Mum could be sectioned tonight - help

[justgettingby]

I've had to call out a GP because mum has been extremely aggressive all day and refuses to go to bed. Just waiting for them to arrive now. She's thrown stuff, called us every name under the sun, is shouting and raving and has got close to seriously attacking me. NHS said they might need to bring police with them to guarantee the GP's safety. I fear they might end up sectioning her, but to be honest it would be a relief. Should we be looking for a care home? We can't keep caring for her when she's like this, it's too much for anyone. She's gone downhill so fast in the last two months I can barely believe it.

Does anyone have any experience of sectioning and/or advice on care homes/what to do next?


Sent from my iPhone using Talking Point

 

[Trisha4]

No advice, sorry. I just wanted to reply so that you are not alone. I hope things are getting sorted.


Sent from my iPhone using Talking Point mobile app

 

[Canadian Joanne]

As awful as you will feel if your mother is sectioned, it may well turn out to be the best thing in the long run. It was horrible the first time my mother was sectioned.

 

[Not so Rosy]

My Dad was sectioned in May and I was very upset and mortified at the time. A Trick Cyclist and I can't remember what the other persons job title was were called out to his Care Home and the deed was done.

Think I was most upset seeing the Ambulance arrive with 3 Paramedics in the back as if he was some sort of monster.

On reflection the place Dad was taken to was far nicer than any Care Home he had been in. Dad had a lovely room, the place was very well staffed and he spent the Summer sitting in the lovely garden and celebrating the Commonwealth Games and the World Cup.

I and most of the relatives I spoke to didn't want their loved ones discharged.

Don't get too upset, it might not be as bad as you are fearing.

 

[CeliaThePoet]

If you search this forum, you'll actually find many reassuring accounts of real help given to people who've been sectioned. I'm in the US, and my mother spent two weeks in a psychiatric ward after a suicide attempt in December. It was not a bad experience for her. The purpose is to stabilize and calm the person, and is often successful. Try to hang on and see down the road a bit to a hopefully much calmer time. Thinking of you.

 

[joggyb]

As my dad declined over the summer, I dreaded him being sectioned. My family and I looked at care homes, and were trying to decide which would be best for him and how we would get him to go there...

But then we had yet another crisis, and the police and paramedics were called out to his house. He was sectioned and taken straight to hospital, where he stayed for a couple of days.

Because we'd already looked at care homes (and because he was self funding), we were able to have him discharged straight to the one that we preferred. After all our fears, he seemed to accept it straightaway. He hasn't been home since, but I have moved him to a care home nearer me - again, without any problems. He is content, and I can relax knowing that he's well cared for, and is safe and secure.

As others have said, try not to worry too much. If your mum is sectioned, it might just turn out to be the best outcome for all of you.

 

[jaymor]

My husband voluntarily entered an assessment unit and like others have said if he could have stayed there I would have been overjoyed. He spent nine weeks there first being observed and having his medication tweaked or changed. He went from being tormented to content.

His CPN came to the house to explain it to him and to ask him would he like to go because he needed help. He agreed to go though he thought it was to see someone, not to stay. His CPN said that if when it was time to go he refused then he would be sectioned. The team would be on standby.

The first couple of weeks he spent with his coat on and his clothes under his arms waiting at the door trying to get out and that was upsetting. Then we arrived one day and he was not at the door. We found him in one of the sitting rooms with one of the staff chatting away drinking a cup of tea, no coat on and no clothes under his arm.The worst was over and the change in him by the time he left was unbelievable. He had more help in those nine weeks than we had received over the 7 years of him being diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

Sectioning has a stigma attached to it and it is so wrong.

 

[LYN T]

I can only agree with the positive comments on this thread. My Husband was sectioned 5 times; each time his meds were tweaked and he improved as far as his mania and fear level went. Pete, like so many, had very complex needs and he desperately needed the help he was given

Take care

Lyn T