Endorsement of personal benefit of outpatient commitment among persons with severe mental illness

This study examines whether individuals who experienced involuntary outpatient commitment (OPC) attribute benefit to this intervention. It was found that the majority of experimental subjects who underwent a period of OPC did not personally endorse OPC's benefits at the end of the study, either because they did not think it improved treatment adherence or because they rejected their own need for continued treatment. However, at the end of the study, a positive appraisal of benefit was roughly twice as likely among subjects who actually experienced positive treatment outcomes. These data provide little support for acceptance and "gratitude" as a rationale to support decision making about OPC continuation. Rather, clinicians need to rely on other clinical and empirical data for such decision making.