Verified by Commitment Issues
Focuses on issues concerning forced psychiatric treatment or involuntary commitment in the United States. Number of states which have involuntary outpatient treatment laws; Effects of forced psychiatric treatment.
By PT Staff published May 1, 2001 - last reviewed on June 9, 2016
Forced psychiatric treatment has been the "most consistently debatedissue in mental health law for the last 30 years," say the authors of a recent report on involuntary commitment, conducted by Rand Corp., a nonprofit group in California. They discovered that the debate is far from over.
Currently, 38 states have involuntary outpatient treatment laws, meaning that a court can order a mentally ill person into psychiatric care. Recent clinical studies of the effects have had varying results:
One could find no differences between the people ordered into treatment and those who chose it voluntarily, but another indicated that with proper follow-up care, court-ordered treatment could be beneficial to people who would not otherwise seek help.
