[Compulsory treatment in psychiatry from the viewpoint of the patient. A prospective study]

During a 6-month period all patients who had been treated involuntarily in a state-funded mental mental health unit were studied prospectively. They were interviewed after the first compulsory measure and at the end of treatment. A control group of patients (not experiencing involuntary treatment) were interviewed as well. The aim of the study was to establish whether the groups differed with respect to judgement of subjective well-being and satisfaction with treatment. The stability of these judgements over time and especially changes in perception and acceptance of involuntary treatment during the course of treatment were also monitored. the 36 patients in the study group perceived themselves as being far less ill at both time points and were less satisfied with treatment than the 29 control patients. At the end of treatment, all patients judged themselves to be significantly more ill retrospectively and patients of the study group were more satisfied with treatment than at the beginning. When questioned in the days after an involuntary measure, 25% of the patients concerned denied that any measure had taken place against their will; at the end of the hospital stay this figure had increased to 42%. In contrast, four control patients complained that they had been involuntarily subjected to treatment. In discordance with the previously published literature, the acceptance of involuntary treatment declined over time.