Psychiatric patients’ views on why their involuntary hospitalisation was right or wrong: a qualitative study
Abstract
Purpose To explore involuntary patients' retrospective views on why their hospitalisation was right or wrong.Methods Involuntary patients were recruited from 22 hospitals in England and interviewed in-depth. The study drew on grounded theory and thematic analysis.Results Most of the patients felt mentally unwell before admission and out of control during their treatment. Despite these common experiences, three groups of patients with distinct views on their involuntary hospitalisation were identified: those who believed that it was right, those who thought it was wrong and those with ambivalent views. Those with retrospectively positive views believed that hospitalisation ensured that they received treatment, averted further harm and offered them the opportunity to recover in a safe place. They felt that coercion was necessary, as they could not recognise that they needed help when acutely unwell. Those who believed that involuntary admission was wrong thought that their problems could have been managed through less coercive interventions, and experienced hospitalisation as an unjust infringement of their autonomy, posing a permanent threat to their independence. Patients with ambivalent views believed that they needed acute treatment and that hospitalisation averted further harm. Nonetheless, they thought that their problems might have been managed through less coercive community interventions or a shorter voluntary hospitalisation.Conclusions The study illustrates why some patients view their involuntary hospitalisation positively, whereas others believe it was wrong. This knowledge could inform the development of interventions to improve patients' views and treatment experiences.
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Some people who have experienced involuntary psychiatric admission and treatment feel they have benefited from their treatment.
“Some studies have shown that people who have experienced involuntary psychiatric admission and treatment feel they have benefited from their treatment”
From “Backed into a Corner”: Lived experiences of receiving and providing involuntary psychiatric treatment under British Columbia’s Mental Health Act (2026) · cites this paper as [50]
People who have experienced involuntary psychiatric admission and treatment would have preferred to receive treatment through voluntary means with opportunities for fully informed decision-making.
“Similar to the participants in this study, reports elsewhere have noted study participants views that their primary concern was not with the need for psychiatric retreatment, but that they would have preferred to receive treatment through voluntary means with opportunities for fully informed decision-making [15,44,50].”
From “Backed into a Corner”: Lived experiences of receiving and providing involuntary psychiatric treatment under British Columbia’s Mental Health Act (2026) · cites this paper as [50]
Some people who have experienced involuntary psychiatric admission and treatment felt they would not have accepted treatment otherwise.
“and others have documented perspectives that participants felt they would not have accepted treatment otherwise [15,46,50]”
From “Backed into a Corner”: Lived experiences of receiving and providing involuntary psychiatric treatment under British Columbia’s Mental Health Act (2026) · cites this paper as [50]
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“…treatment settings: Some studies have shown that people who have experienced involuntary psychiatric admission and treatment feel they have benefited from their treat-ment, and others have documented perspectives that participants felt they would not have accepted treatment otherwise [15,46,50].”
- Authors
- Katsakou, C., Rose, D., Amos, T., Bowers, L., McCabe, R., Oliver, D., Wykes, T., & Priebe, S.
- Affiliations
- Queen Mary University of London (GB)
- King's College London (GB)
- University of Bristol (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Katsakou, Christina
- Venue
- Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
- Published
- 2011-08-24
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1169-1179
- ISSN
- 0933-7954 (ISSN-L)
- 1433-9285
- OpenAlex
- W2074245334
- Cited by
- 167
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 9.30
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Explore Bristol Research (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
- NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust/Institute of Cancer Research
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (0230072)
- National Institutes of Health
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Healthcare Decision-Making and Restraints
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychiatric care and mental health services
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies
- Keywords
- involuntary hospitalisation, psychiatric patients, patient perspectives, coercion in mental health care, patient autonomy, retrospective view, ambivalence, community mental health services, treatment experience
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Attitude, Mental Disorders, Coercion, Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders, England, Female, Hospitalization, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Qualitative Research
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