I'm nieve.  I thought the dark ages of locking people up and torturing them (with drugs) were long gone. 

 

I recounted an instance when, at age 27, a doctor recommended hospitalization for my depression.  Knowing the laws for my state, I told him "over my dead body", got up and left, and never went back to him.  I thought the law for the country, which may well just be for my state, was that if you weren't suicidal or homicidal, no one could force hospitalization on you against your own will.  I understand the need to protect lives, but many of the stories I've read here involve forced hospitalization when no one's life was at risk. 

 

What are they to do to you if you say, "No, thank you."?  Send you to jail?!?

 

The forced drugging is what gets me the most.  Do they just refuse to release you until you take the drugs?  How do they enforce your taking them once you got home?  It seems to me that I would want off and get off any drugs they gave me in the hospital the minute I got home.  After just a few days ON drugs, I myself would be very tempted to flush them down the toilet as soon as I were released.  I realize that we, including myself, often don't understand the destructiveness of mental drugs until we've been on them for months, making us, well in my own words, addicted.  That's a more complicated story.  But for those fearing re-hospitalization on this site, knowing now what we do, why not just refuse the drugs asap?  For that matter, why not refuse hospitalization to begin with? 

 

I know I sound terribly non-understanding here.  I myself have had my fair share of hospitalizations, but they were all for physical illnesses and never against my will.

 

Are we not asserting our rights, or do doctors have more authority over us than I ever imagined?  If the answer is somewhere in between, such as when I walked out on the shrink who wanted to hospitalize me, how do we best educate ourselves and assert our rights when possible?

 

If this thread helps even one person stay out of forced hospitalization and drugging, I'll consider it worth while to have posted.

[Barbarannamated]

If your doctor (or therapist) thought you were a danger to yourself or others, he could have committed you involuntarily for 3-5 days, depending on the state.

 

I've even heard stories of people calling 911 when they believe a friend or relative may be a danger. Police are dispatched and the person can be taken to a facility for an evaluation by a professional.

[mammaP]

I started to type out a reply to this with my own experiences and some that I saw

 as a patient, but you have read many of our stories already so I'm posting a link 

which is specific to England and Wales. It isn't quite as simple as refusing to go

if another person  decides you are needing treatment! 

 

http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvice/problemsdisorders/beingsectionedengland.aspx

 

Taken from The Royal College of Psychiatrists

 

Can I be forced to go to hospital?

Yes. You would normally be taken to hospital by ambulance, although the police will be asked to help if necessary.

 

What happens when I get to hospital?

You will meet members of the clinical team, particularly the nursing and medical staff,  who are responsible for your care and treatment. Most of your care will be the same as you would expect if you had agreed to admission. But, in addition, you will have your rights as a detained patient explained to you and be given a copy of these rights to keep.

You should also be offered the assistance of an Independent Mental Health Advocate. You will be placed under the care of a person who is called your Responsible Clinician. This is usually a consultant psychiatrist, although it could be a senior nurse, psychologist, occupational therapist or social worker.

 

What power does the hospital have over me when I am a detained patient?

You can be held in the hospital, including being kept on a locked ward if necessary (because, for example, you keep trying to run away or behave in a way which suggests you need more staff to keep you, and other people, safe). You can also be required to take medication for your mental illness.

 

Can I have medication forced on me if I refuse to take it?

Yes. The choice of medication should be discussed with you, unless you are unable or unwilling to discuss it. But you can be forced to take it if your Responsible Clinician thinks it is necessary.

If, after 3 months, you are still detained and don’t want the medication, or are too ill to consent to it but your responsible clinician still thinks it’s necessary, then you will see an independent consultant psychiatrist sent by the Care Quality Commission. You can then only be forced to take the medication agreed to by the independent psychiatrist (called a Second Opinion Appointed Doctor or SOAD).

 

Can I be forced to have ElectroconvulsiveTherapy (ECT)?

No (unless it is an emergency to save your life or prevent a serious deterioration in your health). You can have ECT if you consent. If you are too ill to be able to make a decision, then you can have ECT if it is agreed by a SOAD.

