Can anyone give me sound advice on my situation

Hello there, I could really do with an outsiders perspective! (3paragraphs, need an agony aunt type response, medical repose, maybe legal advice)

When I was 17 I went for a run as I normally do and ended up getting lost. Rather than asking anyone for help I just kept running because once I was lost I felt embarrassed about being lost so just kept going. After the running for 6 hours I was now hopelessly lost, dehydrated and very hungry. In the end I ended up collapsing and feeling very light headed. I was picked up by a policeman who spotted me, handcuffed me and took me to a police cell. I just went along with it and didn't complain in the exhausted state I was in. I was then put in a cell and told to change into prisoner clothing. My family were called and they picked me up in the evening to take me home.


The day after, because I got lost and it was not a legal matter instead this was now a medical one. A mental health charity turned up at my doorstep to treat me for having a mental health issue because nobody could understand how I could get lost in such a large city at that age. They were not doctors, yet, they immediately provided me with a course of three different medications to take and insisted that my family makes sure I take them.


2 weeks pass and now I feel extremely drugged up an incapable of representing myself properly. I can only describe it as being on some kind of tranquilliser permanently. I was seen by a psychologist and he too recommended just one medication to keep taking for the rest of my life. On the day I was not delusional, hearing things, psychotic, etc I was just on heavy meds. (Med taking with no symptoms). I have never experienced the symptoms described for bipolar disorder only the side effects of the drugs themselves. I was then unable to be myself any more.


5 years have passed and I have had a lot of conflict with the mental health service because I claim that they have exaggerated my condition whilst they claim that I have bipolar disorder and that I should be receiving help for it. I do not take any medications (a mature and stable person may I add), I currently work and I am looking to finish a degree in Biochemistry in the near future.

I feel like I am a victim of bad decision making and I would like to sue based on what I have stated above. Except I don't know if I can nor if anyone would be interested. I don't want to leave it because this can create problems for me in the future. What do I do?

I suggest that if you want to take this up, you speak to a lawyer and see if you would have a case and if it would be worth it. You'll need to consider what you would gain from a successful case and what impact the stress of the situation could have on you.

I will not tell you if you should or shouldn't take it up since it is your situation and there will be a lot that I am unaware of. I suggest you see a professional and get help working it out for yourself.

I'm sorry you had to go through such a difficult situation and am glad that you seem to have come out of it a fully functional and capable person.

Yeah I will see what I can do it's just I am just thinking long term. The diagnosis could be used against me such as exempting me from a number of activities and professions, I lose personal freedoms such as a private home life, whom I share feelings to, what drugs are going in and out of my body. It could be used against me if I ever split up with a spouse for instance and kids were involved? Or at work somebody could force me out of a job if they knew and used this information to push me out. Plus I don't know what societies stance and the governments stance will be on people with a psychiatric condition in 10-20 or even 50 years time. I mean, I am a smart, educated young person now that can reason and stand up for himself. However, when I am 50 I could get early onset alzheimers or something and then get forced to take antipsychotic meds for bipolar disorder in a mental institution. That would be a disgusting way to go, especially considering I don't even have bipolar disorder.

That is why it is worth pursuing, not for the negligence part, although what has been done to me is pretty disgusting.

Imo, if I was to do the most sadistic thing possible to do to a human being it would be force drugging and put them in a mental institution. Just saying.

The part I am most interested in is the charity that gave you the medication. From what i've heard and my understanding of this stuff I would think it is against their policy (or even law) for them to give you medications without a profesionals advice. That's where I would start personally. If you know the name of the charity you could look into their policies (although they would probably be different now and when it happened).

Also, I believe that in the uk children (17 is a child) need to be seen by a psychiatrist before they can be given medication. I could be wrong, but if that is the case then depending on when you were given meds it could be misconduct.
Also, just know that to be put in a mental institution withour your concent you need to be sectioned under the mental health act if you are a risk to yourself or others.
A professional like a lawyer will know all of this stuff better than me or anybody on here so I strongly suggest you see one. It's certinally possible that you have a case. You could also consider talking to the press if you want. There's a lot of stuff at the moment about the failings of the nhs and other institutions in caring for people with mh conditions. You could also get a second opinion from a psychiatrist regarding your condition. If you do this I would suggest you go private as the nhs will just agree with your records most likely.

Good luck. The whole mh system is a pain to go through even when you direly need it so i would hate to have to go through it as somebody who doesn't.