Mr. Donaldson was held for fifteen years in a state psychiatric hospital when he was clearly not a danger to himself. The Court made it clear that it was not deciding whether a state could hold a person for treatment. There is a more humane basis for treating people. With new medications, hospitalization time is short. Released patients, due to lack of insight, often stop taking their medication, destabilize, and then need to be readmitted.
Conditional discharge is used for patients who are already hospitalized on inpatient status.
Patients on conditional discharge are released on certain conditions, i.e., they continue to take their medication. If the individual fails to comply with the conditions, he or she can be returned to the hospital for additional treatment. West Virginia provides for both of these. A North Carolina study shows that outpatient treatment orders can be very effective and result in better outcomes. The study found that patients with these orders have fewer psychiatric admissions, spend fewer days hospitalized, and have lower odds of violence.