Admission experiences of psychiatric patients in tertiary care: An implication toward Mental Health Care Bill, 2013.

BACKGROUND: Coercion is not uncommon phenomenon among mental health service users during their admission into psychiatric hospital. Research on perceived coercion of psychiatric patients is limited from India. AIM: To investigate perceived coercion of psychiatric patients during admission into a tertiary care psychiatric hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional descriptive survey carried out among randomly selected psychiatric patients (n = 205) at a tertiary care center. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using structured questionnaire. RESULTS: Our findings revealed that participants experienced low levels of coercion during their admission process. However, a majority of the participants were threatened with commitment (71.7%) as well as they were sad (67.8%), unpleased (69.7%), confused (73.2%), and frightened (71.2%) with regard to hospitalization into a psychiatric hospital. In addition, the participants expressed higher levels of negative pressures (mean ± standard deviation, 3.76 ± 2.12). Participants those were admitted involuntarily (P > 0.001), diagnosed to be having psychotic disorders (P > 0.003), and unmarried (P > 0.04) perceived higher levels of coercion. CONCLUSION: The present study showed that more formal coercion was experienced by the patients those got admitted involuntarily. On the contrary, participants with voluntary admission encountered informal coercion (negative pressures). There is an urgent need to modify the Mental Health Care (MHC) Bill so that treatment of persons with mental illness is facilitated. Family member plays an important role in providing MHC; hence, they need to be empowered.

Influence of Religion on Attitude Towards Suicide: An Indian Perspective.

This cross-sectional survey was aimed to compare attitudes towards suicide and suicidal behaviour among randomly selected sample (N = 172) belonged to Hindu and Muslim religions. Data were collected through face-to-face interview. Hindus differed from Muslims regarding suicidal attempts among family (χ (2) = 12.356, p < .002) and community members (χ (2) = 20.425, p < .000). Our study also showed that suicidal behaviours were comparatively low among Muslim participants than Hindus. Further, Muslims hold more negative attitudes towards suicide than Hindus. An enhanced understanding of attitudes towards suicide among general population may be crucial to plan educational, intervention and prevention programs.

Gender Differences Related to Attitudes Toward Suicide and Suicidal Behavior.

This descriptive study examined gender differences related to attitudes toward suicide among randomly selected urban residents. Data was collected using a standardized questionnaire through face-to-face interview. Our findings revealed that men hold more pro preventive attitudes to help persons with suicidal thoughts (80.3 %, p = 0.05) and agreed that suicidal attempts are impulsive (78.6 %, p = 0.01). However, they hold permissive attitude to help persons with incurable diseases and expressing death wishes to die (66 %, p = 0.05). A majority of men (78.6 %) than women agreed that "suicidal attempt is essentially a cry for help" (χ (2) = 11.798, p = 0.05). These gender differences need to be taken into consideration when developing appropriate programs to prevent suicide. Further, decriminalizing the law, high-quality research and raising awareness about suicide prevention among the general population is crucial in developing countries like India.