If someone is suicidal, at home, in their own apartment, and calls their therapi!


Question:

If someone is suicidal, at home, in their own apartment, and calls their therapist ....?

If th therapist calls cops and 51/50s the patient for a 72 hour lock-down in a psych ward because she believes the patient is in danger of hurting themselves, can the police legally enter that person's home to arrest them and take them to a psych ward or can the patient refuse to go?

Additional Details

1 week ago
Just a hypothetical question
Not a real life situation


Answers:

Common Law, derived from English Common Law, holds that a doctor's orders are tanamount to the law. This is what obligates a medical provider to contact the proper authorities if he/she believes the person is a danger to himself. This hold true, even though the patient may otherwise expect the doctor to maintain doctor patient confidentiality.

If the therapist makes a strong enough case for the police getting involved, the cops may, indeed force the patient to enter a psych facility for observation.




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