Voluntary sectioning as an option

[Rachel87]

Hiya-

Background:
Born with mental illness but only started to be treated 4 years ago. Currently on aripiprazole for "psychosis" "schizophrenia" "emotionally unstable disorder" or whatever label the doctors have given me this week. History of stressful situations including abuse by ex and strangers.

Present:
Cracking under the general strain of life. I have a wonderful fiance who is as supportive as a normal person can be, we love each other very much. But despite this I have increasingly morbid/violent thoughts. I fixate on the futility of living when dying happens at random. I daydream about hurting people. I don't think I am a violent person but yesterday went a bit off the wall and out of frustration punched myself in the face so I didn't hit whoever was around. Oops. I have a job at Subway which is really hard, I feel paranoid, especially as I've been told to expect the sack next shift. I can't even handle making sandwiches for a living, apparently.

I'm curious as to my options. What sort of respite is there? Is voluntary sectioning a wise decision? I have a meeting with a new CPN and a social worker (never seen one of those before) on Monday and was going to talk to them about going onto incapacity benefit if I lose my job... which would be a first as I only realised the other day that I probably shouldn't be working around other humans. I'd love to take a break and sectioning sounds ideal, I'd be safe and other people would be safe from me. I'd have to take my medication, which is good, as recently I've been forgetting it every 2/3 days. I'd be able to focus on music, reading and sitting down. But I have heard horror stories about voluntary sectionings turning into mandatory stays and also I'm not sure how well I'd get on with other people there, although heaven knows I could do with making some friends.

Generally I'm confused about the voluntary sectioning and whether I'd be eligible for incapacity. I'm so scared I'll snap and hurt someone. I am so angry. I haven't been like this before and it's worrying. The daydreams disturb me. I keep thinking about the experience of dying, not in a depressed way but in a curious way. Just... all the time...

Sorry if this is a bit rambly. As you can imagine my head's a bit of a mess.

Thanks in advance

[Mercen Arwy]

Voluntary sectioning seems like a contradiction in terms

I believe some people are persuaded to accepted what is called voluntary admission but
often
if they then try to discharge themselves from a so-called hoispital
a section is quickly applied

Also
the admission was probably never really voluntary in the first place
because a section would have been used if so-called voluntary admission had been rejected

[speckles]

being sectioned and being on incapacity benefit do not go hand in hand. you can apply for incapacity even if you are not sectioned if you are not well enough to work, it is about whether you can work. The forms are quite difficult to fill in and it may be effected by your fiance. Go to the citizen' advice bureau or somethings mental health hospitals have benefit advisors and they will tell you what to do and help you fill in the forms.

Whether you should go into hospital is a separate issue and depends on whether you think you are a risk to others or yourself and if you think you are then perhaps it would be good to do a voluntary admission in order to work to get what ever is needed to stablise you as you wouldn't want to get into a situation where something happens.

[TheRedStar]

Given what comes across as a long-term history of illness, which features regular contact with doctors and other professionals, and prescribed medication as treatment, you should be eligible for ESA (the new name for Incapacity Benefit) as I'm sure a doctor would be willing to 'sign you off', by which I mean give you a medical certificate stating that you're unfit to work.

However, I say 'should' because the government doesn't trust the nation's doctors, so it uses a metaphorical attack dog called Atos to provide a 'second opinion' on an ESA claimant's health. Judging by the stories I've read and information I've been able to obtain, Atos decisions are heavily biased toward their DWP employers' wishes (unsurprisingly), and if the individual employee dealing with your case is struggling to meet his/her individual targets then the only way you'll avoid being found 'fit to work' is if you're brain dead, and had to be wheeled into the interview on life-support machines.

OK, slight exaggeration, but I'm sure you get the gist of what I'm saying. I really don't want to scare you, but at the same time it's only fair to warn people about just how... difficult... the ESA application process can be. However, as speckles has advised, the Citizens' Advice Bureau can help you with this, and the amount of problems that people are having with this... ideologically-driven crackdown... on benefit claims means that CAB staff are becoming more and more familiar and experienced with the kind of issues that people are having. It's also worth stating that around half of Atos 'fit to work' decisions are over-ruled on appeal, and I believe the CAB can also help with appeals processes if need be.

As for voluntary admission to a psychiatric ward... I guess it depends on where you live, but I've long been under the impression that there's barely enough NHS capacity for sectioned patients, let alone for people who want to be in hospital.

[speckles]

Yes I agree with what redstar says but I had a friend with fibromyaglia who appealed after atos and she won, infact most people are winning, what they rely on is that people will not appeal because of the stress of it all, which is the right assumption but the appeals process is often won so it is worth it.

[Weasel]

Welcome to MHF ..