Worrisome Practices of Involuntary Treatment in Psychiatric Hospitals Persist, Says Rights Defender

The practices of involuntary treatment in psychiatric hospitals continue to be a significant concern, as stated by Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan. The requests from psychiatric hospitals regarding treatment against a person's will or without their consent, as well as court decisions, are superficial and lack sufficient justification.

Specifically, the case files of individuals in psychiatric hospitals do not contain legal grounds for initiating involuntary treatment. The findings raise serious fears regarding the artificial and unfounded nature of such treatment processes.

A troubling practice exists where, instead of ensuring informed consent for hospitalization and treatment, psychiatric hospitals present uniform requests to the court based on standard “Medical Commission Conclusions,” without adequate justifications regarding the individual's risk and the necessity for hospitalization.

It is particularly alarming that over the years, a group of patients who were treated “voluntarily” have inexplicably been deemed “highly dangerous to themselves and those around them,” yet this is not substantiated in their medical records by the treating physicians.

The judicial practice is severely condemnable. Not only do the standardized requests from psychiatric hospitals fail to raise eyebrows among judges, but also the judicial acts related to initiating involuntary treatment are generally based on these standardized formulations without sufficient substantial arguments. The court decisions predominantly differ only in the patients' names and diagnoses, indicating that the acts regarding involuntary treatment are also standard and superficial in nature.

More details are provided in the annual report of the Human Rights Defender, which serves as a preventive mechanism.