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Old 01-02-2013, 01:17 AM   #284
Miss Absynthe
 
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Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Hell, it's other people & both of them are you
Posts: 1,001
Quote:
Originally Posted by Versus View Post
Something kind of struck me. I think we all know how to answer questionairs so that they reflect us being in good mental health because we all know the stigmas and steriotypes of people with MI, consciously or not.
It's very true. Even people who are seeking help while in the middle of an acute episode know that they need to be careful of how they phrase things, and know what to say, what not to say.. who to tell specific things, and even the way to say specific things.

~~~~~~~~~ wiggly lines to point out that the following example is totally separate from the above statement, and is not linking someone in an acute episode of mental illness with what I'm about to say at all - just want to be clear here so that there's no recourse for a "but you said!!" later on wiggly lines ~~~~~~~~~

"Do you feel that you're a danger to yourself or others?"
"I don't want to kill myself." (I do want to self harm)
"I don't want to hurt people." (I do want to kill a specific person)
"I don't want to hurt anyone." (I do want to kill everyone and then myself)

Deflective statements scan as true and don't tip off the changes in body language that we're trained to look for when someone is lying. Most medical health professionals won't pick up on the deflection and will then record that the person in question was not only clear in saying that they weren't a danger, but that they were calm and compliant.
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