If a schizophrenic threatens suicide, is it declared a hostage situation?
342657
They used this gag in Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles.
902456
She thinks you are bluffing it.\nIf you feel like killing yourself call a suicide prevention line
897557
Yes there is and it was in the news a lot some months back because of such pacts. It's a person's right to commit suicide but if they need support to do it, then they are not ready. Suicide should be the last resort - it affects so many people who are left behind. The family carry that burden for ever and those who feel that they could have helped feel terrible guilt. In fact, many cannot cope and end up with depression and mental health issues themselves. Suicide is an easy option when the going gets tough. It's much harder to fight and beat depression but once you do, you will never want to go back to that black place.
977567
SUICIDE IS A BIT OF A COP OUT, BUT I DON'T REALLY THINK THE PERSON IS A COWARD.  I THINK THEY ARE VERY TROUBLED AND NEED PROFESSIONAL HELP.  \n\nSUICIDE IS A PERMANANT SOLUTION TO A TEMPORARY PROBLEM.
538166
Well I'm starting my third year of med school in September so I'm not a doctor but I'm pretty sure that if they have been diagnosed with schizophrenia they can be made to go to treatment by a family member. I'm sure if you talked to a doctor at a hospital that deals with these cases they'd be able to get a retramand which is basically a warrant for that person. They are usually very good about it and will bring the person in for treatment in a safe and responsible manner even if the person refuses treatment. Schizophrenia isn't a disease anybody takes lightly so they'd do all that is needed to get that person help. Good luck and I'm very sorry for your trouble.
834359
They could put you in a mental institution!!!!
409675
It really depends on the behaviour of the person not the syndrome Scizophrenia itself. So I say it depends. Could be yes. Could be no.
1007167
Wait a minute.  You saw this happen on the news, and now you're wondering if...what you saw really happened?\n\nAnyway, slagathor's got it pretty well down (couple of posts above mine), but it really depends on what state you're in, and exactly what a person says.  In California, just saying you're going to hurt someone probably does not qualify as a threat because this state requires you to threaten someone with death or great bodily injury...and punching me in the shoulder probably would hurt, but would not be considered great bodily injury.\n\nHere's the law slagathor was talking about, just so you can see how California addresses these kinds of things:\n\n422.  Any person who willfully threatens to commit a crime which will result in death or great bodily injury to another person, with the specific intent that the statement, made verbally, in writing, or by means of an electronic communication device, is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out, which, on its face and under the circumstances in which it is  ade, is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to convey to the person threatened, a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution of the threat, and thereby  causes that person reasonably to be in sustained fear for his or her own safety or for his or her immediate family's safety, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year, or by imprisonment in the state prison.
1115840
Laws vary by state and enforcement varies by jurisdiction.\n\nCommunicating a threat is a crime in most, if not all, states, adding the word "terroristic" only provides for increased penalties.\n\nThe question you ask is a good one, but it cannot be answered in this forum because courts hear those cases and rule different ways depending on circumstances.\n\nWalking around claiming you are going to kill everyone when you clearly have no means or intent to do so would probably not be considered a valid threat within the meaning of the law. But, it might get a person confined for observation as posing a threat to himself or others, in other words, a public nuisance.
