[Commitment of the mentally ill]

This investigation consists of a cross-sectional study on 1 June 1989 of committed or compulsorily detained psychiatric patients in Denmark according to the legislation no. 118 of 13 April 1938. All of the departments which had received committed patients during the past five years participated. 87.2% replied. A total of 275 persons were found who were involuntarily admitted or compulsorily detained during their stay in hospital, or both. 59.9% of the patients were in closed departments and the remainder in open departments. The prevalence of committed or compulsorily detained patients was low compared with conditions in Norway and Sweden. Almost half of the patients were schizophrenic. The voluntarily admitted, but compulsorily detained patients comprised 28.8% of the reported patients. Notifications of compulsory detentions to the Ministry of Justice involved 34.4%. Half of the patients were admitted less than 2 1/2 months prior to the investigation but approximately 10% had been admitted for over ten years, which emphasizes the necessity of good physical and mental surroundings in psychiatric institutions.