The paradoxical increase in involuntary admissions after the revision of the Civil Commitment Law in Belgium

Abstract

The revision in 1990 of the Mental Health Commitment Law in Belgium, which was initially intended to decrease the use of civil commitment, has resulted in a paradoxical increase in involuntary hospital admissions. To understand the reasons for this increase, the relative importance of the various factors involved, notably the criteria of mental illness, dangerousness and clinical treatability, is examined.