The topic of coercion is one of the biggest challenges for psychiatry. On the one hand, patients have a right to receive help, but on the other hand, they also have the right to self-determination. Sometimes these two fundamental rights are irreconcilable.
Society also has contradictory expectations: it demands that people with severe disorders receive treatment, perhaps even against their will. At the same time, psychiatry is under general suspicion of using coercion.
Although chains and straitjackets are no longer used, coercive measures are still in place in Swiss clinics. What is experienced as coercion also varies greatly from patient to patient. To prevent abuse, laws have been created to regulate the use of coercion. Today, an 'involuntary commitment' (IC) requires an acute risk to self or others. In the canton of Basel-Stadt, 10% of patients are currently admitted to the clinic by involuntary commitment, 90% enter voluntarily.