[Informal coercion: a critical look at psychiatric practices]

Psychiatric coercion is most often associated with visible practices that constitute human rights violations and are legally regulated, such as isolation, restraint, and involuntary treatment. Many constraints are exercised in a more diffuse manner in the daily interventions of healthcare staff. Informal coercion refers to practices whereby the decisions of people receiving psychiatric care are guided without explicit recourse to legal procedure. Considered a human rights violation by some and a benevolent action by others, it lies at the intersection of ethics and law.