[Using force in psychiatry. Evaluation of restraint documentation in a psychiatric hospital].

The documentation of restraints in a psychiatric hospital was examined over the period of a year as regards frequency and duration of restraints as well as the reasons for them. Based upon this statistical evaluation, the conditions which lead to the use of force in psychiatry are discussed in general, taking into account disease-related causes and--above all--institutional and environmental factors as well as causes related to interaction. Final considerations investigate if and how an increase in staff and concrete support for the everyday running of a ward can diminish the potential for violence, thus rendering restraints unnecessary as far as possible.