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<title>Voluntary commitment</title>

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</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">This article is about v.c. in the context of psychiatry. For voluntary practices in the industry, see <a href="Voluntary_compliance" title="Voluntary compliance">Voluntary compliance</a>.</div>

<div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">For broader coverage of this topic, see <a href="Commitment_(mental_health)" class="mw-redirect" title="Commitment (mental health)">Commitment (mental health)</a>.</div>

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</style><table class="sidebar nomobile nowraplinks hlist law-sidebar"><tbody><tr><td class="sidebar-pretitle">Part of on</td></tr><tr><th class="sidebar-title-with-pretitle"><a href="Mental_health_law" title="Mental health law">Mental health law</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-image"><span typeof="mw:File"></span></td></tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading">

Part of</th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content">

<ul><li><a href="Mental_health" title="Mental health">Mental health</a></li>

<li><a href="Medical_law" title="Medical law">Medical law</a></li>

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General</th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content">

<ul><li><a href="Involuntary_treatment" title="Involuntary treatment">Involuntary treatment</a></li>

<li><a href="Involuntary_commitment" title="Involuntary commitment">Involuntary commitment</a> (<a href="Involuntary_commitment_by_country" title="Involuntary commitment by country">by country</a>)</li>

<li><a href="Outpatient_commitment" title="Outpatient commitment">Outpatient commitment</a></li>

<li><a href="Psychiatry" title="Psychiatry">Psychiatry</a></li></ul></td>

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Principles</th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content">

<ul><li><a href="Obligatory_Dangerousness_Criterion" title="Obligatory Dangerousness Criterion">Obligatory Dangerousness Criterion</a></li>

<li><a href="Duty_to_protect" title="Duty to protect">Duty to protect</a></li>

<li><a href="Automatism_(law)" title="Automatism (law)">Automatism</a></li></ul></td>

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Current procedures</th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content">

<ul><li><a href="Psychoactive_drug" title="Psychoactive drug"> Psychoactive drugs</a></li>

<li><a href="Castration" title="Castration">Castration</a></li>

<li><a href="Chemical_castration" title="Chemical castration">Chemical castration</a></li>

<li><a href="Psychosurgery" title="Psychosurgery">Psychosurgery</a></li></ul></td>

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Laws</th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content">

<ul><li><a href="Kendra's_Law" title="Kendra's Law">Kendra's Law</a></li>

<li><a href="Laura's_Law" title="Laura's Law">Laura's Law</a></li></ul></td>

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<p><b>Voluntary commitment</b> is the act or practice of choosing to admit oneself to a <a href="Psychiatric_hospital" title="Psychiatric hospital">psychiatric hospital</a>, or other mental health facility. Unlike in <a href="Involuntary_commitment" title="Involuntary commitment">involuntary commitment</a>, the person is free to leave the hospital <a href="Against_medical_advice" title="Against medical advice">against medical advice</a>, though there may be a requirement of a period of notice or that the leaving take place during daylight hours. In some jurisdictions, a distinction is drawn between <i>formal</i> and <i>informal</i> voluntary commitment, and this may have an effect on how much notice the individual must give before leaving the hospital. This period may be used for the hospital to use involuntary commitment procedures against the patient.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> People with mental illness can write <a href="Psychiatric_advance_directives" class="mw-redirect" title="Psychiatric advance directives">psychiatric advance directives</a> in which they can, in advance, consent to voluntary admission to a hospital and thus avoid involuntary commitment.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>In the UK, people who are admitted to hospital voluntarily are referred to either as <i>voluntary patients</i> or <i>informal patients</i>. These people are free to discharge against medical advice, unless it is felt that they are at immediate risk, then a doctor can use <a href="Mental_Health_Act_1983" title="Mental Health Act 1983">mental health law</a> to hold people in the hospital for up to 72 hours.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> People who are detained by mental health law are referred to as <i>formal patients</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>In Europe, the treatment of mental illness became a health policy priority under the impetus of the <a href="World_Health_Organization" title="World Health Organization">World Health Organization</a> Mental Health Plan for Europe<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> elaborated in 2005. This plan promoted a more effective balance between inpatient hospital care and outpatient care through the development of community mental healthcare services. Since the 1970s, the majority of European countries have shifted away from institutionalised care in large mental hospitals to the integration of patients in their living environment through the provision of home and community care services. Germany, England, France and Italy deinstitutionalized psychiatric care in the second half of the 20th century, but the speed and methods by which it was implemented varied, notably due to differences in social and political contexts. In Italy, the reform movement took place a little later. Until the 1968 Mariotti Law introducing voluntary internment, admission into a psychiatric hospital was only by compulsory commitment and was entered in an individual's criminal records.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Coercion">Coercion</h2></div>

