Is it safe to text about suicidal ideation?

[deathwish]

like idk if we're somehow such valuable commodities maybe there's trigger phrases that alert someone to read the messages (illegally or no, idk) and if one is texting their end thoughts and their plan, an ambulance will show up. Does this happen or is it all good? Sorry for ignorance. And if the answer is yes anywhere, the answers may vary according to location so...am asking for usa, lmao.

 

[kinzokukae]

no, that's not a thing as far as i'm aware. it would be illegal and an invasion of privacy. though who's to say the government doesn't have access to all of our data anyway lol

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

If the Patriot Act is still in effect, then that data is being gathered. However, so far the State and individual states have not been overtly using the information against citizens and their ordinary activities in the kind of surveillance + policing way you're talking about.

 

[HelensNepenthe]

It varies on who you're talking to. Some people may take it to someone else (e.g. police) and they'll conduct their own policies to deem if you're eligible for the involuntary civil commitment hold for a maximum of 72 hours. No court order is necessary to hold you in an emergency room for 72 hours. It is possible that within those 72 hours someone could petition that you should stay longer, and this will have to go through a judge. Otherwise you'll be evaluated, proceed with the involuntarily hold, and look for outpatient care. States handle this differently. After some period the involuntarily commitment is supposed to be drop. Some states range from two weeks to an upwards of six months. There's a good site to filter this information state-by-state. I'll link it below.

If you were to speak with a psychologist, therapist, or a psychiatrist about your ideation. In most case scenarios these are safe to talk about. It is when you go to planning is when you're in murky water that could make it where that doctor involuntarily commits you. Quite honestly, this is up to the judgement of where you're at when going through therapy. In the case of just saying that you've felt suicidal, you may not be subjected to an involuntarily hold.

Personally I would avoid talking about it unless I know the person quite well. I find in cases that people who are talking to someone who is suicidal, they tend to put that leverage onto someone else. Calling the police because your friend is suicidal will only exasperate the emotions they are feeling. Perhaps triggering them to catch the bus when they're out of the hospital.

[1] Standards for Involuntary Commitment (Assisted Treatment) State-by-State (Source Treatment Advocacy Center) - https://mentalillnesspolicy.org/national-studies/state-standards-involuntary-treatment.html

 

[autumnal]

like idk if we're somehow such valuable commodities maybe there's trigger phrases that alert someone to read the messages (illegally or no, idk) and if one is texting their end thoughts and their plan, an ambulance will show up. Does this happen or is it all good? Sorry for ignorance. And if the answer is yes anywhere, the answers may vary according to location so...am asking for usa, lmao.

No. In most countries there are laws protecting people from this kind of thing. The right to intercept private communications is restricted to either having a court-issued warrant or similar to manually intercept a single person suspected of a crime, or perhaps intelligence agencies using automated systems to scan the messages of the general population for keywords (especially related to terrorism). But neither of these apply to automatically scanning for suicide-related keywords across the general population. Not only would it be legally questionable, but it would probably take so much resources as to be very difficult. Not the automated scanning itself, that technology exists, but the subsequent location, interpretation and dispatching of emergency services to every person who used keywords about being suicidal.

It varies on who you're talking to. Some people may take it to someone else (e.g. police) and they'll conduct their own policies to deem if you're eligible for the involuntary civil commitment hold for a maximum of 72 hours. No court order is necessary to hold you in an emergency room for 72 hours. It is possible that within those 72 hours someone could petition that you should stay longer, and this will have to go through a judge. Otherwise you'll be evaluated, proceed with the involuntarily hold, and look for outpatient care. States handle this differently. After some period the involuntarily commitment is supposed to be drop. Some states range from two weeks to an upwards of six months. There's a good site to filter this information state-by-state. I'll link it below.

If you were to speak with a psychologist, therapist, or a psychiatrist about your ideation. In most case scenarios these are safe to talk about. It is when you go to planning is when you're in murky water that could make it where that doctor involuntarily commits you. Quite honestly, this is up to the judgement of where you're at when going through therapy. In the case of just saying that you've felt suicidal, you may not be subjected to an involuntarily hold.

Personally I would avoid talking about it unless I know the person quite well. I find in cases that people who are talking to someone who is suicidal, they tend to put that leverage onto someone else. Calling the police because your friend is suicidal will only exasperate the emotions they are feeling. Perhaps triggering them to catch the bus when they're out of the hospital.

[1] Standards for Involuntary Commitment (Assisted Treatment) State-by-State (Source Treatment Advocacy Center) - https://mentalillnesspolicy.org/national-studies/state-standards-involuntary-treatment.html

All good advice, but I think the OP actually meant the messages being scanned and intercepted in transit, rather than acted on by the recipient. Which is fortunately complete tinfoil hat territory.

 

[Despondent]

I've used those kinds of services and they say that if someone has no "intentions on actually hurting themselves" then there's no need to. They ask if you have a plan, and if you do, then they do something about it. That's just my experience though lol

If not, they usually make a safety plan just to keep you "safe"

 

[I’mDone]

it would be illegal and an invasion of privacy.

Since when has that stopped governments??

 

[Sad_Autistic_boy_101]

Yes it can. After a member on here killed themselves they didn't delete our messages and his parents found them and now I am in trouble. You need to be very careful.