School and medication refusal. She's out of control

[pasajes4]

I have called the police when my son ransacked the house. They came, he opened his mouth, they hauled his happy butt off for one of the most unpleasent psychiatric evaluations possible. It resulted in a stay at the state mental institution. I don't know about other places, but here if a kid is off medications. and acting out, they can be placed in "state" custody. They have the right to refuse medications at 13, but doing so will result in decisions being made for the childs safety and the safety of others in the event that they become unstable.

 

[susiestar]

The age in which a person can refuse medications varies from state to state. In OK a person under 18 can refuse medications at any time. They still have to take them. In a hospital or psychiatric hospital setting the staff can give medications via injection or if a shot version isn't available or cannot be administered for some reason they will use a tube through the nose into the throat. This is also true for those who are involuntarily committed but over 18, or the person is not competent to make decisions (as decreed by the court).

If a teen truly feels that the medications are not something they want, they have to go before a judge and the judge will make the decision on each medication as a separate issue. Teen in the psychiatric hospital are told this, and they are told that they will still have to take the medications until the judge makes a ruling.

This is done because children are not able to see the long term consequences for their behavior, and it is for their own well being. I know other states do this differently, but that is the rule here.

 

[Wiped Out]

I agree with the others. Whenever my difficult child tries to pull the,"I'm not taking my medications." his world stops. He used to try it a lot especially when he was more unstable. He knew he could do nothing until they were taken; it was always non-negotiable. At times he would get violent but the world was still stopped. He knew if we needed outside help such as a psychiatric hospital stay we follow through to help him-never used as a threat.

easy child/difficult child used to refuse school once in awhile and there were always major consequences so it didn't happen often.

 

[DammitJanet]

The state hospital reference reminded me: I had Cory involuntarily placed in our state hospital when he was about to turn 16 but in order to stay there past the first 72 hours either he had to sign himself in voluntarily or go before the judge. The doctors there were astounded when he signed the papers happily and stayed there both in the hospital AND in the Residential Treatment Facility (RTF) for over 8 months because as he said "you dont mess with my mama, if she says I need to be here, I better stay here." LOL. He knew if he didnt sign those papers every 30 days, I would kill him.

 

[Californiablonde]

Well she's back to taking her medications so that's a start. Weekend went by without further incident so I was able to have some peace and quiet. As for school, she is wanting to go to her home school and I'll be posting about that in a different thread. Thanks to all for your advice and well wishes.