984085
First off Schizophrenia is a hereditary condition. There is often a trigger for the first episode but your friend could have slipped you stuff every day of your life and if you did not have the genetics for Schitzophenia you would not have developed it. \n\nNor could you choose to develop such a dehabilitating condition. It is in your genetics. Not something you decide to do one day. Somebody blaming you for having episodes is like blaming you for being born with two arms. It just happened, it's not something within your control. \n\nThe military of course had to discharge you. If you were to have an episode while at a machine gun many lives could be lost. Key charactoristics of Schizo behavior is paranoia and hallucinations. Would be quite easy to confuse American troops or Iraqi civillians as insurgents during an episode. \n\nI'm not sure that your community is shunning you for being discharged as much as for you being Schizo. Remember a key defining aspect is paranoia. So many of those who have "shunned" you might have not started out that way but are reacting more to your assumptions about them than anything else. Even in modern society there is a big stigma on Schizophrenics.  While on meds the worst is controlled. Off meds you will be an unpredictable and potentially dangerous disruption. Schizos are notorious for burning down houses, committing random acts of violence and other destructive behavior. Not intentionally but because of paranoid delusions. Schitzos are also well known for getting off their meds because of the severe and frequent side effects of the meds. \n\nI would suggest moving to a more tolerant community and one that's going to help you stay on your meds.  That is the key.  Your life is pretty much over if you wind up getting into the cycle many Schitzos get into with on the meds, then off, then into an institution, then back out strait to the streets. Then eventually back on the meds, then rebuilding something of a life then getting off the meds and destroying that life. Back to an institution to start the whole cycle over again.  \n\nYou qualify for disability and should get on disability. You alway want to build safeguards into your life that enforce you taking your meds. Your meds are your lifeline to society. They are your ability to function and avoid the misery that charactorizes the lives of most Schizos. Most important, your actions when in a state of extreme paranoid delusion may take an innocent life and that will haunt you the rest of your days. So taking your meds is crucial. Staying on them is crucial. You need to build a life that forces you to stay on those meds. That allows for problems which will occasionally come out even while on your meds. Sounds like where you are at right now is a bad place to be. That it will only increase your problems. That is the LAST thing you want.  Low key, low pressure environment is what you want to set up. A certain amount of regimentation. A group empowered to keep you on your meds, get you help when you fall of the meds and watch over your stuff if your locked up for a time. Some folks you can trust even through the paranoia. That will take the effort to make sure your staying on your meds. That you will listen too when they say take your meds. \n\nYou have a hard road ahead of you. I do not envy you. I've watched others go through it. I would not wish it on anyone. Heed my advice and you can save yourself a great deal of sorrow.  The mechanisms of your disease are finally starting to be understood and one day there is hope for a real cure. Until then your meds are your crutch. Your lifeline to the world and a semblence of normalcy and happiness.
50155
You most certainly can until such time that you are examined by a psychiatrist that you were having said episode. The psychiatrist may have to testify in Court as to your mental satate at the time of the arrest.
441739
I'm a schizophrenic myself; the paranoid type. I'm not a therapist though, so I can't really say if he's schizo or not.\n\nIf he is, then it sounds like he's got issues with women and could potentially dangerous if he doesn't take any medications to combat the symptoms. Meeting him might be a bad idea, if the topic ever comes to pass.
1063584
Not unless they are certifiably mentally ill with absolutely NO CHANCE OF REHABILITATION!!!\n\nIf they can be rehabilitated, then NO. If they can't SURE but on certain stipulations!
117829
This is not normal behavior and the person that is cutting himself/herself needs professional help as soon as possible.
1053807
In todays society, there is limited space and money in the state mental health departments.  Normally those prisoners who are beleived to be functional if they merely take medication will not be keep in a mental health facility for long any more.  ( states over the past few years often "dump" thier residences on to the street with instructions to report to a state hospital daily for medication)  ** and we all know how well that works.\n\nAnd it is possible that they may be "giving" him medication, not forcing him to take it.  ( jailis and prisons unless there is an order can not force someone to take medication)\n\nThis is sadly about norm for our system of justice today.\nYour money would be better spent on an attorney to file a motion to get him on his medication.
863671
A policeman told me this.\n\nA San Francisco police officer went to the apartment of a young man who had committed suicide. The kid had left a note: "I am going to walk to the Golden Gate Bridge. If even one person smiles at me on my way there, I will not jump off."
200153
Well, if you heard them in California (and I have to assume you did), I can help you with one of them.\n\n5150 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is the section that allows law enforcement officers (go figure) to detain persons who are a danger to themselves, a danger to others, or gravely disabled due to a mental defect.  It's often used as the radio code for someone who is acting a little nutty or has attempted suicide.\n\nAnd speaking of suicide, this is the law that allows the police to take a suicidal person into *civil* custody.  This is not a criminal section, and the person being detained is not under criminal arrest, so NO...it is not against the law to try (or succeed) in killing yourself in California.\n\nAs for the 999, I have never heard of it.  A lot of agencies use what are called "900 codes", so it certainly seems reasonable that the other poster has it right...I've just never heard it myself.