Mental health centers and addiction programs exist to help people heal, stabilize from breakdowns or recover from drugs and alcohol. The job for staff, counselors and volunteers is to service vulnerable people when they are not at their bests. They are professionals with good judgment not to panic and call police for things the general public might.
However, your job in a mental health or addiction center is to collaborate with these people who are working for you to have a better life. You have rights to privacy and you can not be arrested for past illegal drug use while in treatment for it. Relax, rest and trust the hardworking people who want to help you so they never feel they must call police.
Mutual Respect Keeps Police Out of Mental Health and Addiction Centers
Mental health professionals, medical staff and addiction counselors are all on your side. In fact, they wanted to work with a part of society most people view as a big problem. The mentally ill and addicted have much higher chances people outside mental health or addiction treatment facilities will call the police on them. You are undoubtedly going through a tough time in your life.
The consequences that led you to seek out treatment may be physical, financial and professional. You have a lot of emotions to manage, disappointments to get over and fears to face. You must do your best to maximize your time in a safe, professional program. That starts with respecting the place.
- If you feel overwhelmed and distressed, request an emergency session with a therapist or counselor. Most centers for mental health and addiction care keep crisis staff on standby. They know how to deescalate residents who reach their breaking points.
- Know the visitor rules of mental health centers, inpatient rehabs and sober houses. Follow these rules, as they are meant to protect you and others from risky influences.
- If you feel incompatible with a caretaker or counselor, speak with the main office or center director. They can explore your options to avoid disagreements, conflict and stress.
Keep Calm In Bad Episodes or Withdrawal
Long after addicts know they have a problem, they keep using drugs or drinking because, ironically, it seems safest to keep doing so. They do not know how they will respond without their habit and so they just keep it up. Mental health episodes and substance withdrawal are complex, unpredictable events no one can predict. Common reactions during mental health crises include crying, yelling and panic attacks.
Detox from drugs and alcohol leads to high anxiety, short tempers and even nightmares. Center staff are there to support you with counseling and medication if necessary, so pull back when you sense you are at the edges. When you are calm and cooperative, they can do their jobs.
Police and Centers Have the Same Goals To Help You
Sometimes, loved ones must call Wilmington police for wellness checks and encounters with people in the throes of a breakdown or overdose. If no obvious criminal behavior is going on, police intervention may be the best thing that could have happened. It’s the wake-up call some people need to get the help they have put off or denied they needed. Once acute distress and symptoms have passed, and these people enter a mental health or addiction center, qualified professionals take over the functions the public expects the police to do. Unlike police stations, mental and rehab facilities work for solutions to the crises police are called for and try to heal people so police are never called again.
Quite naturally, your troubles do not entitle you to act out deliberate aggression and crimes like theft while in treatment. You are also responsible for your visitors’ actions, so they should be respectful as well. If staff determines they should ask you to leave a center, you should comply. Set your worries aside and start the best thing you can to turn your life around. We want to help you get back to your old self in a safe environment, so call 302-842-2390 to speak with one of our counselors today.
