yesterday afternoon I had an argument with my mother and stepfather, because they have 'confiscated' my safety razor and a bottle of my whiskey. They stated that their purpose was harm-reduction; I disagreed, saying that removing one bottle of whiskey from a house full of alcohol is ridiculous, as is confiscating a safety razor from someone who collects knives. It was my position that their intention was not to protect me (which is not their function, at any rate; I am an adult) but instead to stigmatize and humiliate me. During the ensuing argument, my stepfather assaulted me. I was deeply unimpressed by this, because he has a history of abusive conduct towards my brother and myself. A stand-off took place, thanks to the fact that like most abusive parents, my stepfather no longer has the courage to abuse me now that I am physically larger than he. My mother, who has unmedicated and unresolved anxiety issues, called the police. In the mean time, I was in the house alone for about twenty minutes, providing me with ample opportunity to suicide if such had been my intent. Upon the arrival of the police, my parents attempted to hurt me by stating that they had fears for my safety. The police were therefore required to take me to hospital for assessment.

When I spoke to the admissions doctor at the hospital, her position was that, as I had been recently held on an involuntary basis, she did not need to make any further assessment; she scheduled me purely on the basis of the declaration by my parents that they had fears for my safety. This did not appear to be a very good argument to me, so I promptly absconded from hospital and went to see my dad.

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of being kind and I called my mother to tell her that I was alright and that I was with my father. She then called the police, who dragged me out of bed at a quarter to twelve at night and took me to the hospital again.

I remind you, this is all on the basis of the fears of a woman with anxiety issues.

The doctor I saw once I was returned (under heavy armed escort; 5 security personel) to hospital actually bothered to assess me, and decided that while I did not appear to be unsafe, she was unwilling to release me at 0035 hours and said I would be assessed that day. I was then transported to a locked ward under the same security and imprisoned there. Unfortunately, they forgot to inform my doctor that I was at hospital, and as a result I was not assessed untill 1400, when the schedule was found to be without merit and I was immediately released.

My issue with this is how insanely (ha!) easy it appears to be to get someone committed once it's happened once.