Patients with borderline personality disorder and the effects of compulsory admissions on self-harm behaviour: a questionnaire study

Figures & data

Figure 1. Number of respondents: 274.

Figure 2. Number of respondents to the first three statements: 268. Number of respondents to last two statements: 270.

Figure 3. Number of respondents: 275.

Figure 4. Number of respondents: 273.

Table 1. Qualitative analysis of comments. See Supplementary Appendix III.

Themes	Categories
Pros and cons of compulsory care	Advantages of compulsory admissions ‘Depends on the individual and how easily they can refrain from self-harm with the staff’s support. For some, admission automatically seems to have a calming effect, independent of the form of care.’
	Disadvantages of compulsory admissions ‘According to experience, the risk of self-harm is lowest after 2–3 days. After that, self-harm behaviours increase considerably!’
Patients’ actions and influence	Patients demand compulsory care for various perceived benefits ‘ Compulsory care can give a sense of being taken care of and being able to let go of the responsibility for one’s safety.’
	Different views on how patients’ interaction style affects their care ‘A patient who demands constant attention and is seen and heard and makes demands, often (but not always) gets more care interventions.’
Compulsory admissions for other than direct medical reasons	Compulsory admissions related to doctors’ fears and interests ‘Doctors don’t dare [discharging] because of fear of losing their doctor’s license or being litigated.’
	Compulsory admission related to outpatient care ‘The special housing doesn’t welcome the patient back, [they have] cancelled the accommodation while the patient is in hospital. The housing lacks competence to ‘bring the patient back’ because of an increase in self-harm behaviour.’
Suggested changes to improve care	Positive experiences from short voluntary admissions ‘Brief self-admissions to these patients. With a qualifying period between admissions. For example, brief admission 2–3 nights and then 3–7 days must pass before the patient can seek admission again.’
	Need for better inpatient planning, structure, and care content ‘Structured and well-planned care. Deciding on discharge date already at the beginning of the admission. What goals are to be met together with the patient during admission?’
	Need for better outpatient and social interventions ‘Better back-up at home, for example, outpatient care, housing support, etc.’

Data availability statement

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request