here we go again
God, it's been a long evening.
Short version: Alex called Ethan to say 'goodbye' to him, then hung up. We ran over to the house only to find he'd gone missing. Three hours, six cops and four neighbors/family members searching later, he was found wandering aimlessly a couple of miles away with a pocket full of razor blades. Again. He's on his way to Regions hospital and will probably be put on another psych hold.
I will perhaps write the long version tomorrow, when I'm less inclined to be bitchy.
Edit, 9 May 2007
Alex had called Ethan yesterday during the day and had been pretty despondent; E. spent an hour and a half on the phone with him trying to talk him into a better mood and had partially succeeded, he thought. The encounter depressed Ethan worse than he’d been already and (sigh) he got some wine and settled down for a nice evening of wine and WoW. I was not terribly pleased with this when I got home, but to be honest, if he’s going to drown his troubles I WANT HIM AT HOME where I can keep a sober eye on him.
Later on in the evening, Alex called Ethan back and basically said “it’s over- you’re a good kid- goodbye”. This, of course, freaked E out to no end and we jumped in the car and went right over. On the way, we called Nancy and Phil to apprise them of the situation. Then we called my dad and asked him to come over in case we needed someone to help restrain Alex, Ethan’s scrappy but Alex is taller than him and if he’s in a panic might be stronger. In the meantime, Phil called the cops.
When we arrived, Alex was not in the house- we searched the entire house and garage and yard. He had left all his little notebooks of directions and reminders on the dining room table next to a copy of his living will. Ethan took off running, sweeping the neighborhood. My parents arrived about here, roll of duct tape in hand (excellent emergency restraints- I have learned so much from my parents over the years…) and I updated them on the new situation. Dad took off in his truck to hit up all the local businesses he knew Alex used to see if he’d been over there.
I stood in the front yard with my cell and Alex/Marie’s cordless phone, fielding calls and basically playing operations center. (May I say THANK GOD for cell phones here? We never could have pulled this one off without them.) Mom kept me company, which was comforting. A few neighbors stopped by and were able to tell us which direction he’d started off in, which helped tremendously. Ethan came back (he’d been on foot for an hour now) and took my car to cover more ground. Two neighbors dropped everything, loaded their kids in their car, and started searching for him too. (One of them turned to his kids in the yard and said, “Do you want to play catch tonight, or help someone?” Great neighbors, eh?) The cops showed up after a quick canvass of the area and conferred with us- fortunately it was a slow crime night, the department could spare more staff and they added two more squads to the manhunt.
After about two hours of this, one of the squads found Alex about three miles from the house and brought him back temporarily. He was extremely agitated and had a pocket full of razor blades. Yeah. Having the cops frisk him and take away his stuff did not improve his temper, either. He was apparently giving the cops an earful, so much so they warned us against trying to talk to him. I got Phil on the phone to talk to the officer in charge (woot for power of attorney) and he requested they bring him to Regions, and that he’d meet them there.
I took Ethan home shortly after, and he poured a huge glass of wine and hauled his main WoW character into the hardest dungeon he could get into. Ah, escapism.
So Alex’s in Regions on psych hold #2 and still very torqued about the whole situation. Phil’s starting to look into the process for civil commitment. Nancy thinks we should all back off and let him calm down and get some treatment before attempting to visit.
Jesus Christ on a pogo stick.
Short version: Alex called Ethan to say 'goodbye' to him, then hung up. We ran over to the house only to find he'd gone missing. Three hours, six cops and four neighbors/family members searching later, he was found wandering aimlessly a couple of miles away with a pocket full of razor blades. Again. He's on his way to Regions hospital and will probably be put on another psych hold.
I will perhaps write the long version tomorrow, when I'm less inclined to be bitchy.
Edit, 9 May 2007
Alex had called Ethan yesterday during the day and had been pretty despondent; E. spent an hour and a half on the phone with him trying to talk him into a better mood and had partially succeeded, he thought. The encounter depressed Ethan worse than he’d been already and (sigh) he got some wine and settled down for a nice evening of wine and WoW. I was not terribly pleased with this when I got home, but to be honest, if he’s going to drown his troubles I WANT HIM AT HOME where I can keep a sober eye on him.
Later on in the evening, Alex called Ethan back and basically said “it’s over- you’re a good kid- goodbye”. This, of course, freaked E out to no end and we jumped in the car and went right over. On the way, we called Nancy and Phil to apprise them of the situation. Then we called my dad and asked him to come over in case we needed someone to help restrain Alex, Ethan’s scrappy but Alex is taller than him and if he’s in a panic might be stronger. In the meantime, Phil called the cops.
When we arrived, Alex was not in the house- we searched the entire house and garage and yard. He had left all his little notebooks of directions and reminders on the dining room table next to a copy of his living will. Ethan took off running, sweeping the neighborhood. My parents arrived about here, roll of duct tape in hand (excellent emergency restraints- I have learned so much from my parents over the years…) and I updated them on the new situation. Dad took off in his truck to hit up all the local businesses he knew Alex used to see if he’d been over there.
I stood in the front yard with my cell and Alex/Marie’s cordless phone, fielding calls and basically playing operations center. (May I say THANK GOD for cell phones here? We never could have pulled this one off without them.) Mom kept me company, which was comforting. A few neighbors stopped by and were able to tell us which direction he’d started off in, which helped tremendously. Ethan came back (he’d been on foot for an hour now) and took my car to cover more ground. Two neighbors dropped everything, loaded their kids in their car, and started searching for him too. (One of them turned to his kids in the yard and said, “Do you want to play catch tonight, or help someone?” Great neighbors, eh?) The cops showed up after a quick canvass of the area and conferred with us- fortunately it was a slow crime night, the department could spare more staff and they added two more squads to the manhunt.
After about two hours of this, one of the squads found Alex about three miles from the house and brought him back temporarily. He was extremely agitated and had a pocket full of razor blades. Yeah. Having the cops frisk him and take away his stuff did not improve his temper, either. He was apparently giving the cops an earful, so much so they warned us against trying to talk to him. I got Phil on the phone to talk to the officer in charge (woot for power of attorney) and he requested they bring him to Regions, and that he’d meet them there.
I took Ethan home shortly after, and he poured a huge glass of wine and hauled his main WoW character into the hardest dungeon he could get into. Ah, escapism.
So Alex’s in Regions on psych hold #2 and still very torqued about the whole situation. Phil’s starting to look into the process for civil commitment. Nancy thinks we should all back off and let him calm down and get some treatment before attempting to visit.
Jesus Christ on a pogo stick.