[GiaK]

I was forced hospitalized and forced drugged when I was 19 years old...coercion in psychiatry is standard care really.

 

I worked in the system as a social worker for many years  as well so I've seen it from both sides....it's a rampant and standard part of psychiatry.

 

I have a collection on forced treatment (which is considered torture by the United Nations) on Beyond Meds:

 

Coercion, subtle or otherwise, is the rule in psychiatric care…

http://beyondmeds.com/2013/02/02/coercion-rule-in-psychiatry/

 

I wish it wasn't so. 

[Ellen042]

I read the posts but not the links yet.  I'm too angry to- not because this has ever happened to me, but because it has happened to others.  I'm even afraid to read your link, GiaK.  So apparently you have to be a danger to yourself or to another.  That's a whole lot more broad than being suicidal or homicidal.  Why then aren't people forced into hospitals when they're too sick to take care of themselves or others?  That would be the physical equivalent of the mental illness rules.  God knows I've been too sick to take care of myself many more times than I've been hospitalized for my physical illnesses.  I thought I knew the law on this.  This is all news to me, and it hardly sounds like a level playing field.  So what if someone just didn't like you and knew you were sick.  You mean they could call the police, say you're a danger to whomever, and get you locked up?  And this occurs in more than one country?!?  Again as on my other post, this makes me angry not with drugs or with mental illnesses but with psychiatrists and psychologists.  I love my aunt who is a psychologist, but I don't think she's ever done what you're mentioning here.  So is it the rule amongst shrinks or the exception to have people locked up and force drugged?  Please tell me its a very rare exception...

[GiaK]

it's not rare but it's also not common enough for the average person to know how often it happens...and it can happen to anyone...in the right (or wrong) circumstances...and what qualifies as danger to self or others is totally arbitrary and subjective so it's abused a whole lot. 

[mammaP]

I read the posts but not the links yet.  I'm too angry to- not because this has ever happened to me, but because it has happened to others.  I'm even afraid to read your link, GiaK.  So apparently you have to be a danger to yourself or to another.  That's a whole lot more broad than being suicidal or homicidal.  Why then aren't people forced into hospitals when they're too sick to take care of themselves or others?  That would be the physical equivalent of the mental illness rules.  God knows I've been too sick to take care of myself many more times than I've been hospitalized for my physical illnesses.  I thought I knew the law on this.  This is all news to me, and it hardly sounds like a level playing field.  So what if someone just didn't like you and knew you were sick.  You mean they could call the police, say you're a danger to whomever, and get you locked up?  And this occurs in more than one country?!?  Again as on my other post, this makes me angry not with drugs or with mental illnesses but with psychiatrists and psychologists.  I love my aunt who is a psychologist, but I don't think she's ever done what you're mentioning here.  So is it the rule amongst shrinks or the exception to have people locked up and force drugged?  Please tell me its a very rare exception...

Sadly it is not a rare exception.  In the UK there are also cases where women have had children taken into care because the mother has been depressed. Recently an Italian lady as visiting on a 2 week visa. She was pregnant and became upset when she lost her passport. Called the police who called a doctor. She was hospitalised and forcibly anaesthetised, her baby was taken from her by caesarian section and into care. Later an adoption order was made. e don't usually hear about these cases because 

they are dealt with by the family courts and there is a 'gagging order'. Anyone who reports on them faces prison. A judge in this case ordered reporting restrictions to be lifted.  It is not an isolated case. This mum was visiting, and the reason for this travesty? She had missed a dose of medicine for her bi-polar and so was deemed unfit to look after a child.

 

You can google the story, just search for UK forced caesarian.  Slightly off topic but just one example of how someone can be forcibly hospitalised and the tragic, unbelievable outcome for this lady.

[Meimeiquest]

Generally, the medically ill person is considered competent to make decisions, the mentally ill person is called incompetent. We had to forcibly hospitalize my dad once (well, my family did; I was living in another state)...it's traumatic for everyone.

