Being Sectioned

People share their experiences of being sectioned under the mental health act and reveal that sectioning can sometimes be more traumatic than helpful.

Being sectioned. The law enables people to be admitted treated and detained in hospital against their will as long as certain procedures are followed. Being sectioned means that you are kept in hospital under the mental health act. You are unable or unwilling to agree to admission.

See our pages on sectioning for more information. Sectioned is a commonly used term that refers to someone who is detained under a section of the mental health act in a psychiatric hospital. You need to be in hospital to have the assessment or treatment.

Involuntary commitment or civil commitment also known informally as sectioning or being sectioned in some jurisdictions such as the united kingdom is a legal process through which an individual who is deemed by a qualified agent to have symptoms of severe mental disorder is ordered by a court into treatment in a psychiatric hospital inpatient or in the community outpatient. There are different types of sections each with different rules to keep you in hospital. If you are on a section 3 that is for treatment then the treatment you need must be available at the hospital in which you re detained.