Showing papers in "Psychological Medicine in 1984"
TL;DR: The children of psychiatric patients had an increased rate of persistent emotional/behavioural disturbance, which tended to involve disorders of conduct, and boys showing temperamental risk features were most vulnerable to the ill-effects associated with parental mental disorder.
Abstract: A 4-year prospective study was undertaken of the families of 137 newly referred English speaking psychiatric patients with children at home aged under 15 years. The group comprised a representative sample of such patients living in one inner London borough. Teacher questionnaires were obtained yearly for all children of school age in the families, and for age-, sex- and classroom-matched controls. Detailed standardized interviews were undertaken yearly with parent-patients and with their spouses. A comparison was also made with a control group of families in the general population with 10-year-old children. Patients' families differed in terms of a higher rate of psychiatric disorder in spouses and a much higher level of family discord. Both parental mental disorder and marital discord tended to persist over the 4-year period, but persistence of both was much more marked when the parent had a personality disorder. The children of psychiatric patients had an increased rate of persistent emotional/behavioural disturbance, which tended to involve disorders of conduct. The psychiatric risk to the children was greatest in the case of personality disorders associated with high levels of exposure to hostile behaviour. Boys showing temperamental risk features were most vulnerable to the ill-effects associated with parental mental disorder.
842 citations
TL;DR: The institution-reared women showed a markedly increased rate of poor psychosocial functioning and of severe parenting difficulties in adult life, however, the support of a non-deviant spouse and of good living conditions in adultLife provided a powerful protective effect.
Abstract: A prospective follow-up study was undertaken of two groups of women first studied in the mid 1960s when they were children: 94 girls reared in institutions to which they had been admitted because of a breakdown in parenting, and 51 girls in a general population comparison group. Both groups were interviewed in detail when aged 21-27 years and home observations were undertaken for those with young children. The institution-reared women showed a markedly increased rate of poor psychosocial functioning and of severe parenting difficulties in adult life. However, the support of a non-deviant spouse and of good living conditions in adult life provided a powerful protective effect.
265 citations
TL;DR: The results suggest that language disorder and apraxia specifically identify a distinct clinical entity, Familial Alzheimer Dementia, that is among the commonest forms of senile dementia.
Abstract: The early literature on Alzheimer Dementia (AD) describes the clinical features aphasia, apraxia and agraphia as characteristic. We investigated the hypothesis that these features would specifically identify the familial form of AD (FAD). Since pedigree studies had suggested that FAD is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder, we hypothesized that the first-degree relatives of language-disordered or apractic AD probands would show at least 50% lifetime risks of dementia. Using standardized methods, we screened 3500 nursing home beds for stringently defined AD cases and controls, tested for agraphia, and obtained probands' clinical and family histories from multiple informants. Language disorder and apraxia were found in 78% of AD cases. They strongly predicted familial aggregation of dementia, with a 90-year lifetime incidence among relatives exceeding 50%, or 7 times the control values. The results suggest that language disorder and apraxia specifically identify a distinct clinical entity, Familial Alzheimer Dementia, that is among the commonest forms of senile dementia.
235 citations
TL;DR: The age of onset in bipolar affective disorder was determined in 200 hospitalized patients, and patients with an early onset, especially if they were first hospitalized for mania, were most likely to have received a diagnosis of schizophrenia.
Abstract: The age of onset in bipolar affective disorder was determined in 200 hospitalized patients. The mean age of their first affective syndrome was 28.3 years, and the mean age of first hospitalization was 30.8 years. However, the median age for first affective syndrome was 23 years (26 years for first hospitalization), and the most common age of onset was 15-19 years. Those patients with an early onset, especially if they were first hospitalized for mania, were most likely to have received a diagnosis of schizophrenia.
227 citations
TL;DR: The relationship between length of unemployment and psychological ill-health was examined in a sample of 954 unemployed working-class men, selected to cover all levels of age and several levels of duration of unemployment as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The relationship between length of unemployment and psychological ill-health was examined in a sample of 954 unemployed working-class men, selected to cover all levels of age and several levels of duration of unemployment. The association between length of unemployment and psychological ill-health was found to be strongest in the middle age groups, with greater ill-health among those with a longer duration since job loss. No association between duration and ill-health was found for those who had recently entered the labour market or who were close to the end of their working lives. Desire for a job and financial stress were shown to be additional mediators of psychological ill-health during employment. A cumulative stress model is proposed to account for these findings.
205 citations
TL;DR: The findings indicate that approximately two thirds of patients with normal and near-normal coronary arteries have predominantly psychiatric rather than cardiac disorders: the symptoms in these patients are more likely to represent the somatic manifestations of anxiety and overbreathing than the consequences of underlying cardiac disease.
