Repercussions of Failed Suicide Attempt

he could be arrested, especially if it was a drawn out ordeal that wasted a lot of police/fire/emergency resources.

but in all likelihood, he would be put on a 72 hour mental health hold, which is usually the longest amount of time a person can be held for mental evaluation without a court order.

Suicide is technically considered illegal. Just for even attempting it, the police can threaten to arrest you if you have overdosed or something (don't ask me how I know this, just say it's personal experience).

I can imagine that them wasting more resources for the jump would be even worse, and that they would definitely want to prove a point.

If they back down, then it's the 72-hour hold for a psych evaluation (to see if it was a bad reaction to something that made them suicidal or if it's an ongoing mental health issue). If they actually attempt suicide and fail, then they're in the hospital for as long as it takes to recover.

Cyia said:

If they back down, then it's the 72-hour hold for a psych evaluation (to see if it was a bad reaction to something that made them suicidal or if it's an ongoing mental health issue). If they actually attempt suicide and fail, then they're in the hospital for as long as it takes to recover.

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The one person I know who botched their suidice attempt (pills) was in the hospital, then the 72 hour observation then had to go to bi-weekly court-ordered therapy sessions for almost a year.

Check state/local laws for more guidance.

When I worked SICU at a major Detroit area hospital, we got a guy in who'd tried to kill himself by swallowing a pistol. He missed his brain completely and blew off the side of skull and half of his jaw. He survived and was released from the hospital to the prison hospital. He was put in prison because of the use of the firearm (2 years minimum sentence in MI) and finished the job two weeks in the pen, even with a suicide watch on him.

There's a lot of factors that play into what happens (like family & personal connections--the pill-botched guy's father was a lawyer). It's not too hard to sell whatever you want to have happen if you write it right.

Totally depends on the circumstances and a lot of factors. A medical hold is not necessarily going to happen at all. From personal experiences: at a semi-private school, person did the attempt to jump off a roof. Was pulled down by a friend. School officials called the parents, no police or anything. Made the student leave the school, and that was it.

Adult who overdosed on sleeping pills. Taken by ambulance to a hospital and stomach was pumped. A psychiatrist spoke with them, decided they were no longer a danger to themselves, and released. Had they not felt it was safe, had told patient's friend they would hold 24 hours at most for observation.

Lot of factors come into place, including location, circumstances, etc. Quite honestly, though, far more attempters have no reprecussions or anything else - they are stopped by someone and live goes on. Its only if someone gets involved like the cops or a hospital that there is even a chance of something more happen. So depends on the circumstances in your story.

Sounds like there'ss a significant difference between the UK and American systems.

In the UK.

It would be the police at the scene of the "jump". if it took ages to get them down they'd probably bring a negotiator, if it was quick any police officer would handle it. They have a sectioning power called section 136 that allows them to take someone they are worried about from a public place to a place of safety. They'd take the person to a local Accident and Emergency department if they were calm or cells if they were a real handful.

A psychiatrist and and approved social worker would see the patient, usually within a few hours. The section 136 is discharged by the social worker and psychiatrist as soon as their assessment is done. From that point what happens is up to them. They might admit the person to hospital (either voluntarily or on a section) or they might send them home if they thought there was no risk. Admission for observation is the most likelt outcome, but the UK doesn't have the 72 hour period that it sounds like the states has.

To give you an example of a low risk situation, I was once asked to see somoeone who'd been threatening to jump out of his local doctor's window after he'd had a 5.30pm appointment and demanded medication. the GP refused to give it to him so he threatened to kill himself. He was brought to the hospital by police where I thought that he was pretending to be suicidal in order to get drugs so i offered him the choice of either going home or being admitted to hospital but with the strict condition that he would get no medication from me that night. He decided to be admitted, spent half an hour trying to talk the nurses into giving him meds then decided to leave. I let him and never heard from him again.

The police can charge someone with a public order offence if they wish. I've tried a few times to get someone charged when their behaviour has been deliberately manipulative and i haven't managed to get the police interested so far.

Craig

Case 1: If the attempt has garnered the attention of emergency crews, then there is the possibility that they will get arrested if they drag it out and get the police involved in dramatics. The other option is that they get committed for 72 hours under a suicide watch in the psych ward.

Case 2: If the person attempts suicide and is found by emergency crews, then it's either hospitalisation until recovery or if found in a state that requires only topical treatment then they go through hospitalisation and suicide watch for 72 hours, whichever comes first.

Case 3: If the person attempts suicide and then declines or is relatively unharmed and so seeks the council of a counselor or doctor, he may be directed towards the emergency ward to be led into psych ward for the 72 hour watch if the person feels they are at risk of committing suicide. If not, the counselor or doctor will make sure the person is stable enough to be released from the care and information and contact numbers will be provided for if and when the urge comes up again.