One last concern I hear often is that people don’t want to be “locked up forever.” Every state has different mental health laws, so learn your state’s laws. Someone like David will be offered the least restrictive option possible (which may be voluntary unlocked hospitalization, where David can leave if he chooses, depending on where he is on the suicide continuum). The most restrictive option is involuntary locked hospitalization, where his civil right to leave is taken away for about seventy-two hours (depending on state law) because suicide crises are believed to abate within several days. In some circumstances, David might be kept involuntarily longer than seventy-two hours following reevaluation. State laws protect David’s civil rights by requiring reevaluations.

Taken from Preventing Suicide by Karen Mason. Copyright (c) 2014 by Karen Mason. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426. www.ivpress.com