CONSUMER PERCEPTIONS OF PRESSURE AND FORCE IN PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENTS

Objective: Mental health consumers with serious mental illness were su rveyed to obtain information about their experiences with and attitude s toward forced psychiatric treatment. Methods: A 61-item survey quest ionnaire developed by the authors was administered by consumer volunte ers to 105 persons with serious mental illness who were attending seve n rehabilitation centers in Maryland. The questionnaire covered consum ers' experiences and attitudes in three areas of forced treatment: med ication, outpatient therapy or rehabilitation, and hospitalization. Re sults: At some time during the coarse of their illness, 57 percent of the respondents reported having been pressured or forced into hospital ization. In the year before the survey, 30 percent reported being pres sured or forced into taking medication and 26 percent into attending a therapy or rehabilitation program. The most common type of pressure o r force was verbal persuasion. Generally, respondents reported negativ e effects from forced treatment, although the intensity of the negativ e effects varied by treatment area, and about half retrospectively fel t that the forced treatment was in their best interest. Many responden ts believed that pressure or force has an appropriate role in psychiat ric treatment, although most wished to maintain the right to refuse tr eatment that they considered not in their best interest. Conclusions: Differences in patterns of response to pressure and force in the three treatment areas highlight the variety of consumer experiences and the need to know more about the role of forced or pressured treatment in their lives.