<p>In some countries, voluntary patients are able to choose to decline treatment,<sup id="cite_ref-:0_8-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup class="reference nowrap"><span title="Page: 327">: 327 </span></sup> but service users may feel the need to comply with treatment to avoid formal commitment and remain in inpatient treatment and can experience <a href="Informal_coercion" title="Informal coercion">informal coercion</a> and some research suggests some voluntary patients are <a href="Involuntary_treatment" title="Involuntary treatment">involuntarily</a> forced to undergo treatment.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_8-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup class="reference nowrap"><span title="Page: 330">: 330 </span></sup> Voluntary patients are often not familiar with their legal rights or aware of their status.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_8-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup class="reference nowrap"><span title="Page: 331">: 331 </span></sup>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>

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</style><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://borderlinecentral.com/articles/voluntarycommitment.php">"Voluntary Commitment and Mental Health Law"</a>. <i>Borderline Central</i>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nrc-pad.org">"About PADs"</a>. <i>National Resource Center on Psychiatric Advanced Directives</i>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/legal-rights/voluntary-patients/">"Voluntary Patients"</a>. <i>Mind for better mental health</i>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">In England and Wales this is authorised under Section 5 of the <a href="Mental_Health_Act_1983" title="Mental Health Act 1983">Mental Health Act 1983</a></span>

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<li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.wlmht.nhs.uk/glossary/formal-patient/">"Formal Patient"</a>. <i>National Health Service West London</i>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/100822/edoc07.pdf">"WHO European Ministerial Conference on Mental Health"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. <i>WHO Europe</i>. WHO<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">December 2,</span> 2018</span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFColdefy" class="citation web cs1">Coldefy, Magali. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.irdes.fr/EspaceAnglais/Publications/IrdesPublications/QES180.pdf">"The Evolution of Psychiatric Care Systems in Germany, England, France and Italy: Similarities and Differences"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. <i>Questions d'économie de la Santé</i>. Institute for Research and Information in Health Economics<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">December 2,</span> 2018</span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-:0-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:0_8-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_8-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_8-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFPrebbleThomHudson2015" class="citation journal cs1">Prebble, Kate; Thom, Katey; Hudson, Elizabeth (2015-05-04). <span class="id-lock-subscription" title="Paid subscription required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13218719.2014.959156">"Service Users' Experiences of Voluntary Admission to Mental Hospital: A Review of Research Literature"</a></span>. <i>Psychiatry, Psychology and Law</i>. <b>22</b> (3): <span class="nowrap">327–</span>336. <a href="Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1080%2F13218719.2014.959156">10.1080/13218719.2014.959156</a>. <a href="ISSN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISSN (identifier)">ISSN</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1321-8719">1321-8719</a>. <a href="S2CID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="S2CID (identifier)">S2CID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:71213314">71213314</a>.</cite></span>

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This article is issued from <a class="external text" title="Last edited on 2025-05-25" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/?title=Voluntary_commitment&oldid=1292076065">Wikipedia</a>. The text is available under <a class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0</a> unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

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