[bluebalu86]

I want to ask if someone has been hospitalized for their condition and what happened in the hospital.

 

I feel like I can't take it anymore and need outside help to stabilize. I need to stabilize so I can start tapering from a place of stability. What will happen if I go to hospital? I can't stand the emotional agony I'm experiencing, I really can't.

 

Is there a chance they might help me? I'm desperate. I can't stand this agony, it's unbearable. I won't last much longer I really need help.

[Addax]

Blue, no one can say for sure what will happen if you go to the hospital. Being in the United States, I'd have even less of an idea what the standard procedure might be in Bulgaria. However, if you do not feel safe or don't feel you are able to keep yourself safe, please PLEASE seek help, whether it be at the hospital or through a friend.

 

If you do go to the hospital they may offer you medication to help your symptoms. Be prepared for that and be prepared to stand up for what you want to do, regardless of what it is.

 

Someone with more experience may weigh-in here. I wish I could be of more help.

[JuliaMarie]

Of course A hospital will help you. I dont know what they will do but they wont let you suffer. If you are in unbearable agony please reach out to someone. You can get through this and you will last very long and thrive. I want to cry for you. I hope you are okay, I know you are a person of value and worth and many people in the medical prof would love to help ypu feel better right now! Prayers and love.

[ten0275]

bluebalu86,

this is not meant to make a decision for you, but to tell you what i experienced first-hand.

 

i'm not sure how it goes down over there in bulgarian psychiatric hospitals, but here is how it went down in the u.s. of a.

i voluntarily admitted myself into the hospital twice while in acute withdrawal. out of all of the mistakes i made during the journey from my personal ground zero to now, hospitalization was the most detrimental in the long term.

what happened was this. i was taken into a small room and interviewed by a little man who was friendly. he took my wallet, my cellphone, my belt, and my shoelaces. i answered a lot of questions about what i was thinking and experiencing. i was assigned a room. all newcomers were placed on 24 hour suicide watch. i was immediately given seroquel to "help you sleep." atypical antispychotics appear to be standard-issue for incoming patients in most psychiatric settings. i have heard this is true internationally.

during business hours the next day, i had my first meeting with my "treatment team." this was a group of doctors and nurses who told me that what i was experiencing could not possibly be attributed to psychotropic drug withdrawal. even though i had no past history of the things i was experiencing, i was given multiple new diagnoses. essentially, they told me i had quite suddenly gone crazy in my late 30s. with each of the new diagnoses came new drugs to "address" them. i felt unheard. despite my pleas for them to at least look into the possibility of withdrawal, i was rebuffed and even admonished for challenging their medical knowledge/authority.

the drugs did nothing to help any of the withdrawal symptoms i was experiencing. my own little chemical cocktail had me wandering around in a zombie-trance, constipated, experiencing multiple nocturnal emissions per night, and more depressed and anxious than i had ever been in my life. each day when i reported the lack of "progress," doses were jacked even higher while even more drugs were considered. my brain became their chemistry experiment. i did not find stability or anything close to it.

both times i checked in, i knew i had made the wrong decision - almost imediately, as i would often experience a small "window" not long after the doors shut and locked behind me. like you, i had quite simply hit a point of desperation that i felt i could no longer tolerate, and i decided to scratch the itch rather than try to muscle it out. as i was a voluntary admission, i was free to sign myself out - but only after submitting notice and being interviewed by the "treatment team."

i guess i was a slow learner. nothing was easier for me for a very long time after my second hospitalization, but i knew that the hospital could do nothing for me. they can't medicate the withdrawal away. even if they believed in withdrawal syndrome in the first place, they couldn't medicate it away. reinstatement, when done soon and smartly, can help one stabilize for an intelligently constructed taper. but beyond that, drugs only further complicate the situation. when new drugs are introduced, you are left to wonder what sensations are withdrawl symptoms and what sensations are side effects of the new chemicals. it is a confusing place to be, i assure you.

what can a hospital do? i suppose that if you are on the brink of suicide, the hospital setting will do much to prevent it from happening - hence the confiscated belt and shoelaces. but beyond that, i would say that anyone considering hospitalization should accept that drugs will be the offered panacea. there is often a therapeutic offering as well, but i found it to be weak and insufficient. and the drugs, at least from my experience and those of many others i have talked with, did nothing.

i'd never venture to make the choice for another human in this matter, but were it mine to do over again, i'd have chosen to hide under my bed if i had to - to ride it out and wait for the windows that did eventually come. i'd have chosen the path of hanging in there. i ultimately did, but it took me two intervals of digging my own personal hellhole deeper to get there.

