In total, 11,827 patients were cared for according to the law on psychiatric compulsory care, LPT, in 2023. Half were men, half were women. In 2022, a total of 12,313 patients were cared for, which means that the decrease in 2023 amounts to 486 patients.
Jenny Wetterling, spokesperson for the National Association for Social and Mental Health (RSMH), tells TT that it is gratifying that the number of compulsorily cared for patients is decreasing.
We think that a lot of different work has been done recently and that it is starting to pay off in a positive way. It seems that alternative paths have been found and the law is being followed. Active work has been done to reduce compulsory measures and is on the right track, she says.
But we still stand by our goal of having a zero vision for compulsory measures. Patients lose trust and compulsory measures are traumatic. It's not the kind of care we should be providing. There's so much more to offer within healthcare, we need to continue that work, she continues.
In the age range of 0-24 years, a total of 2,127 patients were compulsorily cared for in 2023, 1,173 of whom were girls and women.
We have as a goal that restraints for children and young people should not occur at all, which is in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, says Wetterling.
In 2023, approximately 1,500 patients were also cared for according to the law on forensic psychiatric care, the statistics show. 87 percent of these were men and 13 percent were women.
