In DRUG REHABILITATION / Tags: drug, into, rehab, someone /
Question by JenE: Can you make someone go into drug rehab?
Long story short, my sister is doing drugs, has threatened to kill herself and her two boys(7&8). She finally admitted to doing the drugs, but says she won’t go any where to get help. The boys are in such a bad place. They are hurting more than any one else. I live in Indiana and some places my mom and I have called say that you can’t make them do it. But why? She is saying she is going to kill herself and the kids. Shouldn’t that be all that it takes to make her. So does anyone have any ideas or has been through this and know what I can do to make her get help for her and for her kids. Thanks for all of your help.
Best answer:
Answer by versantly
you can’t make any adult do anything she doesn’t want to do. be sure that the kids have your support -contact your attorney about guardianship.
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if u take her to family court for custody of her kids the judge will make her go if she wants them back
Yes, but only if she might be a threat to herself or someone else, so yes. Call the police and they will admit her into a hospital for a 72 hour psychiatric evaluation and then the hospital will likely place her in a drug rehab.
EDIT:
Forget interventions, if she’s not ready to get clean an intervention will do nothing but piss her off. It’s a growing trend with less than a 1% success rate. Thanks to television, you would never know that.
Hospitals can’t take her on your word, they need 2 physicians to sign her in if it’s not voluntary.
Some people mentioned child protective services. That’s actually a great idea. But you also have to realize that once CPS is involved, you will have a very small window to claim those kids before they go into foster care, and they won’t inform you when that time is, you have to be ready for it. The moment they take the kids, depending on the state, you will have only so many hours to claim them.
If you call the police, they HAVE to respond. If you have at least one person to back your story, she WILL be committed for 72 hours.
At that point, CPS might or might not be called in to assist. If she is committed long term, they will definitely become involved but if the kids are already with you, they will most likely just keep them there with you.
Good luck!
You can make suggestions and be a positive role model but no, you cannot force anyone go to rehab (just ask Amy Winehouse)?
I live in Indiana as well, we have a place called Four County Mental Health, they do intervention.You can also hire a lwayer and submit a petition to the court for emergency custody hearing for the boys,state the case in court, the judge will appoint temp custody of the boys (usually to someone in the family) he can force her into rehab to get the boys back
well first thigns first if she is threatening kids you need to act and get the kids safe. second you need to have an interventon and let her know she needs to choise to get help today or you will no longer allow her in your life and you will take action to keep the kids away from her until she is better. but it has to be her choice or she will never get better. no one can make her she has to hit her bottom and maybe the thought of her kids and family being taken away will do it. good luck.
protect the kids, have cps called and check her out. sorry you can not make her go to rehab, those places are only for people that want to change and doesn’t sound like she does. the closest thing would be an intervention look into that but even if she goes, if she does not follow the rules or want to stay she won’t. Good luck and do everything to protect those children, nag cps about it it may have her kids taken away for her to realize she NEEDS help. ya gotta hit rock bottom unfortunatly
Try an intervention first if that doesn’t work do what cahsville said.
Call the SHERIFF in your town. Whenever anyone threatens to hurt themselves or someone else, they loose their right to make decisions for themselves. The police are required to take them to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation due to the threat that they might actually follow through with hurting someone. Another hint: Ask her if she has a plan. If she knows how she is going to do it, then that is even more dangerous. You have a responsibility to get those kids OUT of that situation before they are on the news, drowned in a bathtub like Andrea Yeats did to her kids. If that doesn’t work, call (513) 241-KIDS. Get those kids out of that situation.
Yes you can if they are a danger to themselves or others. May dept of public health can help you or your local police station.
THERE IS HOPE:
call child services (children and family), it’s from the government, they will do what they can, tell them what is going on and they will help you out for sure, if you don’t find an answer, e-mail me and i’ll help you out. good luck to you and good job on being the angel for those kids and your sister
Unfortunately, the only way you’re sister will go is if she realizes she has a problem and is ready to change!
there’s an old saying…”you can take a horse to the water, but you can’t force it to drink” meaning you can give a person the tools and the help, but whether or not they act on it is completely up ot them!
But you and the rest of you’re family need to look at what’s in the best interests of the kids. Possibly social services? children’s aid?
heck, no.
it will never happen, i tried. He has to want it. Making that person try to quit or constantly on them about there problem will make them use more. Its like a person that is over weight from eatting to much every day. Its exactly the same. If you tease them about there weight they will eat more.
I heard for the entire 13 years that he was going to quit, then he said he is stopping slowly, then he said he can control it. It was a bunch of lines he was giving be. I would yell, hit and throw things at him. Crying and talking to him. Nothing worked.
I used to try to mess up his high. as soon as he would smoke it i would yell at him. Well now he has to get high again because i messed it up. If he didnt have the money he would steal from me. He’s story was if i didnt mess up his high he wouldnt steal from me. So after awhile i just left him alone.
The police eventually locked him up, he did 3 years, second offence. This time i divorced him while he was in jail. I was the happiest.
