Patients on rättspsyk have banned cell phones and computers – Swedish Radio

From today prohibits patients in psychiatric care to have their own cell phones and computers inside the clinics.

The idea the law is to stop and discourage criminal activity and drug trafficking. Previously, there have been several high profile cases at rättspsyk in Sundsvall where inmates including downloading child porn. But Bengt Eriksson, Deputy Director of the Forensic Psychiatry Unit in Sundsvall, is critical to the law.

– Some of our patients are studying at a distance and will suffer from this, he says.

The new law applies to patients with so-called special discharge review. It is all about the people that have the risk to reoffend, where a court must determine whether the patient should get leave or printed. Bengt Eriksson think it worked well in the past, then the clinic himself could dispose of computers and mobiles in particular cases.

– Then we could coat the patients with communication limitations when it was needed.

P4 Västernorrland
p4vasternorrland@sverigesradio.se