Expert: Libby Bonner - 11/25/2006

Question
My wife is having a bad episode of mania right now....she has gone to her parents house in Houston and will not let me help her...can I not have her put in hospital for her own good to be looked at?  I'm her husband and I love her and she needs help>>>>>what can i do or make her do by law?

Answer
Check www.psychlaws.com

Several things enter into this.  Are you and she both in TX?  If not, Tx law will prevail, the place where she is.  Are her parents there, or away and she is just at their house?  If they are there, are they willing to exercise whatever options are available, per website above?  Are they willing to call the police if she becomes violent?  We hope "yes."  May depend on whether they have accepted her diagnosis and/or ever seen her manic.    ---  They could also take her to an ER - IF she will go.

It is maybe possible for you to get an atty where you are and/or in TX to pursue getting a [temp] guardianship.  Maybe some of that on website.

RUSH out and get this paperback: get ONLY the revised updated 2d edition:  I am not sick; I don't need help, by Amador.   It is all about getting people into treatment when they most need it and are least likely to agree to it.  Includes a pretty detailed section on committals, etc.

Last thought for you or parents.....police and/or courts MUST do something [tho something may be 72 hr max in hosp, unless she agrees to stay longer]IF she is "a danger to self or others."  Some more lenient types might feel she meets criteria if she is in a state of self-neglect: not eating, not sleeping, et.c

Also - batten down any hatches on money.  Have you seen her like this before?  See what you can do to move money from joint accounts temporarily til she is better.

Have you EVER been to any of her doc appts w/ her?  If so, call that office today to report on events and ask for their help....IF she has signed a release of info w/ them, w/ respect to you.    If you have access to doc, and IF she gets a 72-hr hosp stay, perhaps her doc communicate w/ hosp doc?  But - maybe not, w/o her agreeing to release of info.

Huge privacy wall  here.  Docs are not free even to say, if asked: yes, that person is my pt.  Doc/hospital contact may be a non-starter/

Try also, from today forward, to get releases from any and all who treat her so that you are never locked out from info when you need it most.

Get cracking and let me know how things go.