Abstract: Ninety-nine patients with chest pain and a presumptive diagnosis of coronary heart disease were assessed blindly within 24 hours of angiography, using standardized psychiatric and social interviews and a personality inventory. Thirty-one patients had normal coronary arteries (NCA), 15 had slight disease and 53 had significant coronary obstruction. Twenty-eight (61%) of the 46 patients with insignificant disease and 12 (23%) of the 53 with significant obstruction had psychiatric morbidity. Associations between the overall severity of psychiatric morbidity and measures of social maladjustment were strongest in the patients with normal coronary arteries. The 26 men with insignificant coronary artery disease had higher scores of neuroticism and extraversion than the 41 with important coronary occlusions. No differences were observed when the same comparisons were made for the women. The findings indicate that approximately two thirds of patients with normal and near-normal coronary arteries have predominantly psychiatric rather than cardiac disorders: the symptoms in these patients are more likely to represent the somatic manifestations of anxiety and overbreathing than the consequences of underlying cardiac disease. Physicians should be aware of the ways in which neurotic illness may present with symptoms mimicking cardiac disease, especially when cardiovascular symptoms are accompanied by phobic symptoms and unexplained shortness of breath.
198 citations
TL;DR: Since Marthe Vogt discovered the presence of noradrenaline in the central nervous system in the mid 1950s, this brain neurotransmitter has been implicated in a plethora of functions, ranging from the control of blood pressure to neuronal plasticity, memory and learning.
Abstract: Since Marthe Vogt discovered the presence of noradrenaline (NA) in the central nervous system in the mid 1950s, this brain neurotransmitter has been implicated in a plethora of functions, ranging from the control of blood pressure to neuronal plasticity, memory and learning. Most interest has focused on the so-called dorsal noradrenergic ascending bundle (DNAB) which arises from cell bodies in the locus coeruleus of the dorsal pons. Utilizing novel histochemical techniques, Swedish research workers demonstrated that this nucleus not only had descending projections to the spinal cord and cerebellum, but also ascending projections to cortical areas such as the neocortex and hippocampus (Dahlstrom & Fuxe, 1964; Ungerstedt, 1971). It is the latter projections especially which have captured the imagination of neuroscientists and will be the main subject of this brief review. Part of the reason why this ' veteran' neurotransmitter substance is still engendering a good deal of interest, even in the vanguard of the neuropeptides, is that genuine advances are emerging in the understanding of its possible roles in brain function. Another reason is that many psychoactive drugs are known to modulate activity of this ascending NA system. For example, opiates such as morphine, and antidepressants such as desipramine, reduce the activity of coeruleal NA neurones, although through different receptor mechanisms (see Olpe et al. 1983). In addition, central NA mechanisms are thought to modulate the behavioural effects of peptides such as arginine vasopressin, which has been used to treat human memory disorders (Kovacs et al. 1979). Indeed, changes in DNAB activity have been directly implicated both in Alzheimer's disease and in Korsakoff s psychosis (see Crow, 1981). One consequence of the likely clinical relevance of studying central NA mechanisms has been the continuing emergence of a number of sophisticated neuropharmacological tools for analysing further their nature and functions. Thus, there are now available NA neurotoxins such as 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) and DSP-4, as well as drugs which affect the pre-synaptic release and uptake of NA (e.g. amphetamine and imipramine) and a host of agonists and antagonists for adrenergic receptors of different types together with sensitive receptor assays. This sophistication has undoubtedly contributed in a major way to the advances to be described. There is still a good deal we do not know about the basic neuroanatomical and neurophysiological features of nucleus locus coeruleus and the DNAB. For example, the nature of the afferents to locus coeruleus and the organization of the DNAB are still a matter of debate. Early findings suggested that there was little discrete organization of the various NA projections of locus coeruleus. For example, a single cell body could give rise to both ascending and descending axons. However, some recent evidence has suggested a degree of topographical organization of the projection so that certain spatially-grouped collections of cell bodies project predominantly to some forebrain areas, whereas other groups project elsewhere. Nevertheless, Morrison & Magistretti (1983) have contrasted the rather diffuse innervation of neocortex by the DNAB with that of other cortical afferents.
172 citations
TL;DR: In the anorexic and bulimic groups a significant correlation was found between the degree of overestimation after mirror confrontation and progress in treatment, as measured on a specially devised rating scale.
Abstract: Using an apparatus which provides a continuous horizontal slit of light of variable length, self-estimations of 4 body widths were carried out before and after a mirror confrontation procedure on 4 groups of young female subjects – anorexic, bulimic, emotionally disturbed and normal. The results confirm that anorexic subjects overestimate body size, although in this study the hip diameter was frequently underestimated. Bulimic and emotionally disturbed subjects overestimate to much the same degree as anorexics, whereas normal subjects are remarkably accurate with the exception of the head width. Mirror confrontation resulted in reduced estimations in the majority of subjects, but significant differences were found in the degree to which this occurred in the 4 groups; anorexic subjects showed the greatest change and normal subjects the least. This relative instability of the anorexic subject's body image cannot be explained simply on the basis of a self-correcting experience, as many estimations which were initially below actual width were even lower on re-testing. In the anorexic and bulimic groups a significant correlation was found between the degree of overestimation after mirror confrontation and progress in treatment, as measured on a specially devised rating scale. Possible explanations for these findings and their diagnostic and prognostic implications are discussed.
