2. Know what happens if someone’s in danger
Question & Answer
Who can see my mental health records?If you or someone else is at risk of getting seriously hurt, your can share your mental health information without your permission. They can do this to try and stop you or another person from getting seriously hurt.
Hurting yourself
If you're likely to seriously hurt yourself or take your own life, your health-care provider can share your mental health information to get you help. For example, they may call an ambulance or the police.
Your health-care provider can share your information in a situation like this: In the past, you've told your therapist that you're addicted to alcohol and have thought about suicide. If you call your therapist sounding drunk and say you're going to take your own life right now, they can share your information with the police.
Examples of situations when your health-care provider cannot share your information include when you've told your health-care provider that you:
- sometimes think about suicide
- abuse prescription drugs
- sometimes hurt yourself when you're sad
Hurting an adult
If you're likely to seriously hurt an adult, your health-care provider can share your information to try to stop you.
For example, your therapist can share your information if you say something like, “I'm going to stab person X tomorrow morning and I've got a plan about how I'll do it.” In that case your therapist could call the police to stop you.
But your therapist cannot share your information if you say something like, “Sometimes I think about punching other people when I'm angry.”
Harming a child
If your health-care provider thinks you're likely to physically, emotionally, or psychologically harm a child, the law says that they must tell a Children’s Aid Society.
Your health-care provider can share your information with a even if the child is not in physical danger. This includes situations where the child is psychologically or emotionally in danger.
