The case of 31-year-old woman suffering from schizophrenia with movement disorder is described. The patient had a 7-year history of schizophrenia. In course of the psychiatric treatment the patient presented dystonic movements within abdominal muscles. The dystonic movements were of mixed character, including voluntary and involuntary ones what might have suggested their psychogenic origin. Sub...

OBJECTIVE This study examined whether persons with mental illness who undergo a period of involuntary outpatient commitment continue to receive prescribed medications and avoid psychiatric hospitalization after outpatient commitment ends. METHODS Data on Medicaid pharmacy fills and inpatient treatment were used to describe patterns of medication possession and hospitalization for persons with...

BACKGROUND Alcohol dependence is a chronic relapsing illness. While some patients respond to treatment, others continue to drink alcohol and suffer serious health effects such as delirium tremens, liver failure, heart disease, and central nervous effects. One option society has used to force treatment and abstinence is the legal mechanism of "involuntary commitment." The goal of this study was ...

OBJECTIVES Mental health laws set criteria that limit the use of involuntary admission to specific circumstances, and clinicians are expected to justify the lawfulness of such detention by referral to these criteria. The South Australian Mental Health Act 1993 required grounds to be documented on the detention form, specifically with respect to the presence of a mental illness, risk to self or ...

After five years of legislative tussling, California has passed a law, written by Assemblywoman Helen Thomson (a former psychiatric nurse), that purports to provide for court-ordered (involuntary) outpatient treatment for certain persons with mental illness. The law, which went into effect January 1, 2003, is alternatively titled Laura’s Law and The Assisted Outpatient Treatment Demonstration P...