 

hang in there.

dave

[bluebalu86]

Thank you guys I'll think about it tonight. Really don't know what to do I'm breaking down, I'm scared for myself and that I will become psychotic from all of this mental agony I'm in... I was relatively stable after my fast taper since I reinstated 5 mg Cipralex in February but I stupidly messed with the other medication I'm taking, Flupentixol, and lowered the dosage in half way to fast for a week, and I think that's what unleashed this hell on earth. I already reinstated the original dosage last Tuesday but still no improvement... Inner sense of dread and agony, twitching all over, muscles are jerking... 

[westcoast]

Bluebalu, what happened to Ten is very bad, and could happen to you if you do go to a hospital, or you might have better luck.

 

For that reason it would be helpful if you had a friend or family member who will verify that your current condition began after dose changes for one of your drugs. When we are in severe distress like you are now, it seems that medical people discount or ignore everything we say, especially about the cause.

 

In fact you might be treated better if you said the government put a microchip in your head and it made you go crazy. That fits what they expect. It is a symptom they like because they have a plan: antipsychotic drugs. If you say psychotropic drugs caused your problems, you are seen as "crazier" than the microchip people. After all, a microchip might make someone go crazy if it were really there, but medical personnel often cannot believe their treatments can cause such horrendous outcomes as yours. (But they can.)

 

If you are able, you (or someone else) might want to call the hospital in advance and ask if they are familiar with psychotropic drug withdrawal, and how they are equipped to treat serious symptoms of withdrawal. Find out if medications can be forced on you, and what they might be. Can you be kept against your will, and when would you be released, and why?

 

There is another risk in addition to what happened to Ten, which is that you will be treated as a drug abuser and sent to a drug treatment unit. In those places, they might insist on absolutely no drugs to relieve symptoms, and have you do other kinds of treatment that have nothing to do with your symptoms, such group therapy with people who use heroin. (This almost happened to me, but I talked my way out of it and left in the same terrible akathisia I entered with.)

 

So, things can go wrong in a hospital, but they can also work out okay. My first time, I was sent to one after an Effexor-withdrawal intense mania. I had no idea that my madness was related to a drug, and did not mention it. Nor did they ask me, as far as I can recall. They decided I had PTSD, because I had had a serious illness and recovered a year before. Whatever. I spent the first night in an open ward with other women, and eventually moved to a two-person room. I was given some kind of sedative, and was calm and cheerful, and caused no problems. I was sent home after three days, with no prescriptions and no follow-up. They stole my iPod, though.

 

However, that admission was due to withdrawal mania, which is not the same as the intense distress you are suffering. In later years another withdrawal put me in a condition more similar to yours. By then I knew that it was from the drugs and feared psychiatry, so I did not go to a hospital. I did almost get arrested, though, and ruined my finances and social life within a few months. I do not know how hospitalization would have been had I gone to a hospital for that. I did not die, and I got markedly better over the next two years.

 

So, to summarize my opinions about hospital, I think the best thing to do at times like this is try to find out in advance how you would be treated, and have an advocate speak for you.

 

I guess that is a lot of work to do in the terrible state you are in. But it seems to be worth it to avoid what was done to Ten and countless people like him.

 

I am very sorry to read about your current situation. I am glad you have come to SA where you are believed and have the empathy of those who came before you. Understanding that this is not the real you is part of eventually getting better.

[bluebalu86]

What should I do if I choose not to go to the hospital? How should I endure this at home? My mom is here with me to talk to all the doctors and medical personnel if necessary and she is supporting me through this.

