Involuntary psychiatric patients face prolonged suicide risk post-discharge

Involuntary psychiatric care (IPC) can be a vital intervention for individuals who are severely unwell and do not (or cannot) consent to care (Wang & Colucci, 2017). Its provision is a challenging area for psychiatry given its associations with a number of harms including coercive practices (as previously blogged about by Jessica Griffiths and Una Foye), high economic costs, decreased patient satisfaction, and crucially post-discharge suicide (Corderoy et al., 2024). History of psychiatric admission as a key risk factor for suicide is well documented, with approximately a third of suicide decedents observed to be in contact with psychiatric services within the four weeks prior to their death (Bergqvist et al.,…