PIIMIC

Police Intervention - Notes

Notes about ambiguous intervention situations

Off medication
Sometimes it takes repeat breaks for a subject to get onto the right medication and learn to stay with it. Any warning to the subject about complying with medication is not likely to be effective during psychosis. If police have good reason to believe the subject is off-meds, this information should be shared with the hospital or other health professionals. The doctor may decide to change the medication, or to instruct the patient under appropriate circumstances.

For patients who are not well stabilized, going off medication is a sure way to a relapse. Symptoms may be amplified by a rebound effect from going off medication. If the behaviour is unsafe or potentially unsafe, hospitalization is the best prospect to restabilize the patient. Bring along his medication. If the subject complains medication isn't working, or can't handle side effects, he needs to speak to his doctor about giving it more time (usually side effects fade) or trying a different medication. If the subject is forgetful about medication, health professionals and family can devise a management plan.

Masking - hiding symptoms
The patient may be masking or hiding symptoms by "compensating" and sometimes by over-compensating. The subject may appear unusually rational, compliant, or manipulative to police or to a doctor. As in cases of denial, a few minutes of conversation may be helpful in directly observing the ebb and flow of speech, thought, mood or behaviour. Police can take action based on their own observations but should also consider information received from others (collateral information).