[GoodSarah]

HI there-I went to the psych ward of the local ER when I first started experiencing panic attacks and insomnia (this was pre-zoloft) I was taken to a cell- given paper scrubs to wear and had all my personal belongings confiscated for the time. I was interviewed by a male nurse about my symptoms. Then I was left to wait for about 3 hours until the on-call social worker could talk to me. I requested to have my husband and mom (who were in the waiting room) join me The staff assured me many times that they were going to retrieve them but it never happened. I was allowed to leave the cell to use the bathroom, but I was monitored on video and by a guard. There was a woman in a cell next to mine who was screaming and crying the entire time. 

 

Eventually I got my chance with the social worker. We went through all my symptoms (again). She went away, came back about an hour early and said I was not a good candidate for admission.  She said people with anxiety usually do worse in psych wards and it would not be therapeutic for me. That and there were no open beds anyways so I would have to wait in the ER cell for up  to 48 hours. She did call on on-call psychiatrist who perscribed Ativan and Trazodone (unfortunately) and I was sent on my way. The whole ordeal took about 8 hours..

 

I will say mental health services in Oregon are pretty pittifull- unless you are actively suicidal most hospitals won't take you for inpatient treatment. Not sure how things are in Bulgaria. Also I was pregnant and it really felt like they didn't want to touch me with a 10 foot pole. Still- I would say it was useful or me to go through that experience because now I know what the process is like, and that it's not much a of a help unless you are truly desperate and they believe you will harm yourself or others.

[JuliaMarie]

I am so happy your Mom is with you! I would love to have my Mom close to help me. I think you can endure this with the help of your family!! Just know that it passes and you do feel better. Your mom knows you better than anyone and will know what to do.

[JuliaMarie]

I also want you know that I told you earlier the hospital would help you because all the medical people that have worked with me, by the grace of God apparently,have been completley supportive and helpful. I told them my symptoms and they reassurred me that I was not pyschotic or headed that way. They told that everything I was feeling were symptoms of anxiety and it is okay. I had to start back on an Ssri three months after I quit cold turkey, because I was tired of fighting the wd. It took about a month and a half to feel better. I stayed on it for six months then did a two month taper, I am two and half months out and feeling better all the time. If you go to the hospital, they too may tell you that you are okay, and will be fine. If your muscels are constatly jerking I would check with a Doc, that could be a concern. I hope you feel better and I know you will. And if you stay home I would just stay as busy as you can without getting too worked up to keep your mind of the dreadful feelings, and do deep breathing exercises.

[Altostrata]

We all dream of a place that's calm, where people will be understanding, and where they know how to fix our ills.

 

In the US, it is unlikely that anyone with withdrawal syndrome will find a solution in a hospital. Very, very few doctors are even aware that withdrawal syndrome can be severe and last longer than a few weeks. Psychiatric wards in hospitals are not peaceful places, and finding understanding about withdrawal syndrome from hospital staff, social workers, or even psychotherapists is rare.

 

The hospital staff will not know what to do but will throw the kitchen sink at the problem, drug-wise, just to be safe. The goal of treatment in US hospitals is to remove any possibility of self-harm by making the person as ineffectual as possible. Many people have come here and reported they received vague and elaborate diagnoses in the psychiatric ward that always resulted in massive drug cocktails including antipsychotics.

 

Unfortunately, Dave's experience is an example of good care in a psychiatric ward. That he did it twice demonstrates not that he's a slow learner but that our illusions about medical care are so stubborn.

 

Ironically, I found emergency room doctors to be more aware of drug withdrawal and adverse reactions than psychiatric specialists. If you go to the emergency room with psychiatric drug withdrawal syndrome, I estimate you have a better-than-even chance of being reinstated on the drug.

 

If, however, you go to the emergency room in a highly emotional state -- weeping, yelling, begging, etc. -- and insist you're losing your mind, they will send you up to the psychiatric ward for a possibly involuntary stay, which in the US is highly unpleasant.

