Involuntary commitment in Ontario: some barriers to the provision of proper care.

The Ontario Mental Health Act, as amended in November 1978, provides strictly defined criteria for involuntary commitment for psychiatric assessment; the assessment can last up to 5 days. These criteria fail to cover a number of patients who are, in the author's opinion, in need of compulsory assessment or treatment. Four cases in which there was serious difficulty in giving proper care are described in this paper. The difficulties are discussed and improvements in the criteria for involuntary assessment recommended.