PATIENTS ATTITUDES TOWARD HAVING BEEN FORCIBLY MEDICATED

Forced antipsychotic medication procedures are generally perceived to be clinically necessary options, albeit violations of individuals' bod ies and autonomy. Previous studies have explored forcibly medicated pa tients' attitudes concerning these procedures, but as patients were in terviewed while still in the hospital, this may have affected their re sponses. We interviewed consecutively forcibly medicated English-speak ing acute-care inpatients after their discharge to the community. The interviews were conducted by telephone by a clinician not involved wit h their treatment. Of 65 such patients, 7 had already been rehospitali zed, 3 could not recall the procedure, and 25 others refused the inter view or were not locatable. Of the 30 who were successfully interviewe d, only 47 percent had received any forced injections; the remainder h ad accepted oral medication under duress. Recollecting their experienc es, 57 percent professed fear of side effects, 17 percent feared ''add iction,'' and 17 percent objected to others' controlling them. Forty p ercent recalled feeling angry, 33 percent helpless, 23 percent fearful , 13 percent embarrassed, but 23 percent were relieved. Surprisingly, 60 percent retrospectively agreed with having been coerced, 53 percent stating they were more likely to take medication voluntarily in the f uture. Other forcibly medicated patients had poorer outcomes, such as rapid readmission or discharge to a state hospital: those patients may have harbored more negative feelings. However, a substantial fraction of the patients who were reached in the community appeared to support having received medication forcibly as inpatients.