EAs the mother of a son who has been treated in a psychiatric hospital for more than twenty years and an active member of concerned family associations, the debate was sparked by the accusation “Laxity” is directed against psychiatry, triggers violent reactions in me after the bloody news. “France is the country that holds the record for forced hospitalizations”the officials answer, and unfortunately this statement is true, which we should rather regret.

People with serious mental illnesses – around 3 million in France – do not spontaneously seek treatment, at least in the early stages of their chronic illness, sometimes for several years. Most of the time it is their relatives who contact the psychiatric services, but who ask that the sick person come to the medical-psychological center (CMP) in their neighborhood. When she feels bad, she usually doesn’t want to go.

We must therefore wait until the situation that is troubling relatives becomes untenable for services to intervene – not mental health services, but the police or fire brigade, if they consider themselves competent. This requires a hazard or violation. By then, several weeks, months or even years may have passed since the first warning. There “Crisis” then becomes one ” Emergency “which is seen by the psychiatric services alone as justification for hospitalizing the patient.

Questions about the tasks of psychiatry

This procedure is in fact the only one in France that applies to the care of a mentally ill person who does not recognize their illness. An involuntary hospitalization is too often the gateway to psychiatric care. When the patient leaves the hospital and returns to his home or to his loved ones, he is not alone, he has his prescription which states the medicines he must take.

Has he understood that he is sick, has he accepted recognizing himself as such and that he has to take care of himself so as not to relapse? According to the hospital, that’s not the issue: his bed needs to be made free and he has an appointment at CMP a month later. Will he go there? How long will his treatment last? Relapses are common and lead to another forced hospitalization, a return to the “starting point”. It is therefore not surprising that this type of hospitalization is very common in France. Does this mean that psychiatry has done its job?

You still have 55% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.