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My therapist says she might have to report my abusive family to the authorities. How do I avoid being reported so the cops don't show up and make everything worse? (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by sprigatito_bread@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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I (23M) started therapy today, hooray!

Only problem is, my family is too goddamn spicy. Once I got into my brother's (25M) increasingly homicidal fantasies and animal killings, she stopped me before I mentioned the threats he made to kill people and told me that she is a mandated reporter and has an obligation to report certain situations to the authorities.

I think adding police to the equation will make everything worse and immediately paint a target on my back because I am the only one who would ever disclose the violence that happens under this roof. It might result in me being homeless if I have to flee for my life. I live in Ohio and it's the middle of winter, so not a great start.

I wanted to work with a therapist because I grew up in this place and it traumatized me so badly that I'm scared of leaving this dump (not to mention, I have disabilities now that make that difficult). How much will I have to tiptoe around here? Is merely being afraid that someone will use violence against me reportable? What about if they fantasize about murder and domestic terrorism? What about violent crimes that they committed in the past? Or specific threats in the present?

Is therapy just not the right fit for this kind of thing? Did I end up with a heavy duty "fuck you" problem and therapy is just for "I feel sad sometimes" problems? It feels like bullshit to have to self-censor so much just because things were harder for me. How is throwing cops at the problem supposed to help when there is no universal basic sustenance or housing for the victims to escape to?

What are your experiences with mandated reporting, and how do you avoid triggering it?

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[-] innermachine@lemmy.world 1 points 23 hours ago

Get bent. I knew a kid that threatened to shoot up 26 individuals and had firearms. My best bud called the cops and they intervened. Mind you this kid was out friend and we knew he had issues and was spiraling. He did not get in any real shit for that but later got felony charges and can no longer own guns legally. Yes when people make threats and have the means to follow through , and is killing animals for pleasure something has to be done. This is real life, not a fucking joke and op needs to hear this before they end up a potential victim. There is a reason their asking for advice and going to therapy and it's because their in a dangerous situation that needs rectified. And fyi I do not watch serial killer documentaries, honestly not huge on TV in general. I'm beginning to wonder if you identify with the person in question having reacted the way you have, or maybe your in a similar boat to op and afraid to take the first step. Trust me things can be made better if you are willing to try to do something about it, perhaps if the brother gets help sooner than later they may never go down a dangerous path. Either way intervention has to happen.

this post was submitted on 05 Feb 2026

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