How to Prevent Your Family from Petitioning for Involuntary Mental Health Care

[Justine333]

My question involves civil rights in the State of: Texas
7 years ago, I asked my family for help because one of my exes had been stalking me for so long, in such insignificant ways, I had nothing substantial to report to police except, I thought he was stalking me.

After two plus years, I was at my wits end. Rather than calling the police on my behalf, or volunteering their time to help me catch him red handed, they all conspired against me instead, and diagnosed my reaction to being victimized for so long, as mental illness.

Somehow, they convinced a judge to have me arrested, strip searched and escorted to the county hospital, mental ward, so I could be evaluated and they could feel like they'd helped.

Anyway, the damage had been done, when the lady cop told me eight family members petitioned the judge, I had no choice so just go along with it and I'd be out sooner!

I've suffered silently since, especially because only one of the eight, my step-monster, no less, expressed regret for not stepping up and insisting they find a better solution. Denial is a bitch, I get that.

I just wanted one family member on my side, that didn't think putting me through that humiliation was justifiable. So, this Christmas, I couldn't resist trying to recruit my sixteen year old niece, so I professed not to be mentally ill, because I'd only pretended to take meds all this time, to respectfully appease and "control" my over-controlling, in the name of love, mother. Just the path of least resistance for me, until today. Uhg!

I saw mother and got lectured about how I need "to get me back on my meds." I know I was an idiot for trusting a child with adult issues, and I know I was stupid to allow any of them to think whatever they wanted all this time, because "if it worked once, it'll work again," and they probably won't even have to show up in court to plead their case against me the second time. Yikes, do I really have to live in fear of my family violating my constitutional rights AGAIN???

Mother is 77 yrs old and worked as a Registered Nurse before marrying my father, so medication is the answer to all healing needs in her mind. And I've told the rest of them, at some point, that I hated them for betraying me. Which only further validated in their selfish minds, they did the right thing to help their mentally unstable sister. Jeez.

I'm tempted to just explain calmly, yet firmly and politely, "I just want you to know, before you make the same mistake twice, if you force me to go back to the hospital, as you did before, you better keep me there for the rest of my life, because when and if I ever get out again, I'm going to sue every single one of you for Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, but I simply cannot imagine speaking to my mother that way.

What can I do, if anything, to live without fear of my rights being violated again?

[LawResearcherMissy]

What can I do, if anything, to live without fear of my rights being violated again?

You move out of state without telling them, and never talk to them again.

If you're being stalked, YOU need to go to the police. If you won't go on your own behalf, you can't expect other people to do so for you.

[aardvarc]

they probably won't even have to show up in court to plead their case against me the second time. Yikes, do I really have to live in fear of my family violating my constitutional rights AGAIN???

Your family didn't violate your constitutional rights. The Constitution restricts GOVERNMENT action, NOT the action of private individuals. What happened was that your family followed the due process under the law; they brought their evidence before a COURT and a JUDGE felt that their concerns were valid enough to order law enforcement to take into involuntary custody. Exactly what evidence they used to convince the judge that this was the right thing to do, we can't possibly begin to speculate. But if they had good enough evidence to convince a judge once, then it's not a long stretch to imagine that they could repeat the process again at any time. So following Missy's advice above may be the most prudent action at this point. Keep in mind that if they know where you are, even being out of state can't stop them from calling your local police and asking them to check your well being due to mental health concerns. So if you're going to move, and want to be certain that no further "interference" can occur, then you'd really need to keep your new location a secret. (Which might also serve to end any potential stalking threat from your ex as well.) But the bottom line is that there's no way you can stop them from ASKING the court to get involved again - especially since the court has already found in favor of their petition once. If moving isn't possible or desireable enough, you'll either have to behave in ways that asuage their concerns, or continue to be at risk of additional intervention.

[PADriver13]

Am I the only one here thinking that if EIGHT of OPs family members felt this strongly, perhaps OP needs some actual mental help and therapy instead of moving to another state and "going dark"?

[Dogmatique]

My question involves civil rights in the State of: Texas
7 years ago, I asked my family for help because one of my exes had been stalking me for so long, in such insignificant ways, I had nothing substantial to report to police except, I thought he was stalking me.

After two plus years, I was at my wits end. Rather than calling the police on my behalf, or volunteering their time to help me catch him red handed, they all conspired against me instead, and diagnosed my reaction to being victimized for so long, as mental illness.

Somehow, they convinced a judge to have me arrested, strip searched and escorted to the county hospital, mental ward, so I could be evaluated and they could feel like they'd helped.

It takes a lot for that to happen. For one thing, no judge is going to risk his future by handing out committal orders to every Tom, Dick & Harriet at the first smell of trouble.

Anyway, the damage had been done, when the lady cop told me eight family members petitioned the judge, I had no choice so just go along with it and I'd be out sooner!

I've suffered silently since, especially because only one of the eight, my step-monster, no less, expressed regret for not stepping up and insisting they find a better solution. Denial is a bitch, I get that.

Okay...

I just wanted one family member on my side, that didn't think putting me through that humiliation was justifiable. So, this Christmas, I couldn't resist trying to recruit my sixteen year old niece, so I professed not to be mentally ill, because I'd only pretended to take meds all this time, to respectfully appease and "control" my over-controlling, in the name of love, mother. Just the path of least resistance for me, until today. Uhg!

That tactic rarely works. As you've found out.

I saw mother and got lectured about how I need "to get me back on my meds." I know I was an idiot for trusting a child with adult issues, and I know I was stupid to allow any of them to think whatever they wanted all this time, because "if it worked once, it'll work again," and they probably won't even have to show up in court to plead their case against me the second time. Yikes, do I really have to live in fear of my family violating my constitutional rights AGAIN???

This is not a violation of your constitutional rights.

Mother is 77 yrs old and worked as a Registered Nurse before marrying my father, so medication is the answer to all healing needs in her mind. And I've told the rest of them, at some point, that I hated them for betraying me. Which only further validated in their selfish minds, they did the right thing to help their mentally unstable sister. Jeez.

I'm tempted to just explain calmly, yet firmly and politely, "I just want you to know, before you make the same mistake twice, if you force me to go back to the hospital, as you did before, you better keep me there for the rest of my life, because when and if I ever get out again, I'm going to sue every single one of you for Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, but I simply cannot imagine speaking to my mother that way.

What can I do, if anything, to live without fear of my rights being violated again?

That's an awful lot of money you'd owe, with all of those frivolous lawsuits.

There is no lawsuit here. Move forward, and get the help you need.

[aardvarc]

Probably a good idea to start by taking the meds you've been prescribed. They don't work if they're sitting in the bottle.