 

You can explore whether you might find help at a hospital for withdrawal syndrome, but I highly recommend you manage your behavior as though you were an adult seeking advice from other adults. Otherwise, chances are you will be regarded and treated as a mental patient.

[oskcajga]

bluebalu86,

 

this is not meant to make a decision for you, but to tell you what i experienced first-hand.

 

i'm not sure how it goes down over there in bulgarian psychiatric hospitals, but here is how it went down in the u.s. of a.

 

i voluntarily admitted myself into the hospital twice while in acute withdrawal. out of all of the mistakes i made during the journey from my personal ground zero to now, hospitalization was the most detrimental in the long term.

 

what happened was this. i was taken into a small room and interviewed by a little man who was friendly. he took my wallet, my cellphone, my belt, and my shoelaces. i answered a lot of questions about what i was thinking and experiencing. i was assigned a room. all newcomers were placed on 24 hour suicide watch. i was immediately given seroquel to "help you sleep." atypical antispychotics appear to be standard-issue for incoming patients in most psychiatric settings. i have heard this is true internationally.

 

during business hours the next day, i had my first meeting with my "treatment team." this was a group of doctors and nurses who told me that what i was experiencing could not possibly be attributed to psychotropic drug withdrawal. even though i had no past history of the things i was experiencing, i was given multiple new diagnoses. essentially, they told me i had quite suddenly gone crazy in my late 30s. with each of the new diagnoses came new drugs to "address" them. i felt unheard. despite my pleas for them to at least look into the possibility of withdrawal, i was rebuffed and even admonished for challenging their medical knowledge/authority.

 

the drugs did nothing to help any of the withdrawal symptoms i was experiencing. my own little chemical cocktail had me wandering around in a zombie-trance, constipated, experiencing multiple nocturnal emissions per night, and more depressed and anxious than i had ever been in my life. each day when i reported the lack of "progress," doses were jacked even higher while even more drugs were considered. my brain became their chemistry experiment. i did not find stability or anything close to it.

 

both times i checked in, i knew i had made the wrong decision - almost imediately, as i would often experience a small "window" not long after the doors shut and locked behind me. like you, i had quite simply hit a point of desperation that i felt i could no longer tolerate, and i decided to scratch the itch rather than try to muscle it out. as i was a voluntary admission, i was free to sign myself out - but only after submitting notice and being interviewed by the "treatment team."

 

i guess i was a slow learner. nothing was easier for me for a very long time after my second hospitalization, but i knew that the hospital could do nothing for me. they can't medicate the withdrawal away. even if they believed in withdrawal syndrome in the first place, they couldn't medicate it away. reinstatement, when done soon and smartly, can help one stabilize for an intelligently constructed taper. but beyond that, drugs only further complicate the situation. when new drugs are introduced, you are left to wonder what sensations are withdrawl symptoms and what sensations are side effects of the new chemicals. it is a confusing place to be, i assure you.

 

what can a hospital do? i suppose that if you are on the brink of suicide, the hospital setting will do much to prevent it from happening - hence the confiscated belt and shoelaces. but beyond that, i would say that anyone considering hospitalization should accept that drugs will be the offered panacea. there is often a therapeutic offering as well, but i found it to be weak and insufficient. and the drugs, at least from my experience and those of many others i have talked with, did nothing.

 

i'd never venture to make the choice for another human in this matter, but were it mine to do over again, i'd have chosen to hide under my bed if i had to - to ride it out and wait for the windows that did eventually come. i'd have chosen the path of hanging in there. i ultimately did, but it took me two intervals of digging my own personal hellhole deeper to get there.

 

hang in there.

 

dave

 

Thank you very much for sharing your experience about being in a hospital here on this forum.  Back in may of last year, when I made the god awful decision to help my withdrawal/adverse reaction by smoking pot, and experienced a full out psycotic/panic episode with extreme derealization, depersonalization, and a massive exacerbation of all of my withdrawal symptoms that still exist to this day 11 months later, I seriously did consider checking into a hospital.  After thinking this through, however, I thought that what might happen is EXACTLY what you just described, and it seems like my thoughts were entirely correct and I'm extremely grateful in retrospect that I didn't go into a hospital, in spite of the fact that I was definitely in horrible and dangerous shape for a LONG while.

