Durham M L
Hosp Community Psychiatry. 1985 Sep;36(9):975-7. doi: 10.1176/ps.36.9.975.
In 1979 the State of Washington revised its civil commitment law to make it easier to hospitalize patients in need of care but not imminently dangerous to themselves or others. To assess the impact of the law, the author studied commitment patterns in Washington for two-year periods before and after the revised law went into effect. Results indicate that the number of involuntary commitments increased substantially after the law was revised, and the commitments were more likely to be based on grave disability rather than on dangerousness even if patients had engaged in violent behavior. However, the mental health system did not expand sufficiently to meet the needs of the increased patient population. Implications of Washington's experience for states considering passage of need-for-treatment legislation are discussed.
1979年，华盛顿州修订了其民事收容法，以便更易于将需要护理但对自身或他人并无紧迫危险的患者送进医院。为评估该法律的影响，作者研究了华盛顿州在修订后的法律生效前后两个两年期内的收容模式。结果表明，法律修订后非自愿收容的人数大幅增加，而且即使患者有暴力行为，收容更有可能基于严重残疾而非危险性。然而，心理健康系统并未充分扩张以满足增加的患者群体的需求。文中讨论了华盛顿州的经验对考虑通过治疗需求立法的各州的启示。
