P
Prasada
Well-known member
Without going into specific details, I was recently trying to track down an old friend of mine and discovered that she had been mentally ill – in hospital and then in a half-way house (an assisted MH accommodation facility) for several years.
I lost touch with this person years ago during an extended period of unemployment, during which I was financially embarrassed and stuck in one place for ages, finding it difficult to keep in touch with people. By the time I was back in work and resurfacing, this person seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth.
I’ve come up against the anticipated brick wall of medical confidentiality and privacy. Medical facilities obviously cannot give out private details of a person’s whereabouts or the nature of the illness, and yet there must be some protocols in place for concerned friends to circumvent this impasse.
I will be grateful for any comments or ideas. I am disturbed by the thought of this person possibly living an isolated life, with little support, and, in terms of mental health, being psychologically in a ‘place of darkness’, as I have heard the matter described.
I lost touch with this person years ago during an extended period of unemployment, during which I was financially embarrassed and stuck in one place for ages, finding it difficult to keep in touch with people. By the time I was back in work and resurfacing, this person seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth.
I’ve come up against the anticipated brick wall of medical confidentiality and privacy. Medical facilities obviously cannot give out private details of a person’s whereabouts or the nature of the illness, and yet there must be some protocols in place for concerned friends to circumvent this impasse.
I will be grateful for any comments or ideas. I am disturbed by the thought of this person possibly living an isolated life, with little support, and, in terms of mental health, being psychologically in a ‘place of darkness’, as I have heard the matter described.