Walk It Through: A Mental Health Crisis
A welfare call, an officer at the door, a hold, and the court within twenty-four hours.
A family calls the police after a relative barricades in a bedroom saying he wants to die.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One family's crisis. Voluntary admission, longer commitment, guardianship for treatment and a crisis with a weapon are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- ArrestTaking a person into custody as the law allows, by a peace officer or a private person.
- Protection orderA civil order on a petition for a victim of domestic violence, which may exclude the respondent from the home, award temporary custody and last up to one year after a full hearing.
- Gravely disabledOne ground for a mental health hold: reason to believe a person is gravely disabled by mental illness, or that their liberty poses an imminent danger to themselves or others.