I was placed under a 5150 (California involuntary psychiatric hold) and I believe it was illegal. I want to sue if the statute of limitations is not up (it was just over 12 months ago) and if it is indeed illegal what happened.
So the facts: I self harmed and took myself to the ER to get some sort of medication to treat the burns. They brought over someone to evaluate my mental health and I basically told them I was very depressed but explicity said I was not suicidal, which was the truth. I was 17 at the time, a few months from being 18. They placed me under a 5150, strapped me to a gurney against my will (although I was cooperative throughout the entire process), and transported me to a psych ward (sorry if that's not the proper term) outside of county lines (my father ok'ed the outside of county lines part, as they insisted I needed to be taken to a psych ward...what would any loving father do? Do what the professionals tell him needs to be done.). It was night-time when I arrived and then they wanted me to sleep in the same room with someone I had never met before, who for all I knew was in there because they needed to be. At that point I was not going to be cooperative anymore as I felt my safety was at risk. I overheard some things being said by one of the other girls when I was escorted into the unit, and I was not about to sleep in the same room with any of them, sorry. But that is besides the point. As far as I understand it, one of the criteria for a 5150 is the desire to die, and usually beyond that, an explicit expression of the wish to kill one's self. I never expressed this desire, and explicitly expressed the opposite. That I was just depressed but not at all suicidal. I also wonder if the strapping me down to a gurney was necessary as I had been 100% cooperative and non-violent.
Any light someone could shed on this situation would be greatly appreciated. I want to sue for the medical bills at the psych ward, the cost of the ambulance ride, any other costs related to the 5150, my dad's plane ticket from Florida to California to sign my release from the psych ward, and if possible for pain and suffering. Let me tell you that that experience of being strapped down to a gurney like a crazy person and then spending around 24 hours in a psych ward has given me nightmares and occupied my mind for a while.