Banged-up for being suicidal.

Did you know if your feeling bad enough to take your own life you get put in Jail? I got quite a shock when I read this.....somehow I don't think this is going to help anyone.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-18882728

Re: Banged-up for being suicidal.

if it stops someone commiting suicide then its a good thing surely...

Re: Banged-up for being suicidal.

Good grief Rox, I had no idea.
Those poor people, as if they didn't feel bad enough, your heart goes out to them doesn't it?

Re: Banged-up for being suicidal.

I don't think it is Dollie, I think being put through all that and treated like a Criminal is just going to make it worse....a lot worse in some cases. They need help not made to feel helpless.
What you might need is something quite simple: someone to talk to; somewhere to go where you can readjust your thoughts; someone to care.
Not held by the wrists, marched to the Cells and in some cases Strip Searched.

Re: Banged-up for being suicidal.

I'd have thought being locked up for the night in a cell would be a much safer option than just being allowed to go. While they're in the same frame of mind, they're going to try again, having been stopped the first time. If they have no family and can't be admitted to a psychiatric unit, then in my opinion this is the only option open to the police. The only thing they can hope for is that the person will be in a different frame of mind by morning. Obviously there are no guarantees but to be honest, if someone is hellbent on killing themselves, nothing and no-one will stop them.

Re: Banged-up for being suicidal.

what we might need ie someone to talk to...someone to care is not always to hand thats one of the reasons people commit suicide..

Re: Banged-up for being suicidal.

The Samaritans are there day and night, I know I have sat for hours talking and crying to them on the phone, I wasnt suicidal I was desperate.they are marvelous. Someone who attempts suicide once will most certainly try again until they succeed.You have to have been there to know how it is.The office is always manned.

Re: Banged-up for being suicidal.

The Samaritans are indeed there day and night, 24 hrs 7 days a week, even Christmas Day for those that draw the short straw.
They volunteer and are trained to a good standard, to be able to communicate warmth and calmness and giving their whole attention to the person they're supporting. It is a wonderful organisation who have helped thousands of people. They need to advertise themselves more. Maybe a poster in all police stations, hospitals, doctors surgeries.
I can see the point of comments about better locking up than left but until you have been so depressed or so low and lonely, it is unimaginable to be left alone in a cell all night!
It is a cry for help, that these people 'phone emergency services.

Re: Banged-up for being suicidal.

Something that seems to have been overlooked here is the fact that a huge number suicidal people take large quantities of alcohol beforehand to give them the courage to do what they plan to do. If this is the case, they're not capable of rational thought and phoning Samaritans will not even figure in their plans.

Re: Banged-up for being suicidal.

I am afraid this is sometimes the best option when someone is deemed to be 'a danger to themselves or others '.
The alternative may be a doctor sectioning someone to a psychiatric institution, it is not always as easy to get out out of there as an overnight stay in a cell .

I think you will find there are usually posters in all these places and they even have trained 'listeners' in prisons and access to the phones there