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01-03-2010, 02:29 PM
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Question and and answer about Involuntary hospitalization
Question and and answer about Involuntary hospitalization
Q : I need advice/answers quickly if anyone can help. My sister is 18 years old and has mild anxiety. she was diagnosed a few years back and was on medication for a solid 8 months. She stopped taking the medication ( we felt as though it was no longer needed and she had learned to cope without it) she's been fine for the last 3 years aside from a mild panic attack (very few occasions) recently, she lost her job and her steady boyfriend and started becoming anxious again. She went to her pediatrician to find out if getting back on the medication would be ok. Her doctor got her back on a prescription and told her " you will experience a higher level of anxiety for the first few days but don't stop taking it, those side affects will cease in 5-7 days. She started the medication and as expected, was more anxious than usual. enough so that she couldnt eat. She went back to her pediatrician the following to discuss a different medication because she wasnt able to eat. The pediatrician told me i needed to take her to the ER because she was so dehydrated and malnourished, so i did. we waited in the ER for 3 hours withouth any communication from the doctors , when a nurse walks in, slaps a bracelet on her wrist, and tells us shes being put on a 72 hours psychiatric hold. Shes been there for 3 days (72 hrs expires mid-day tomorrow 11/24) and shes done everything theyve asked shes eaten every meal, taken her medication, and has attended group therapy 4 times a day everyday. We'd been told multiple times over these 3 days that she would be released at the end of the 72 hours. At the meeting with her "doctor" today we were told they were filing a court order to keep her for 3 more weeks. This would cause her lose the job she had just recently found but not started and cause much more trauma. My gut is telling me something here isnt legal and ive been reading law after law after law but a lot of it icant understand. PLease help is there anywayi can get my sister out of there? A : Hi, I'm not a practicing lawyer but am familiar with the situation you describe. Depending on the laws of your state, she is entitled to legal representation and can challenge the commitment. The best thing you can do to get support is to contact which is the National Alliance on Mental Illness. They have chapters in every state and many towns and can provide support and identify possible resources for you and your sister. I highly recommend them as they know the system well and their mission is support, education and advocacy for people with brain disorders, which includes panic disorder. There also is a great program called Minds on the Edge that was on PBS that discusses these kinds of problems in our mental health system. You and your sister are not alone in your victimization by incompetent doctors and hospitals. Best of luck to you both. This forum offers free legal advice for citizens of the following States of America Alabama AL , Alaska AK , American Samoa AS , Arizona AZ , Arkansas AR , California CA , Colorado CO , Connecticut CT , Delaware DE , District of Columbia DC , Federated States of Micronesia FM , Florida FL , Georgia GA , Guam GU , Hawaii HI , Idaho ID , Illinois IL , Indiana IN , Iowa IA ,Kansas KS , Kentucky KY , Louisiana LA , Maine ME , Marshall Islands MH , Maryland MD , Massachusetts MA , Michigan MI , Minnesota MN , Mississippi MS , Missouri MO , Montana MT , Nebraska NE , Nevada NV , New Hampshire NH , New Jersey NJ , New Mexico NM , New Mexico NM , New York NY , North Carolina NC , North Dakota ND , Northern Mariana Islands MP , Ohio OH , Oklahoma OK , Oregon OR , Palau PW , Pennsylvania PA , Puerto Rico PR , Rhode Island RI , South Carolina SC , South Dakota SD , Tennessee TN , Texas TX , Utah UT , Vermont VT , Virgin Islands VI , Virginia VA , Washington WA , West Virginia WV , Wisconsin WI , Wyoming WY 
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