[Social media restriction: caselaw from the new Dutch Compulsory Mental Healthcare Act].

Abstract

Background: Patients use social media on a daily basis, and they can be restricted under the new Dutch Compulsory Mental Healthcare Act.

Aim: To describe which social media behaviors of psychiatric patients were rightfully restricted by health care professionals and reveal underlying reasons.

Method: We searched for law cases of the courts of first instance and decisions of boards on patients’ complaints from implementation of the new act (2020-2023) about patients’ behaviors related to social media in two open source databases.

Results: We found 38 cases on patients’ behaviors related to social media. Most cases included patients with (manic) psychotic episodes. Social media restrictions were applied to prevent or surcease several types of behaviors creating harm for self and others, such as exploitation, social decline, protection of privacy and safety of healthcare personal, or threats towards others. Altered patient’s interactions on social media, signal early symptoms related to decompensation.

Conclusion: Restrictions on the patient’s use of social media are accepted by law in inpatients with manic psychotic episodes and effective in preventing several forms of detriment. Monitoring social media might be relevant for diagnostics or self-signaling. Self-binding statements should consider requirements to restrict social media use in times of decompensation or self-damaging tendencies.