Forget rehab! Call social services and tell them your sister is on drugs and she is threatening to harm herself and her children. Your first obligation as a sister and aunt is to the safety of your family.
If you know she is high and you are REALLY afraid she will hurt the children… Call 911!!
She must come to the realization on her own that she needs help. Even if you found a clinic that would take her against her will, treatment would be impossible! She must be willing to participate in her own recovery.
You may contact a substance abuse counselor in your area and discuss an intervention.
GOOD LUCK! And don’t hesitate to protect those beautiful children!
first call social services and get those kids out of there,your family can try to get a court order to have her commited to a mental health hospital for 72 hours, because she is a threat to herself and kids.family members can do that call your mental health dept to ask how and when it can be done,if she wont admit to having a problem with drugs then rehab is not going to work,she has to admit she has a problem and want to change,but for the 72 hours shes at the hospital might make her rethink and detoxic
A person has to want it for self to be able to do it and stay clean and sober. I hate to say it but the kids will have to be taken away from her and her be threatened not to get her children back before she will do anything. Sometimes taking the kids is not enough at first she could continue to use for a little while, but sooner or later she will realize life is not that fun doing drugs and at that point she will be ready to change her life. Sorry to say but us addicts do not believe something is wrong until we have nothing left in life. You have to take our children, we have to become basically homeless bouncing from home to home until it gets to where we have no where else to go, no transportation no job no freinds out side of using family not supporting us anymore. we have to totally loose it all before we will turn for help, unfortanatlly we sometimes relapse a few times before we really deside enough is enough. Best advice from me to you is make sure those babies our taken care of. let her make the decision to change or not . But most importantally is those babies right now. A blessing from god She has to want it for herself not just for her children. I was a crack user my self. was is the key word
You have to let her hit rock bottom- cut her off. They should have councelors and clinics that will be able to guide you. I would call social services to protect the boys. Get her death threats recorded and take it to the police. If she is a threat to herself and others they have to help her. Go to your government page for services and call social services and clinics every day. Make sure they know you mean business and are not going to stop till you get the help for her and those boys. It is required by law if she is a threat to herself and others.
http://www.in.gov/dcs/protection/dfcchi.html
http://www.in.gov/fssa/mental/
http://www.in.gov/fssa/mental/dmha.htm
Read the admission policy on this one.
It is a matter of state law, but I would be very surprised if under these circumstances you could not have your sister committed in most if not all states. This is not a mental health question though, it is a legal question. You would need to file this matter in a court in your county or municipality that has competent jurisdiciton over commitments. In my state it is Chancery Court.
Also, it is likely that your sister has run afoul of the law by threatening suicide and murder and also for neglecting her children. You can have her arrested for any of the above. Then the prosecutor would prosecute her in whatever court she would end up in. (You could probably even go through child services). You can talk to the prosecutor after she is arrested, and it is likely that he would go ahead and allow her to be committed rather than routed through the penal system.
Finally, a Doctor can in most states put a legal hold on someone for a period of about 72 hours and keep them in a mental health facility without a court order, but that sounds like too little for your needs.
Do not be afraid to exercise some tough love here.
first of all you need to get the kids out of the situation. if she is saying she is suicidal you can get her committed to a hospital against her will. There will be a “trial” after a 72 hour observation period and a judge will decide if she must stay to be treated, or if she can leave against doctors orders. While she is in there for the 72 hours you can get an emergency custody order for the kids. The thing is that if she isn’t ready to get better she WILL NOT stay at the hospital if the judge allows her to leave. She will continue to use until she is ready to get better, unfortunately it is not illegal to be a drug addict, it is a disease, and if a sick person does not want treatment you and the law ca not force it on her. your priority has to be to get the children away from her until she decides to get help herself. The children of drug addicts grow up to do the same thing if they see it every day. Save these children, please. Maybe it will help your sister to see she needs help if she looses her children over it.
what does it mean doing drugs? what are the drugs? Alcohol, Cigarettes, Coke, Meth, Chocolate Bars? please advise
… Somehow I believe there is much more involved than drugs.. depression, bipolar etc. drugs may or may not have anything to do with it. My guess its a small factor..
If you get her to go to a state or court appointed treatments center, their solution will be to give her drugs… As you can see i have a very pessimistic view on mental health in this country.. Unless your rich there is none…
I would suggest to her that you realize she is “upset” and offer to take care of the kids until she feels better. You need to get those kids out of there asap but do it in the calmest way possible..
Then try to determine what the real problem is.. Don’t listen to a bunch of self serving moralist whose goal is to make her like them… Keep communication open, Monitor the situation…Be prepared to file a MIW Mental Inquest Warrant, have it ready to file just in-case her suicidal threats get real serious… Meantime set up an appointment with some kind of professional counseler, medical not church related. Ease her into it..
To sum up, get the kids out of there asap, keep communications open, be ready to act, set up counseling. STAY CALM!
you can call child protective services, they will get those kids out of there and she will be forced to do something.
call 1-800-suicide and talk with them, get their advice.