Editing Voluntary commitment (section)

{{Short description|Choosing to admit oneself to a psychiatric hospital}}
{{about|v.c. in the context of psychiatry|voluntary practices in the industry|Voluntary compliance}}
{{broader|Commitment (mental health)}}{{Mental health law sidebar}}
'''Voluntary commitment''' is the act or practice of choosing to admit oneself to a [[psychiatric hospital]], or other mental health facility. Unlike in [[involuntary commitment]], the person is free to leave the hospital [[against medical advice]], though there may be a requirement of a period of notice or that the leaving take place during daylight hours. In some jurisdictions, a distinction is drawn between ''formal'' and ''informal'' voluntary commitment, and this may have an effect on how much notice the individual must give before leaving the hospital. This period may be used for the hospital to use involuntary commitment procedures against the patient.<ref>{{cite web |title=Voluntary Commitment and Mental Health Law |url=http://borderlinecentral.com/articles/voluntarycommitment.php |website=Borderline Central}}</ref> People with mental illness can write [[psychiatric advance directives]] in which they can, in advance, consent to voluntary admission to a hospital and thus avoid involuntary commitment.<ref>{{cite web |title=About PADs |url=https://www.nrc-pad.org |website=National Resource Center on Psychiatric Advanced Directives}}</ref>

In the UK, people who are admitted to hospital voluntarily are referred to either as ''voluntary patients'' or ''informal patients''. These people are free to discharge against medical advice, unless it is felt that they are at immediate risk, then a doctor can use [[Mental Health Act 1983|mental health law]] to hold people in the hospital for up to 72 hours.<ref>{{cite web |title=Voluntary Patients |url=https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/legal-rights/voluntary-patients/ |website=Mind for better mental health}}</ref><ref>In England and Wales this is authorised under Section 5 of the [[Mental Health Act 1983]]</ref> People who are detained by mental health law are referred to as ''formal patients''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Formal Patient |url=https://www.wlmht.nhs.uk/glossary/formal-patient/ |website=National Health Service West London}}</ref>

In Europe, the treatment of mental illness became a health policy priority under the impetus of the [[World Health Organization]] Mental Health Plan for Europe<ref>{{cite web |title=WHO European Ministerial Conference on Mental Health |url=http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/100822/edoc07.pdf |website=WHO Europe |publisher=WHO |access-date=December 2, 2018}}</ref> elaborated in 2005. This plan promoted a more effective balance between inpatient hospital care and outpatient care through the development of community mental healthcare services. Since the 1970s, the majority of European countries have shifted away from institutionalised care in large mental hospitals to the integration of patients in their living environment through the provision of home and community care services. Germany, England, France and Italy deinstitutionalized psychiatric care in the second half of the 20th century, but the speed and methods by which it was implemented varied, notably due to differences in social and political contexts. In Italy, the reform movement took place a little later. Until the 1968 Mariotti Law introducing voluntary internment, admission into a psychiatric hospital was only by compulsory commitment and was entered in an individual's criminal records.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Coldefy |first1=Magali |title=The Evolution of Psychiatric Care Systems in Germany, England, France and Italy: Similarities and Differences |url=http://www.irdes.fr/EspaceAnglais/Publications/IrdesPublications/QES180.pdf |website=Questions d'économie de la Santé |publisher=Institute for Research and Information in Health Economics |access-date=December 2, 2018}}</ref>