What it feels like to be compulsorily detained for treatment.

It was a Bic—the biro—that changed my life. I’ve wondered since if the doctor using it knew that many years later his signature that day would still have impact. I hadn’t seen it coming. I do now; watching for it affects all my interactions in healthcare. But that day, when the doctor arrived in the emergency department, I thought he’d come to discuss my blood tests. Less than 10 minutes later he was sitting at the nurses’ station with the biro, signing the form. And with that, I entered a world of compulsion. The choices I thought I had were gone. First for 72 hours then for 28 days, and then for six months. I didn’t leave the hospital for almost a year. The hidden harms