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Cited by 24Psychiatric care and mental health servicesHealthcare Decision-Making and RestraintsMental Health Treatment and Access

Fear, Neglect, Coercion, and Dehumanization: Is Inpatient Psychiatric Trauma Contributing to a Public Health Crisis?

Open access
Jina-Pettersen, Nourredine·2022·Journal of Patient Experience
DOI 10.1177/23743735221079138PMC PMC9373183
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Abstract

Inpatient psychiatric hospitalization is often negatively experienced, with previous studies indicating a high frequency of traumatic occurrences. This study aimed to expand upon such research, by obtaining service user perspectives on how inpatient psychiatric hospitalization may constitute an experience of trauma. Relevant posts and comments on the Reddit community r/PsychWardChronicles were collected that described potentially traumatic experiences associated with hospitalization. Reflexive thematic analysis of the data led to the development of 3 themes: neglect and abuse, coercion and obedience, as well as dehumanization and fear. Overall, hospitalization was found to induce significant fear, which eventually acted as a deterrent to seeking future mental healthcare services. Many traumatic occurrences were found to arise from care providers’ behaviors. As hospitalization was experienced to be harmful, many patients reported complying in the hopes of being discharged. Increased fear and traumatic stress due to inpatient stays coupled with the subsequent avoidance of mental health services may contribute to a significant public health problem as many previous patients may then avoid needed mental health support.

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Crossref · 10.1177/23743735221079138

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  • Rigid rules and routines were the most consistently reported as restrictive in the literature.

    “it was the rigid rules and routines that were most consistently reported as restrictive in the literature [51,89,102,104,114,141,142,145,149,152,153,161].”

    From Factors Associated with Perceived Coercion in Adults Receiving Psychiatric Care: A Scoping Review (2025) · cites this paper as [145]

    The Introduction (page unavailable) discusses strict hospital policies and nurses’ strict application of rules, noting that safety-oriented practices may have harmful effects. It does not say that rigid rules and routines were the most consistently reported restrictions in the literature. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Certain enforced rules were especially dehumanizing, such as requiring patients to undress, undergo searches, and wear hospital gowns in front of staff-an experience particularly traumatic for individuals with a history of sexual abuse.

    “Certain enforced rules were especially dehumanizing, such as requiring patients to undress, undergo searches, and wear hospital gowns in front of staff [149]—an experience that was particularly traumatic for individuals with a history of sexual abuse [114,145].”

    From Factors Associated with Perceived Coercion in Adults Receiving Psychiatric Care: A Scoping Review (2025) · cites this paper as [145]

    In Results > Dehumanization and Fear (page not specified), a patient describes staff watching them undress and change into hospital scrubs, leaving them humiliated and without privacy. This supports the cited description of a dehumanizing clothing-change experience, but the passage does not mention a search or establish that these were enforced rules. The sentence cites other sources for the separate claim about people with a history of sexual abuse. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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  • These studies shed light on how structural factors such as rigid ward rules, locked units, lack of privacy, resource scarcity, and dehumanizing practices deeply influence individuals' perceptions of coercion.

    “For instance, these studies shed light on how structural factors such as rigid ward rules, locked units, lack of privacy, resource scarcity, and dehumanizing practices deeply influence individuals’ perceptions of coercion [51,89,102,104,114,141,142,145,149,152,153,161].”

    From Factors Associated with Perceived Coercion in Adults Receiving Psychiatric Care: A Scoping Review (2025) · cites this paper as [145]

    The Results (‘Dehumanization and Fear’; no page provided) describe a patient’s loss of privacy and humiliation, while the Discussion links dehumanizing practices and insufficient staffing or funding to coercive care. The paper does not address rigid ward rules or locked units as factors shaping patients’ perceptions of coercion, so it supports only part of the cited list. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 24

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Authors
Jina-Pettersen, N.
Affiliations
Maastricht University (NL)
Corresponding author
Jina-Pettersen, Nourredine
ORCID
Jina-Pettersen, Nourredine
Venue
Journal of Patient Experience
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2022-01
Volume
9
Pages
23743735221079138-23743735221079138
ISSN
  • 2374-3735 (ISSN-L)
  • 2374-3743
DOI
10.1177/23743735221079138
PMC
PMC9373183
OpenAlex
W4290988849
Cited by
24
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 3
FWCI
3.88
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Patient Experience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychiatric care and mental health services
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Healthcare Decision-Making and Restraints
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
Keywords
inpatient psychiatric hospitalization, service user experiences, abuse and neglect, coercion, dehumanization, fear, traumatic stress, help-seeking avoidance, mental health service utilization, Reddit posts

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