Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T13:38:32.456Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Treatment in the community in the absence of consent

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

J. A. T. Dyer
J. A. T. Dyer*
Affiliation:
Social Community and Rehabilitation Section, Royal College of Psychiatrists and Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland, Argyle House, Floor K, Lady Lawson Street, Edinburgh EH3 9SH
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Because of the nature of some mental illness, care and compulsion in psychiatry are not always antithetical. However, it is no longer acceptable to link compulsory treatment almost exclusively to compulsory hospitalisation. Treatment should occur in the least restrictive environment possible. This paper looks at experience of extended leave of absence in Scotland, and in England and Wales before 1986, at the recent evidence for an increased risk of violence and homicide in schizophrenia and the danger of a backlash against community care if it is perceived as unsafe, and makes suggestions in relation to research and to provision for treatment in the community in the absence of consent.

Type
Original Papers
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , February 1998 , pp. 73 - 76
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

References

Anonymous (1996) Violence may be predicted amongst psychiatric patients. British Medical Journal 313, 318.Google Scholar
Atkinson, J. M., Gilmour, W. H., Dyer, J. A. T., et al (1997) Consultants' views of Leave of Absence and Community Care Orders in Scotland. Psychiatric Bulletin, 21, 91–94.Google Scholar
Eronen, M., Hakola, P. & Tilhonen, J. (1996) Mental disorders and homicidal behaviour in Finland. Archives of General Psychiatry, 53, 497–501.Google Scholar
Hafner, H. & Boker, W. (1982) Crimes of Violence by Mentally Abnormal Offenders. The Psychiatric Epidemiology in the Federal German Republic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hodgins, S. (1992) Mental disorder, intellectual deficiency and crime: evidence from a birth cohort. Archives of General Psychiatry, 49, 476–483.Google Scholar
Humphries, M. S., Johnstone, E. C., MacMillan, J. F., et al (1992) Dangerous behaviour preceding first admissions for schizophrenia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 161, 501–505.Google Scholar
Lindqvist, P. & Allebeck, P. (1990) Schizophrenia and crime: a longitudinal study of 644 schizophrenics in Stockholm. British Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 345–350.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Royal College of Psychiatrists (1996) Report of the Confidential Enquiry into Suicides and Homicides by Mentally Ill People. London: Royal College of Psychiatrists.Google Scholar
Sensky, T., Hughes, T. & Hirsch, S. (1991) Compulsory psychiatric treatment in the community. I: A controlled study of compulsory community treatment with extended leave under the Mental Health Act: special characteristics of patients treated and impact of treatment. British Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 792–799.Google Scholar
Taylor, P. J. & Gunn, J. (1984) Violence and Psychosis. I: risk of violence among psychotic men. British Medical Journal 288,11945–1949.Google Scholar
Wessely, S., Castle, D., Douglas, A. J., et al (1994) The criminal careers of incident cases of schizophrenia. Psychological Medicine, 24, 483–502.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.