JEAN-JACQUES GAUTIER NPM SYMPOSIUM 2016 result of an individual analysis to evaluate the need for such measures on a case-by-case basis as part of each person’s treatment. Autistic persons in psychiatric hospitals It was noted that, in some settings, autistic persons who are deprived of liberty are at particular risk and have all their personal possessions removed as they are wrongly perceived as being a danger to themselves and to others. Their difficulties in communicating are perceived as a psychosocial disability that justifies treatment without seeking to obtain their consent. Despite the risk of violent behaviour initially being low, these individuals have their freedom and privacy severely curtailed. They perceive the deprivation of liberty and the treatment they are given as a threat and this only exacerbates the problem. Measures can escalate to include seclusion and restraint – a direct result of a lack of understanding of the needs and specific characteristics of these persons. Evaluating treatment and the risks of overmedication Drug treatment, and in particular overmedication and the combination of different substances, pose serious risks to a person’s integrity. Various monitoring bodies observed that, too often, the treatment consists primarily in drug therapy, which is not tailored to the individual, and that essential components of effective treatment (such as therapeutic activities, including access to occupational therapy, art, music or sport but also individual psychotherapy) are rarely explored or completely absent. The situation, as noted by the CPT, “can be the result of the absence of suitably qualified staff and appropriate facilities or of a lingering philosophy based on the custody of patients.” 15 Overmedication is therefore generally the result of an institutional environment that does not aim to encourage the person’s autonomy and capacity to make his/her own decisions. It can constitute inhuman or degrading treatment and participants stressed the harmful effects of an overdose of medication or drug interaction. They also discussed the issue of clinical trials without the consent of individuals, as well as the deaths potentially linked to this research. 15 28 CPT Standards, §37.