Public attitude to compulsory admission of mentally ill people.

OBJECTIVE: Assessing the public attitude to compulsory admission of mentally ill in Switzerland and analyzing the influence of demographic, psychological, and sociological factors.
METHOD: We conducted a representative telephone survey with 1737 interviewees. In a logistic regression analysis compulsory admission was used as the dependent variable.
RESULTS: More than 70% of the respondents display a positive attitude to compulsory admission. Education, negative stereotypes, and living in the French speaking part of Switzerland are predictors for accepting compulsory admission whereas older age, extreme political opinion, and rigid personality traits show an inverse effect. Negative emotions, anomie, social distance, and contact to mentally ill have no significant influence.
CONCLUSION: The mostly positive attitude to compulsory admission suggests that the public trust in psychiatry to deal with the assigned responsibility.