title: Recovery in involuntary psychiatric care: is there a gender difference?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Research on recovery from mental illness and the influence of compulsory psychiatric institutional care has revealed the complexity of this concept. There is also limited knowledge regarding the impact of gender-role expectations in these contexts, and how such expectations may influence both the care and individuals' recovery processes.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To explore women's and men's perceptions of the impact of compulsory inpatient care on recovery from severe mental illness.
  
  
  METHODS
  Grounded theory was used to analyse 30 first-person accounts of recovery from mental illness, elicited via interviews with individuals who had been compulsorily treated in hospital and diagnosed with a severe mental illness.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Inpatient care at an early stage was crucial for the informants' recovery. However, there was ambivalence in their perceptions of the impact of compulsory inpatient care. The narratives confirmed gender differences as well as gender stereotypes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results have implications for recovery research, in that they emphasise the importance of understanding recovery as a gender-influenced process.
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Social Studies , Dalarna University , Falun , Sweden.
authors.forename: Ulla-Karin
authors.initials: UK
authors.lastname: Schön
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003134:Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged