Elin Andersen writes in a Statement that she believed in coercion in drug treatment and that it was her biggest betrayal as a mother. No one should have to experience what it’s like to lose a child. So first I want to start by saying my condolences. I don’t know what it’s like to lose a child to drugs, but I know what it’s like to be a child to drugs. I also know what it’s like to be forced into hospital. Coercion is a negatively charged term. Coercion gives associations to power, control, punishment, hard holds and firm binding. But compulsion is so much more than this. Coercion is a safe and stable framework. Coercion is forced care. Our thoughts and opinions are colored by experience. It is natural, but also scary when certain experiences provide blinders and prevent you from seeing a wider picture. The chronicler writes “Youth do not drink themselves to death. They die by accident.” I myself have been a young person who abused drugs, and I do not recognize myself in this statement. I was well on my way to drug myself to death, and my death had not been an accident. I have also experienced being forcibly admitted where both the system and the implementation failed. I came out of the experience with increased drug use, restlessness and reluctance. Nevertheless, I am not negative about coercive treatment, but the implementation is crucial for it to have a positive effect. All forms of treatment have varying degrees of success. And much of the success is about the individual’s needs and the implementation of the treatment. I don’t think it’s about the compulsion itself. Forced drug treatment works if it is facilitated for good implementation, where the change process is in focus. My youth was characterized by insecure relationships, a drug-ridden network, a lot of insecurity and little framework and structure. I believe that a well-functioning forced drug treatment could have helped me at this time. If the treatment itself was accommodating to me and my needs. Coercion can lead to reluctance, but coercion can also lead to voluntary treatment. By this I mean that coercion can be positive for getting into a position to be able to stimulate a desire for treatment. If you manage to provide good coercive treatment, you can help to increase a desire for voluntary treatment later in the course, which would not have been achieved without coercion in the first place. The chronicler writes “And what is good treatment? Part of the answer is good relationships with safe adults over a long period of time. The most important substance abusers are those who never receive a salary.” I agree that safe and stable relationships with adults are extremely important, but that is also a reason why we have professionals. Not everyone has a coach, teacher or neighbor who can provide this, or where it is enough. Some are dependent on experiencing this in treatment. The problem with young people like myself is that to get this treatment without coercion you have to be willing and seek treatment. I didn’t need care from adult friends, I needed care from authoritarian adults. I needed the framework that coercive treatment could give me. I needed help to see and want my own best. Young people need security, stability and activity. I think coercive treatment can provide this without the use of control through forced urine samples, hard grips and unpleasant encounters with index fingers. I am not saying that coercive treatment as it is today has no potential for improvement. Different frameworks and attitudes create different treatment. I think a lot is done if, in a course of treatment, you manage to look past the addiction and see the individual’s needs as a human being. Most young people who use drugs do not develop an addiction, most do not end up in psychoses or take overdoses, but what about those of us who do? Today I am 31 years old, with 4 years of drug freedom, and I believe that compulsory good drug treatment had saved me many difficult years. Addiction care needs a diverse range of services. One type of treatment does not work for everyone. But one common denominator is that a well-executed treatment offer leaves room for change processes, combined with good aftercare. So I still believe in coercion, in the subject areas sitting on the knowledge to create safe and good offers.
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Can coercion be a good form of treatment? – Speech
