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How do I start the process of getting a family member sectioned?

by James

(East Taunton, MA, USA)

How do I start the process of getting my brother, who is very badly addicted to Oxycodone sectioned? He has been badly addicted to Oxycodone among other drugs, for the past 7-8 years.

Recently it’s gotten to the point where he is draining my parents not only emotionally but financially as well. He has also been making suicide threats on his own life when trying to get money out of my parents.

I have been trying to help my parents with suggestions on ways to help him, but they are unwilling to take my advise due to the fact that I myself am a recovering addict. I have almost 4 and a half years clean, but I feel as if they still look at me like I’m the same person I was 5 years ago.

I have suggested to my parents that my brothers problem is now at the point of no return and that if they really care about his well being the way I think they do, that they need to section him ASAP, but because they never sectioned me during the time I was actively using they now won’t section him.

I have tried to explain to them in every way possible that he is not the same person he once was but they refuse to go outside of our family for help. Unless it’s an inpatient rehab. Which he has now gone to and left early 9-10 times in the past 2-2.5 years.

I’m trying my best to stay clean myself but having to hear all the arguing and the way my brother disrespects me and my entire family has me at my wits end and I don’t know where to turn for help.

My brother takes any chance he gets, when alone with my parents, to try to make me look bad and makes stories up about me that couldn’t be further from the truth. Just to get the heat off himself. As far as they’re concerned; but more then half the time they believe his lies. I don’t know where to go or who to go to, but I need to know how I start the process of getting him sectioned into a rehab that he would not be able to leave early.

I know if he could get enough clean time together so he’s at the point of his brain starting to work the right way again then he might really have a chance. If anyone out there could help PLEASE lmk. To anyone that took the time to read this that might be going threw the same thing just know, it can get better. Good luck to all.

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No way to keep him in rehab long enough

by: Debbie Wicker

Dear James,

Sounds like you and your family are in a terrible situation with your brother. You can get your brother sectioned (committed to a mental health facility) by calling the police whenever he threatens suicide. They will come and investigate the situation and decide the appropriate action.

Because his issue is addiction it is HIGHLY unlikely that they will commit him for more than 72 hours. They certainly won’t commit him long enough to get sufficient addiction treatment.

I would recommend that you and your mom and dad begin attending Al-anon meetings three times a week and working the 12 steps. From your brief description, it sounds like your parents are enabling your brother’s addiction. Just allowing him to stay in their house could be enabling him to keep using.

Going to AL-anon, working the steps and finding a sponsor who has come through a similar circumstance should help you and your parents to get the resources you need to help your brother.

Good Luck helping your brother and your family,

Debbie

Brother sectioned

by: Anonymous

Hi all,

I was wondering how I get my brother sectioned? He is currently missing, it’s been 4 days he had everything and lost it all and I’m worried sick about him.

I can’t sleep, can’t eat etc. I don’t know where he is, all I know is he is on a crack binge and it’s been going on for years. He stops and starts using again. I don’t wanna do it but I feel it’s the only way to save him, but I can’t find him and no one else knows where he is!

Thank you!

The police can section your brother

by: Debbie Wicker

The easiest way to get your brother sectioned is to call the police and tell them that you believe your brother is harming himself and that he needs to receive mental health support.

The police, if the can find him, will assess him and decide if they believe he is about to harm himself. Assuming they agree with you, they will get a court order to lock him in a mental health ward for up to three days.

By the little that you’ve told me, three days will be no where near sufficient to help your brother to end his addiction, but it may be enough time for the facility to convince him to go into a longer term addiction treatment where they will try to help him.

Good Luck!

Daughter’s addiction

by: Anonymous

My daughter is in a very poor state due to addiction, co-dependency, suicidal ideation, and health issues. She turned up at my home this morning saying she just wants to die. She has asked me to get her sectioned.

At the moment she is asleep in my bed. This type of scenario happens all the time. Being an addict in recovery myself, I know and understand these patterns of behavior and thinking. The self pity the absolute powerlessness over using.

Our whole family is effected by the chaos that ensues and as much as I try not to enable I can not just let her die without knowing I did all I could to help her. It is heartbreaking when you know there is a solution but feel helpless because the only person who can decide to change is her.

I feel I need to try and get her sectioned as she is a danger to herself and others often violent and unpredictable.

Difficult to know what you should do?

by: Debbie Wicker

Your daughter’s addiction seems to taking it’s toll on her and your entire family. Addiction is such a difficult disease because each of us has been created totally uniquely, so that how we respond to our addiction and treatment varies from person to person.

There is always hope for your daughter but enabling her addiction in anyway at all harms her much more than it helps her.

I agree that you should help her get sectioned and also, if you can, find new treatment options that may work for her this time. She is likely a dual-diagnose addict whose psychiatric issues must be treated first, before the addiction can be removed.

Getting a correct mental health diagnosis for her, from a good psychiatrist, is often a excellent start toward recovery. Once she has a correct diagnosis, then she can receive the needed medications for the mental health issues she is experiencing. This may allow her to stop using other drugs.

Also, try to get the emotional support for yourself and your family that you need, I would recommend Al-anon as a good source for that support.

Debbie

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How do I start the process of getting a family member sectioned?

How do I start the process of getting a family member sectioned?

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