So, I promised you an insight into when to 5150 a loved one. It is hard to say really, but I can only speak for myself.
I was 21 when I first had a breakdown. I went on a journey with no end in sight. I ended up on a bus that took me to their security office. It was winter, but it just happened to be warm that night.
I was given the day off of work and so I got excited, but it was already too late and I started to spiral. My surroundings changed. I was curious, so I followed a path that seemed just for me.
I finally made it home. I was living with my grandma. My aunt happened to be there waiting for me. I had a blister on my heel that I got from walking around. It didn't hurt, but when she tried to dress it, I pretended that it did. Then I started walking funny. I was walking backwards in the house. Nothing really important about it, but I thought that I should do it.
When I was 5150'd and locked up, they took my vitals and stats. It turned out that I was only 87 pounds. My usual was 98 pounds and 102 on my period. I didn't think that I was that skinny. But, then I had to ask my grandma for permission to leave the hospital. I am guessing that she was my first conservator. She put me on every experimental drug that came out. She only wanted the best for me. But, one day, I was sitting on the floor by her feet and she looked at me and said, "Stephanie Anne you are a nut and you will always be a nut."
I never gave up trying to have as a normal life as is possible.
If you think your loved one is going to need loving care, the first thing you need to do is call in a welfare check. They need to know some specifics. I wouldn't know what those specifics are because I was on the receiving end of welfare checks, not the one starting one. But, if you tell them your worries, they most likely will send an officer and an officer that is part of the PERT team. PERT is short for psychiatric emergency response team. So I think anyways.
I have too much to say on this topic. I don't want to biblify this article, so I am only sharing my first meet up with a 5150. I saw things. Then my brain told me things about what I saw. Then my area around me would morph. Telling me a whole story. I was gone. I had split from my reality. It took a villiage to corner me and get me the help that I needed. I had been depressed for as long as I could remember. But, when I was no longer depressed that is when my family turned me in. I couldn't understand. I felt better. But for my family, I wasn't me anymore. I had changed.
Look at my Vocabulary ABC's. There is a 5150 article too. It is hard to say for sure when to 5150 a loved one. Mental illness shows it's scary self as early as 17 and as late as 37. Sometimes even later than that.