All patients formally detained in a Scottish psychiatric hospital between 1974 and 1979 were identified and their outcome determined 2 1/2-8 1/2 years later. A matched group, detained under Emergency Orders only, were also followed-up. Those formally detained had more previous psychiatric contact: functional psychoses were significantly more common in them. They remained in hospital longer, and required extensive community support when discharged. Those detained under Emergency Orders only, consisted of two sub-groups--one who left the area within two years of admission and could not be traced, and the remainder, who continued to require hospital treatment but for shorter times and with less continuous support. Amongst those detained, lack of insight was a predominant feature, which may create difficulty with regard to informed consent to treatment, given the present Amendments to the Mental Health Acts.