 

Thanks again for your story and for illustrating, in my opinion, is a very likely scenario for what anyone in the US would experience when checking into a hospital.  I hope that you're OK now and that things are improving, and I'm so sorry you had to go through this and have that experience in the first place. 

[oskcajga]

Ironically, I found emergency room doctors to be more aware of drug withdrawal and adverse reactions than psychiatric specialists. If you go to the emergency room with psychiatric drug withdrawal syndrome, I estimate you have a better-than-even chance of being reinstated on the drug.

 

If, however, you go to the emergency room in a highly emotional state -- weeping, yelling, begging, etc. -- and insist you're losing your mind, they will send you up to the psychiatric ward for a possibly involuntary stay, which in the US is highly unpleasant.

 

You can explore whether you might find help at a hospital for withdrawal syndrome, but I highly recommend you manage your behavior as though you were an adult seeking advice from other adults. Otherwise, chances are you will be regarded and treated as a mental patient.

 

This is an extremely informative post right here.  Going to an ER can result in involuntary visits to the psych ward in that said hospital?  When I was going through the worst of my withdrawal symptoms and adverse effects, I often considered going to the ER just to get seen, but always turned back because of this possibility.  Boy am I glad that I didn't follow through with it, because I was definitely hysterical and not connected to reality (because of SSRI withdrawal and their consequences).

 

So basically, the only way to weather this storm is to just wait it out in isolation, or in the presence of understanding family members because the rest of society just does NOT have the tools to deal with withdrawal and its after effects effectively.

 

I have a feeling that there's a significant number of people that have suffered from acute withdrawal symptoms and have fared far worse than myself or others here, that are calm in mind enough to be posting on the internet.  It makes me very sad to think of this and just how many lives are affected without society realizing it, all thanks to big pharma and psychiatry.

[antidepressantsNoMore]

take a lot of magnesium, vitamin C to help cortisol/anxiety

I came close to going to the hosptial, my WD's lasted a while, they were severe for a long time

[Mort81]

Its very unfortunate the lack of understanding on this issue. In the acute phases of WD you can feel like your losing mind eventhough this isnt the case. Time and family support will heal you. Every day you endure is a day closer to feeling good again. I didn't check myself in but I did go to the ER twice during the first month of WD and both times I was injected with a heavy pain med that worked on my gut for about an hour . Than my pain returned again. Even in my darkest days I feared going back to the hospital because I felt they would just drug me up. My GP, Pych doctor both wanted me on different meds to resolve the ditress . So I stopped seeing them. The only thing thats helped has been no drugs , time and reducing your stress as much as possible. Cipralex 30 mg for 7 yrs was the med I was on and Clonazapam for 10yrs which I messed with aswelll while tapering off the Cipralex.  Cipralex is nasty but it gets better . I wish you all the luck 

[Fresh]

Being admitted to hospital as a voluntary patient pretty much saved my life.  

For details see "Fresh's Fractured Fairytale" , in particular posts no.1 and 49.

 

I had needed total care at home for 4 months before admission.  I was unable to leave the house , prepare food or organize anything.

After 3 weeks inpatient treatment I was able to look after myself again , and have continued to improve in the 11 months since then.

[btdt]

Never I am too scared of what they would do to me at this point... I did go in the early days they did not know what was wrong with me... they treat symptoms I reacted badly to the drugs for the most part it was not helpful... a few times fluids were given that helped... and is the best I can say about it... 

 

I did not go for the psych symptoms I knew right well that meant more drugs I could not stomach ...more drugs is all they have. This is what I think...not know

[escitalopramsucks]

Dear Blu...

 

I´m sorry to hear you are suffering so much. A few weeks ago while working I was at the point of leaving my shift and go straight to emergency too. I think my anguish was too high and nothing I was doing was helping... in fact each day it was becoming worse....

