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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    Why no safe place/support for people with suicidal impulses?

    Related Topics
    Depression Mental Health Suicide Prevention
    Hi,

    I am a very normal person: I have a job, good family, girlfriend, and a place to live. But I have a medical illness called chronic depression which causes me to become very unhappy and, in extreme cases, makes me want to kill myself.

    I do not want to come across as unthankful for any of the fine work organisation like LifeLine, Beyond Blue etc do, and I do not mean this question to come across as resentful or accusative.

    But the truth is I find that I when I feel close to suicide again there is nothing I can do about it. I would love to arrange to talk to a counsellor or psychologist but they will not go into suicide because of the governments ‘duty of care’ policy prevents them. I have been to hospital to seek help before when one of these impulses hit only to be locked up and treated horribly and come out feeling worse then when I went in.

    I just dont understand why there is a level of support up to a certain point and then nothing if you mention the ‘S’ word. Why is so?
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    Thanks

    Dr Simon Easterbrook-Smith

    Health Professional

    My research interests include immunology and the mechanisms of amyloid formation. The latter has implications for people who are dealing with Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease … View Profile

    You have asked some hard questions which I have no definitive answers to.

    Like you, I have chronic depression and have had bouts of suicidal ideation - none recently - I am “in remission”.

    I am sorry that you had a bad experience when you went to the hospital.

    That is something that I have only needed to do once, following the advice of my clinical psychologist: if somebody has suicidal ideation *and* has worked out a detailed plan/method then *all* that matters is that they are in a safe place (= A&E of the nearest hospital).

    When I did that I was treated with care and respect.

    As I said above, I am sorry that your experience was different to mine but I think that you should praise yourself for making a healthy choice.

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  • jimtorgen

    HealthShare Member

    Thanks Kiwi,

    Actually I think your experiance was very lucky. After that experiance I actually did a little campaign of sorts to get some of things about involuntary hospitlisation changed and luckily I spoke to the right people and it worked.

    I think it is very silly the way they lock people like me up. How does it help? I don't know about you but I never even got any treament whilst I was there. 

    Anyway, thanks heaps for the support! Very much appreciated!

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