A plea for respect: involuntarily hospitalized psychiatric patients' narratives about being subjected to coercion.

Eighteen involuntarily hospitalized psychiatric patients narrated their experiences of being subjected to coercion and their thoughts on how to prevent the coercion. A qualitative content analysis identified recurring themes, which were incorporated in two core themes describing the participants' experience. The core theme Not being respected as a human being included most of their narrated experiences, described in the themes Not being involved in one's own care, Receiving care perceived as meaningless and not good, and Being an inferior kind of human being. The core theme Being respected as a human being included a minor part of the narrated experiences and how the participants wanted things to be, described in the themes Being involved in one's own care, Receiving good care, and Being a human being like other people. The participants' plea for respect is discussed in relation to the ongoing deinstitutionalization of psychiatric care and the need for attitude changes in care and community, leading to the treating of mentally disordered people with more respect.