suicidal thoughts

[2mama]

So Iwas just talking with my little brother (19) and we had a wonderful conversation about his work, school, thoughts of having kids some day, ect. Then told he me about how he is feeling and how his antidepressant had been making him worse so he stopped taking it. Next he told me that he has been having rapid mood swings and angry outbursts (which is very unsual for him). I asked him if he was feeling safe and the answer was NO. I then asked if he had any thoughts of hurting himself, he said yes. I asked about suicide and he said yes: . I am a psychiatric nurse so I know why he has come to me, but I feel stuck. I tried to convince him that he needs to go to the hospital but he refused stating he does not want to go to the wrong hospital and have to pay out of pocket. I tried convincing him to call hospitals and see if they accepted his insurance. He said he'll to it tomorrow. He has to work at 5am to 130pm tomorrow and lives with his girlfriend who I talked with about the situation. He said he is the most suicidal when by himself. Tomorrow after work he will be alone from 2-6. As a sister who helped raise him I want to believe he will be safe and call. As I professional I say call the police and have them take him if he won't go but then there is the chance he will deny he said it and that he will not trust me for not trusting him. WHAT DO I DO? : Sorry for the babbling.

[BellinghamCrunchie]

Does he have a plan? If so, then I think you should definitely act. If he doesn't have a plan, I would still consider acting, but it would be harder to make a decision as to what to do.

You said he had antidepressants - is his prescriber someone who would be helpful? Perhaps you could call the prescriber and the prescriber could attempt to get him to come in to talk.

Are you able to speak with the girlfriend? If you can talk with her, if he is saying the same things to her that he is saying to you, then both of you can write affidavits for the mental health professional that the police will call out if you call the police. Having two affidavits from two different people will go a long ways towards having him committed. Otherwise, it could easily be as you fear, he will tell the MHP "Yeah, I wasn't feeling so good the other day, but I feel fine now. I'm not thinking about killing myself" and its just your word against his, and he might not trust you again to confide in you in the future.

[Blue Dragonfly]

you have a suicide hotline in your city/state? I just had to call for stbx the other day and they were great. Maybe you could print out the number/info so he could stick it on his fridge?

Hugs sister,

[sphinxie]

Hosps and police can sometimes be great, but sometimes be quite violating/degrading. If a person is going to a hosp for MH issues it is often best to research which hosps are better first. So while making that kind of call is sometimes truly worth it, please be very careful with that choice.

I'm not that familiar with it but a suicide watch usually means being around the person 24/7 for awhile, and making sure all dangerous materials (sharp things, dangerous pills, etc) are not present. If you would be willing to participate in a suicide watch that could be much better than getting him put in a hosp.

I wish I had more advice to offer!