Is a doctor allowed to break patient confidentiality if..?
http://www.mind.org.uk/ http://www.samaritans.org.uk/ i dont know if your doctor was allowed to tell your mum, but he did, and i am sorry for that, as now you dont know who to talk to, i have pasted 2 websites, that have phone numbers, you can ring, the samaritans are available 24 hours, and everything is confidential, with both these sites, so feel free to ring either of them when ever you need to talk to someone.
Yes, it’s he’s not just allowed to, but mandated by law. Your age also doesn’t matter in this case. By law a physician must get intervening help if the patient is in direct harm to themselves or to others. I JUST WANTED TO STRESS that in casses of harm to self or other, being a Minor does not matter, the doctor has a Legal obligation to report it to an intervening authority. You can thank a California Doctor for this (which is actually a good thing). The Cali doctor didn’t tell police when his psych patient threatened to kill someone. The doctor was held legally responsible and served jail time. (the Killer got off on an insanity plee). So, now doctors by law must report it. –other tidbits, if your doctor has reason to believe that you are no longer safe to drive, thanks to California again, he Legally has to report you to the DMV. This happens in dementia and epilepsy –They’re are a couple more examples were a doctor has to break confidentiality by law. Don’t you love what lawyers h
A Dr has an obligation to protect a minor and that can include breaking confidentiality but I thought that was under 16’s (what country are you in?) I dont think the Dr acted out of anything but concern and I certainly dont think that any Dr would be expecting your mother to react like she did. Maybe your mum reacted that way out of hurt, after all you are supposed to be able to tell her anything. I think you really need to try and talk to your mum, shes the person you have the most contact with and if youre feeling that low you need support from the people youre closest to. If you really can’t talk to your mum then try and arrange another appointment by passing the Dr. Casualty/ER departments can see you if youre feeling like this and can arrange councelling/therapy. Without knowing what country youre in I cant post relevant links but please dont try to go this alone.
