What happens when services are concerned for my well-being

One-in-a-million

Trigger warning just incase




so I was speaking to shout about feeling confused with my own thoughts for example when I feel down I’ve began having scary thoughts like
wondering what it would be like if I wasn’t here
how easy it would be to just..
would people miss me?
if I did who would find me and how would that be for them
etc

but I know that I wouldn’t go through with something like this, I couldn’t do it.

But I wondered if these were normal thoughts that everyone get’s sometimes or wether this meant something out was going on.. I don’t want a label especially as I know I won’t do something!

So I spoke to a support service and spoke to them about this, then a horrible thought entered my head... “Do they think I’m unsafe?” I felt and do feel safe. I asked them if the conversation would be confidential and the lady I was in contact with said 

“ I must only intervene if you are going to harm yourself and I sense you are unsafe Emma.”

I started to panic, the last thing I need is anyone showing up at my door saying I’m suicidal when I’m not, I’m not going to hurt myself. That is important to me.. I don’t know why it just is.

but as I was saying I don’t want anyone turning up to my house where my mum and dad are, they aren’t aware I am struggling with my mental health and I’m not ready to tell them  although there are people who know.

so my question is.. what does happen if they decide to get involved does someone come out to check on me, will they just get someone to call me? 

Given the conversation has ended I am assuming she is convinced I am safe which I am but for further reference what should I expect?

Former Member

Hey @One-in-a-million

Sending hugs

I'm not sure if it goes off different services/area not too sure but what happened to me was the police came to my house, and then contacted ambulance. I'm not saying that to frighten you, just going off what happened to me. 

Hope that has helped

We care about you

Former Member

I think it's a bit different everywhere but for the most part they send out the police to check up on you. Some people get taken to the hospital to see the mental health team etc  they normally let you know when they have to break on you they will rarely ever do it behind your back unless they need to (for instance you ended the convo)

independent_

Hiya Emma, 

Confidentiality is broken very rarely, and as Laine said, it's rare that any service would do it without telling you. There's very specific criteria they have to follow and questions they have to answer before they break confidentiality, it's not something they take lightly. 

As the others have said most of the time they do send someone (e.g. police or ambulance) out to check on you but I've heard of people who they've emailed or spoken to on the phone instead of in person. 

Also, I think a lot of people have those kinds of thoughts when they're really struggling and feeling really down, you're certainly not alone. 

Take care and don't let this put you off reaching out for support  

Former Member

Heya, 

Yeah I volunteer with Childline and when we have to break confidentiality most of the time we try to do it with permission, so we ask them how they'd feel if we contacted somewhere relevant to them. It's rare to just break confidentiality like that. 

As for the thoughts, I totally get that. I get those thoughts all the time. In training I learned there's a few different kinds of suicidal - I'll attach the spectrum that we have and explain a little more. 





Hopefully these can help you understand what's going on for you, you can hopefully place yourself on the spectrum if that fits you and you can see kinda how Childline treats it. 

It's good to note that Childline is a lot more open to talking about suicide that other organisations so bare that in mind when openly discussing it. I've found that if I'm not in danger it's helpful to say that I'm safe and not planning anything and make it clear it's just thoughts you want to talk about to stop them building up or whatever. 

Thinking of you, we really care about you