 

I finally reject going to the emergency hospital because I knew there I was going to lose the control of the situation... so I finished the shift (don´t know how) vomiting and locking myselg in the toilets and went back home to think

 

I decided to visit my psychiatrist and tried to find a solution . But we negociate a lot: he wanted me on SSRI´s again

 

I suffer from PSSD and I didn´t want to go back to SSRI´s. I made a consultation to experts and told me that benzos are dangerous but not for PSSD, so I´m having now 1 pill per day of lorazepam (0,5-0,5) and I feel much better. At least I can eat, sleep more or less or go outside. Because I was at the point of being unable to eat...

I continue depressive... extremly worry about my PSSD and I am not the top banana of any party. But in some way  this is different from 2 weeks ago. It allows me to cope

 

My opinion is that the goal is NO MEDS, but each individual is unique and pass through different levels of suffering so there is a scale where you put one side the things you are capable of bearing and on the other side the extra help you need to survive.

 

I feel a weak person now and not convinced about being medicated with benzos now... I wish I could be no pills but I couldn´t bear the suffering.. so this is my advice,

 

If you feel inside you can´t continue like that, ask for help... but think first what is the minimum help you need to continue fighting for the goal.

The doc wanted me to take 3 pills for day. I told him: "OK" but I´m just having 0,5-0,5.

 

Sometimes you have to follow your intuition... common sense...

 

Take care and tell us how are you doing

[Evoldnahturt]

I jumped to zero a few weeks ago and I've recently become emotional and, specifically, weepy.  I also admitted to jumping to zero to some people and went on some crazy rants and before I recognized this change.  I would like to understand the circumstances that could lead the state to decide to force a person to take medication.  I've become concerned about this perceived risk.

[Colonial]

Every state is different. You would need to contact a Mental Health advocacy group in Your state for specifics.

Things taken into consideration are if you are a threat to yourself or others, or if Your below that age of 18.

From Your taper schedule, it looks like You've gone about it very responsibly the past 4 years,

So unless Your out being a nuisance to society or exhibiting rash symptoms to a severe extent I don't see how they could do it in Your case.

Perhaps you needed a few more months before jumping off to zero, you were still taking 0.51 mg, but that says May/17

So I'm not sure if your dates are wrong or if your missing a medication on the list.

Or if the last line of your taper got cut off, can you look for us? 💝

[Evoldnahturt]

15 minutes ago, Colonial said:

Every state is different. You would need to contact a Mental Health advocacy group in Your state for specifics.

 

I should have mentioned that I live in Colorado.  I tried looking it up online, but I'm not sure I understand what I've read.  I'll consider contacting a Mental Health advocacy group.

 

Quote

So unless Your out being a nuisance to society or exhibiting rash symptoms to a severe extent I don't see how they could do it in Your case.

 

I'm probably just being paranoid.  Thanks for your help.

[Colonial]

Your very welcome!

Can you just add what med you dropped off from and from what dose?

Because what you were on and WHY is a factor.

If you were just on a simple anti depressant for the blues thats one thing.

But if you were on a serious anti psychotic because you stabbed someone, you know...

 

[Evoldnahturt]

3 minutes ago, Colonial said:

Your very welcome!

Can you just add what med you dropped off from and from what dose?

Because what you were on and WHY is a factor.

If you were just on a simple anti depressant for the blues thats one thing.

But if you were on a serious anti psychotic because you stabbed someone, you know...

 

 

Olanzapine for treatment-resistant depression.  I ground it up in a powder and ate one or two specs for the past few months.

[Colonial]

You dont know what dosage that represented, generally?

 

20 minutes ago, Evoldnahturt said:

I'm probably just being paranoid.  Thanks for your help.

 

Just trying to decipher if your worry is WD related or not.

[Evoldnahturt]

I'm on the road and don't have access to my spreadsheet.  I'm prone to paranoia, in general.  It's hard to tell when I'm going overboard and it's safer to err on the side of caution anyway.