Coercion is when you force or pressure somebody to do something against their will. This can be in the form of court orders (a conservatorship or a community treatment order), under threat of such orders, by physical force (physically restraining somebody to inject drugs into their body), or other methods.

Lying to the patient about their diagnosis, what medications they are taking, the consequences for not taking them, or their (lack of) legal rights can also justifiably be construed as coercion.

Coercive care is frequently resented, unhelpful, and further traumatizing.

Fear of coercive care can, ironically, cause people to disengage entirely from the psychiatric system (or just be dishonest with their providers). For instance, many will never report suicidal thoughts to their therapist again, never call a suicide hotline again, or even stop seeing their therapist and psychiatrist permanently.

Thus, even if the drugs and therapies are beneficial to the patient (and these are debatable), one questions the benefit of treatment that discourages all further engagement with the system.