Free AI web copilot to create summaries, insights and extended knowledge, download it at here

Abstract

r tried to get you into a psychiatric hospital under false pretences? You might not be mentally ill but just considered a nuisance to them.Does that sound unlikely? Well, it’s exactly what happened to <a href="undefined">Leonora Watkins</a>: <a href="https://leonora-watkins.medium.com/my-dad-tried-to-have-me-sectioned-cb3943c1b0f7">My Dad Tried To Have Me Sectioned</a>.Thankfully, it didn’t work, because one person alone cannot get someone sectioned. As Leonora says, that requires a team of people, and for the following to be true:<blockquote id="5ece">1. You’re an immediate danger to yourself or someone else. This means you have to have a plan to carry out an act of suicide or assault. And you would need to have disclosed this plan to a medical or mental health professional. NOT your parent/spouse.</blockquote><blockquote id="21be">2. You are taking powerful new medications that need to be administered under supervision and by a professional.</blockquote><blockquote id="e335">3. You have a mental health problem that cannot be treated by a G.P or external mental health professional.</blockquote><blockquote id="3ce5">4. You’re refusing treatment for your mental health condition, and it’s endangering your own life or someone else’s.</blockquote>It reminds me of a scene from the sitcom <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peep_Show_(British_TV_series)">Peep Show</a> where Super Hans and Jez try to get Mark sectioned: <figure id="d107"> <div> <div>

Options

       <img class="ratio" src="http://placehold.it/16x9">
            <iframe class="" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2Fr8ngDnWwFBI%3Ffeature%3Doembed&amp;display_name=YouTube&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dr8ngDnWwFBI&amp;image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2Fr8ngDnWwFBI%2Fhqdefault.jpg&amp;key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&amp;type=text%2Fhtml&amp;schema=youtube" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" width="854">
          </div>
        </div>
    </figure></iframe></div></div></figure><h1 id="5435">More from me:</h1><ul><li><a href="https://readmedium.com/would-you-use-a-virtual-reality-machine-that-gave-you-your-perfect-life-531a4ae4598d">Would You Use a Virtual Reality Machine That Gave You Your Perfect Life?</a></li><li><a href="https://readmedium.com/that-time-in-1518-when-the-people-of-strasbourg-couldnt-stop-dancing-6eac727f4c92">That Time in 1518 When the People of Strasbourg Couldn’t Stop Dancing</a></li><li><a href="https://readmedium.com/the-planned-city-in-california-that-was-an-almost-total-failure-d66150514fe6">The Planned City in California That Was an Almost Total Failure</a></li><li><a href="https://readmedium.com/why-has-this-abandoned-pennsylvania-ghost-town-been-on-fire-since-1962-5a8c6f7a955d">Why Has This Abandoned Pennsylvania Ghost Town Been On Fire Since 1962?</a></li><li><a href="https://edward-john.medium.com/membership">Join Medium to Read Unlimited Articles or Earn Money From Your Own Articles</a></li></ul></article></body>

What if Someone Tried to Get You Admitted to a Psychiatric Hospital?

The very real-life dangers of faking severe mental illness

I was reading Rory Cockshaw’s article: Pseudo-Schizophrenia: How to Fool a Psychiatrist.

That talks about the time in 1973 in America when some people faked being mentally ill. In doing so, they were admitted into psychiatric hospitals.

Once in the hospitals, they saw shocking behaviour from the staff. And they were unfairly judged as behaving like they were mentally ill. Even when they were doing normal things like writing in their journals.

This is troubling. Because it shows that people perceive what they are expecting to perceive. In the context of a psychiatric hospital, a patient is assumed to be mentally ill. After all, why would they be there?

And this raises a worrying question:

What if a “friend” or family member tried to get you into a psychiatric hospital under false pretences? You might not be mentally ill but just considered a nuisance to them.

Does that sound unlikely? Well, it’s exactly what happened to Leonora Watkins: My Dad Tried To Have Me Sectioned.

Thankfully, it didn’t work, because one person alone cannot get someone sectioned. As Leonora says, that requires a team of people, and for the following to be true:

1. You’re an immediate danger to yourself or someone else. This means you have to have a plan to carry out an act of suicide or assault. And you would need to have disclosed this plan to a medical or mental health professional. NOT your parent/spouse.

2. You are taking powerful new medications that need to be administered under supervision and by a professional.

3. You have a mental health problem that cannot be treated by a G.P or external mental health professional.

4. You’re refusing treatment for your mental health condition, and it’s endangering your own life or someone else’s.

It reminds me of a scene from the sitcom Peep Show where Super Hans and Jez try to get Mark sectioned: