If someone told their GP about psychotic symptoms, would they be sectioned?

Hi! I have psychotic depression and have had multiple episodes over the years. The bar is very, very high to get sectioned. It's never even been discussed for me, and there have been times I'm actively self-harming, including suicide attempts . To be blunt, as long as I'm not obviously about to die - and I do mean obviously - they won't even consider hospitalising you. Given the state of the NHS and the lack of beds, you would have to be so far out there before they'd admit you. I have a friend with schizophrenia who has been sectioned multiple times and they've also said they're desperate not to have to admit people these days. A key factor that's often considered an indicator of severity is something they call insight, which is whether or not the person is aware what they're experiencing isn't real. Sounds like your relative does have insight, which is a good sign. What should happen is that their GP should refer them to the community mental health team, specifically to an Early Intervention in Psychosis team. These folks specialise in helping folks through their first year or so with psychosis, and they'll likely see them regularly (every few days if necessary) to begin with, get them started on medication, and discuss therapy and practical help if needed. They'll come out to you if you can't get to them, and they'll have a crisis line available at all times. With your relative's permission, they'll happily involve family and help get you all through this. EIP teams are the gold standard treatment for a first episode of psychosis, and it's possible that your relative will have one episode and this will never happen again. Even if that's not the case and the episodes continue, they can be managed. I'm a patchwork of mental and physical health problems, but my psychosis, while scary at times and the meds having the occasional irritating side effect (weight gain, emotional numbness, clashing with other stuff I have to take) is not ruining my life. It's manageable, it's mostly managed, and it's generally more of a nuisance than a disaster. It doesn't make me less of a person, it doesn't reduce my value, my utility or my humanity, it's just a bizarre glitch in the wiring. I've been living with this since my early teens, first went to a doctor at 18, and am now 41. Ask me questions if you want, I'll help if I can. To your relative: I know this is terrifying but you will be okay. You're doing the right thing asking for help, and you can *be* helped. This happens to a lot more people than you realise, and we're almost all out here walking around scratching our butts and wondering what's for tea with everyone else. This is just a bump in the road, not a car crash and certainly not the end of the road.