When We Act On Risk

There are moments when sitting with something is not enough.

If your psychologist comes to believe there is a real risk to your life, or a real risk of harm or violence to someone else, they may act on it. This page explains what that means, because you should know it before it happens rather than during.

The basis for it

This is not a promise we ask you to sign away and it is not a consent you give us. Sections 23(2)(c), (d) and (e) of the Mental Healthcare Act 2017 permit release of information where it is necessary to protect another person from harm or violence, or to prevent a threat to life, and require that only the information necessary to protect against the identified harm is released.

So this is a duty the law places on your psychologist. It exists whether or not you agree to it, which also means you cannot accidentally sign it away.

What acting on it looks like

We contact the people in a position to prevent harm, and nobody else. Depending on the situation that might be someone you have named to us in advance, a family member or person close to you, emergency medical services, or the person we believe to be at risk.

We share the minimum required to prevent the harm. We do not disclose the rest of your history, and we do not tell anyone whose involvement would not reduce the risk.

If the risk is to you

Attempting suicide is not a crime in India. The Mental Healthcare Act 2017 changed that, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita carries no equivalent of the old Section 309.

This matters for what happens next. If you are in danger from yourself, the response is care: getting you to medical help, and involving the people who can keep you safe. Calling the police is not the default here and we do not treat it as one.

Telling your psychologist that you are having thoughts of ending your life will not, by itself, start any of this. Those thoughts are common, they are workable, and the room is the right place for them. What changes the response is imminent danger, and your psychologist will tell you plainly if they think you are there.

If the risk concerns someone under 18

The reporting duty under Section 19 of the POCSO Act 2012 applies and overrides our discretion. See our Confidentiality page.

What we will tell you

Where we can, we will tell you before we act. Where we cannot, we will tell you after: what we did, who we contacted, and what we shared. You are not going to find out by accident.