A National Scan of Psychiatric Involuntary Hold Policies

摘要

Psychiatric involuntary holds are initiated when an individual suffering from mental illness is deemed a danger to themselves or others. Each state and the District of Columbia has its own legislation outlining the process for involuntary holds and the assessments that take place during a hold. A variety of individuals, professional and non-professional, can be involved in the process. Each state also sets a time limit during which a person can be held, and specific language that details the behavior of individuals that are eligible for psychiatric involuntary holds. This information was gathered by examining each statesu27 codes involving psychiatric involuntary hold policy and tallying the number of appearance of certain categories of language. National trends in this important process within the American psychiatric system were recorded and visualized using maps.