Community treatment orders: an overview

Most psychiatrists will have faced the dilemma of managing the ‘revolving door’ patient at some point. These patients typically do well on enforced treatment in hospital whilst detained under the Mental Health Act but remain limited in their insight regarding the need for, and benefit of, treatment; when discharged from their Mental Health Act section, back into their community, they soon stop the medication and eventually suffer a relapse in mental illness, leading to another admission, often under the Mental Health Act once again. This is a source of endless frustration to their families and to all the professionals involved in their care.