Forcing Psychiatric Treatment on Individuals Not Successful

Forcing individuals to undergo psychiatric treatment in and of itself will not lead to use of fewer health services or reduce the risk of readmission, reported researchers at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Canadian Psychiatric Association, held October 30th to November 2nd in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The study, which included all community-based and inpatient psychiatric services in Western Australia, examined whether community treatment orders (CTOs) had any effect on the use of mental health services. Study participants were matched on discharge date, socio-demographic factors, clinical features and psychiatric history.

End result? The researchers found that CTO cases (forcebly treated) had significantly higher readmission rates (73%) compared to the other two groups (57% and 65%),

So if the commitment is forced, the readmission rate is much higher.....