Getting someone committed - system doesn't work

[AminaMay]

<br>Hi Everyone,<br>My family is in a horrible situation with my brother. He's in is late 30's and has two young children, his wife left him late last year. Amongst ice, marijuana, other meds and alcohol he has an undiagnosed mental condition (we think) and he needs to be in a safe place. The problem is the system is not working and we've tried everything. He has been charged with stalking and recently violated his VRO. We are so worried that an 'event' of some sort is coming soon and there is nothing we can do. He's a master manipulator and liar and has/is threatening to harml members of our family and his wife. He has no insight and no sense of reality, it's really disturbing. We really need to get him committed but that seems impossible as well. Has anyone had any success getting someone committed? It hasn't happened earlier because the police, mental health people haven't witnessed 'the behavior' in person. <br>AminaMay

[Fancy_Pants]

Hi @AminaMay

I am sorry to hear your story, it sounds really scary...

When you say ‘committed’ do you mean that you called 000 and the crisis assessment and treatment team (CATT) said that he was not experiencing mental illness and couldn’t help? I know it can get very messy when substance use is involved especially ice which can mimic mental health symptoms like paranoia.

Or were you saying that you were looking for long term mandatory inpatient treatment?

It sounds like treatment has been partly problematic as it’s very unclear what exactly is happening for him... whilst in the mean time you guys sound like your struggling alone.

Have your family and his wife accessed support for yourselves?

Does anyone else have any ideas or suggestions for AminaMay?

Take Care

Fancy_Pants 

[AminaMay]

No we've called the Police during one of his psychotic type episodes that he has but by the time the police arrived he presented normal so they wouldn't take him away to be assessed. We've rung MEHL many times and they won't help because they say his behavior is drug related first and mental second. We haven't gotten as far as as a Mental Assessment Team or CATT whatever that is because no one will listen/understand.
We even asked the Prosecutor in court last week about getting a court ordered mental health assessment and he didn't answer the question. My brother is a danger to himself and a real danger to others and it's like waiting for a time bomb to go off.

[theaveragejoe]

Yes mental health will not and cannot help alcoholics or drug addicts that have a mental disorder. How can you help someone with mental iilness on drugs if they first don't get off the drugs? And to get off the drugs he needs to want to get off drugs.

Maybe if his wife and kids go away for a while, somewhere where he does not know where they are, far away, that may solve the situation. I don't know what the solution to this terrible problem may be but there must be something that can be done.

[Former-Member]

Mental health services rarely take on clients with severe drug and alcohol addiction, as it will interfere with treatment. In order for mental health treatment to be productive and ongoing, the drug and alcohol issues must be treated first. Here in lies the problem, when a person refuses to get help for their drug and alcohol addiction, they end up excluding themselves from support altogether. It's not as though support isn't out there, but your brother must decide for himself to enter treatment. As frustrating as it is, sometimes things do get worse before they get better... Right now it's about looking after yourselves - ensuring you and the family are putting in place a plan for safety and support for yourselves. Have you had much discussion with your family about that so far? 

[Fatima]

I would call the CAT team or even an ambulance the next time he is losing it. is he somehow in psychosis though? if he is he can only hold himslef togeehr for a period of time.   i am sure if the ambuance team question him they will see how agitated he is. And you should INSIST that he isnt well.    

In my daughter's case she refused to get in the ambulance so the drivers  called the police. i was the one telling the ambulance driver she was unwell and needed to go to Emergency. After some coercion from the police and a great scene out the front of her home she agreed to get in the ambulance rather than the divvy van  without her one year old daughter.  I joined her at the hospital later which was lucky as the treating dr at the emergency was about to send her home. (She was holding together so he didnt realise how u well she was)   for daily visits from the mental health team.  i was able to signal to the dr with my facial experssions that she was too far gone into psychosis for this to work.  i guess every case is different and its partly a matter of chance who you speak to.  Also having a one year old baby involved made it necesary for the medical staff to intervene so they didnt put the baby at risk. KEEP PERSEVERING  in tryign to have him hospitalised, taken of the drugs and properly medicated. Its really his only hope I feel.

[AminaMay]

TheAverageJoe,

thanks for your reply. yes he wife and kids are in an unknown safe place which is good. there's just been so many incidences over the last few months somehow the outcome is the same - nothing is done apart from him being arrested and more charges laid,

he's not an alcoholic but definitely marijuana and other drugs are an issue.

he's living with my dad now and i keep telling my dad he's not safe but what do you do. i'm not in the same state as my brother and dad so i give support to my dad as best i can,

just recently he got into some trouble at his previous residential address - he threatened to 'harm' his wife's sister to the point where she wet her pants in fear and then callled her family for back-up who arrived. they have it all on video, it was very violent. wielding metal poles, drilling holes in tyres, he was arrested but yet no mental health assessment.

it's hard to tell what behaviour is the result of mental health issues and what behaviour is drug related.

all i know is that he's very scary and has no sense of reality.

[AminaMay]

hi mosiac and thanks for your reply.

yes our family is always in close contact and things have been done to protect certain individuals so they are safe.

i don't know how much worse things can get.

we keep thinking he's hit rock bottom and then something else happens......it's sad

[AminaMay]

thanks Fatima - we have been PERSEVERING for 6 months now and we'll continue to do so. 

what is this CAT team everyone keeps mentioning?

we are all in different states......

we are at a loss to understand how his psychiatrist hasn't done anything, that's how good he is - he must be pulling the wool over his eyes as well.

i mean what sane person no longer flushes the toilet and has maggots crawling all over the house when they are usually very clean and tidy (and he's abusing other people for not having a clean house - it's delusional).

i've experienced his anger/rage moods and they are really frightening.

we just hope this recent footage of him will get to the right person and he will be court ordered to undertake a mental health assessment.

the system is pathetic.

[Fatima]

The sooner u go to your father's to assist him ti call ambulance and police better.   Wait tillhe gets aggresive  or even if you have to provoke it a little. The family cant keep going on like this. Its unacceptable. Amd better he be in hospital than jail or a police station.