[Involuntary commitment as a source of perceived coercion]

Involuntary commitment is a topic that provokes a lot of controversy. Authors, supported by a review of literature, explain the need for conducting research on the use of coercion in psychiatry. They also attempt to answer the question whether a formal status of admission to hospital may possibly reflect the presence or lack of coercion. Further in the article they review the tools needed to make a subjective assessment of coercion associated with admission and they present results of their research with the use of these tools. The authors also point to the fact that the patient's retrospective confirmation of the need for hospitalisation may be a basis for their involuntary commitment but it does not, however, have any influence on the moral assessment of the need for coercion. Moreover, it does not arise out of this that the patient has come to terms with involuntary commitment after its completion. The need, then, to minimize the patient's perception of coercion while committed, becomes a very important matter which should be taken into account during treatment. This is both related to the fact that the perception of coercion is an undesirable factor but also that it may negatively influence the patient's cooperation during treatment.