Professor George Szmukler is a psychiatrist whose main research concerns measures aimed at reducing compulsion and 'coercion' in psychiatric care. A key interest is mental health law reform, particularly the development of non-discriminatory, generic legislation which would apply to all persons, regardless of the cause of the underlying disturbance of treatment decision-making. Past posts have included Dean of the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London (2001-2006); Medical Director of the Bethlem and Maudsley NHS Trust (1997-1999), then joint Medical Director of the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (1999-2001); Visiting Professor in the Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics (2005-2014); Associate Director of the NIHR Mental Health Research Network, with lead responsibility for Patient and Public Involvement in research (2007-2015).

George Szmuklers Men in White Coats: Treatment under Coercion provides an elegant, and extremely readable, overview of the core issues concerning involuntary admission and treatment, grounded in his own clinical practice and the experience of service users.

• 1: A practice with a very long history 2: Some troubling observations about involuntary treatment 3: The conventional grounds for involuntary treatment are highly problematic 4: Challenges to the orthodoxy 5: How mental health law discriminates against persons with mental illness 6: A law that does not discriminate against people with mental illness 7: On being able to make decisions and making decisions for others 8: A new UN Disability Convention: respect for rights, will and preferences 9: Treatment pressures and coercion 10: Can we reduce the need for coercive interventions? 11: Mental disorder and public protection 12: Emergencies, general medicine, community treatment orders and psychiatric advance statements . 13: Where does this take us?

Professor George Szmukler is a psychiatrist whose main research concerns measures aimed at reducing compulsion and 'coercion' in psychiatric care. A key interest is mental health law reform, particularly the development of non-discriminatory, generic legislation which would apply to all persons, regardless of the cause of the underlying disturbance of treatment decision-making. Past posts have included Dean of the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London (2001-2006); Medical Director of the Bethlem and Maudsley NHS Trust (1997-1999), then joint Medical Director of the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (1999-2001); Visiting Professor in the Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics (2005-2014); Associate Director of the NIHR Mental Health Research Network, with lead responsibility for Patient and Public Involvement in research (2007-2015).

George Szmuklers Men in White Coats: Treatment under Coercion provides an elegant, and extremely readable, overview of the core issues concerning involuntary admission and treatment, grounded in his own clinical practice and the experience of service users.

• 1: A practice with a very long history 2: Some troubling observations about involuntary treatment 3: The conventional grounds for involuntary treatment are highly problematic 4: Challenges to the orthodoxy 5: How mental health law discriminates against persons with mental illness 6: A law that does not discriminate against people with mental illness 7: On being able to make decisions and making decisions for others 8: A new UN Disability Convention: respect for rights, will and preferences 9: Treatment pressures and coercion 10: Can we reduce the need for coercive interventions? 11: Mental disorder and public protection 12: Emergencies, general medicine, community treatment orders and psychiatric advance statements . 13: Where does this take us?

Professor George Szmukler is a psychiatrist whose main research concerns measures aimed at reducing compulsion and 'coercion' in psychiatric care. A key interest is mental health law reform, particularly the development of non-discriminatory, generic legislation which would apply to all persons, regardless of the cause of the underlying disturbance of treatment decision-making. Past posts have included Dean of the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London (2001-2006); Medical Director of the Bethlem and Maudsley NHS Trust (1997-1999), then joint Medical Director of the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (1999-2001); Visiting Professor in the Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics (2005-2014); Associate Director of the NIHR Mental Health Research Network, with lead responsibility for Patient and Public Involvement in research (2007-2015).

George Szmuklers Men in White Coats: Treatment under Coercion provides an elegant, and extremely readable, overview of the core issues concerning involuntary admission and treatment, grounded in his own clinical practice and the experience of service users.

• 1: A practice with a very long history 2: Some troubling observations about involuntary treatment 3: The conventional grounds for involuntary treatment are highly problematic 4: Challenges to the orthodoxy 5: How mental health law discriminates against persons with mental illness 6: A law that does not discriminate against people with mental illness 7: On being able to make decisions and making decisions for others 8: A new UN Disability Convention: respect for rights, will and preferences 9: Treatment pressures and coercion 10: Can we reduce the need for coercive interventions? 11: Mental disorder and public protection 12: Emergencies, general medicine, community treatment orders and psychiatric advance statements . 13: Where does this take us?