136 citations
TL;DR: A detailed analysis of the results of a multi-centre clinical trial shows that, while the relapse rate following recovery from an operationally defined depressive illness was smaller among patients subsequently treated with either amitryptiline or lithium than with a placebo, there was no clinically significant difference between the prophylactic efficacy of the 2 antidepressants.
Abstract: A detailed analysis of the results of a multi-centre clinical trial shows that, while the relapse rate following recovery from an operationally defined depressive illness was smaller among patients subsequently treated with either amitryptiline or lithium than with a placebo, there was no clinically significant difference between the prophylactic efficacy of the 2 antidepressants. An account is given of the relative adverse effects of the treatments, and the implications of the findings are discussed.
135 citations
TL;DR: The single common feature in mild dementia is the presence of mild cognitive impairment, presumed to be a decline from a formerly higher level of functioning, and although there are appreciable problems in method which first require to be overcome, mild dementia promises to beA rewarding area for epidemiological study.
Abstract: Because of the worldwide increase in the proportion of elderly in the population, the prevalence of dementia is rising markedly. It is therefore welcome that biomedical and epidemiological research on dementia has become more intensive, with evidence of some recent progress in both these fields (Henderson, 1983). An area of particular research interest is mild dementia. Although this term is already in common usage in the clinical and epidemiological literature, there are certain difficulties about the concept: there are no specific criteria by which its presence can be asserted; it is not itself a diagnosis, but rather a rubric for the early stages of several neuropathologically distinct disorders; and little is known about its natural history. The single common feature in mild dementia is the presence of mild cognitive impairment, presumed to be a decline from a formerly higher level of functioning. Although there are appreciable problems in method which first require to be overcome, mild dementia promises to be a rewarding area for epidemiological study.
124 citations
TL;DR: It was, however, found that working class women with children seemed particularly prone to develop minor psychiatric disorder in response to adversity.
Abstract: A community survey of psychiatric disorder carried out in South London enabled the authors to investigate the ‘vulnerability model’ proposed by Brown & Harris (1978). In the current study none of the ‘vulnerability factors’ proposed by Brown & Harris fulfilled the requirements of the model. It was, however, found that working class women with children seemed particularly prone to develop minor psychiatric disorder in response to adversity. A similar result is apparent in the analyses of the earlier authors. A number of studies now published give some support to the vulnerability model using what are broadly measures of social support, but there is little corroboration using the other variables proposed by Brown & Harris.
TL;DR: The extent of psychiatric morbidity was investigated in a consecutive series of patients attending a south London general practitioner, and data are used as the basis for a theoretical discussion of prescriptive screening strategies for psychiatric disorder in general practice.
Abstract: The extent of psychiatric morbidity was investigated in a consecutive series of patients attending a south London general practitioner. The GP identified a psychiatric component in the reason for consultation in 40% of the sample, and he regarded 24% as ‘psychiatric cases’. The estimated true prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in the sample was 34%. These data are used as the basis for a theoretical discussion of prescriptive screening strategies for psychiatric disorder in general practice.
TL;DR: One hundred and eight women with bulimia were evaluated for affective disorder and alcohol or drug abuse, by means of the DSM-III diagnostic criteria, and approximately 56% of the bulimIA patients scored within the moderate to severe range of depression on the Beck Depression Inventory.
Abstract: One hundred and eight women with bulimia were evaluated for affective disorder and alcohol or drug abuse, by means of the DSM-III diagnostic criteria. In this sample, 43.5% had a history of affective disorder and 18.5% had a history of alcohol or drug abuse. Approximately 56% of the bulimia patients scored within the moderate to severe range of depression on the Beck Depression Inventory. Language: en
TL;DR: A biometrical genetic analysis was carried out on the response of 419 pairs of twins to the 42-item version of Leyton Obsessional Inventory and revealed a genetic effect on the development of obsessional personality and also the transmission of a general tendency predisposing to neurotic breakdown.
Abstract: A biometrical genetic analysis was carried out on the response of 419 pairs of twins to the 42-item version of Leyton Obsessional Inventory. Just under half the variation in both the Obsessional Trait and Symptom Scales was due to heredity. Multivariate analysis revealed a genetic effect on the development of obsessional personality and also the transmission of a general tendency predisposing to neurotic breakdown. Although the influence of heredity was outweighed by that of the environment, the latter effect showed an absence of general factors and, in particular, of any noticeable effect from the common home environment.
TL;DR: It is concluded that the historical calibration of psychiatric symptoms must be considered as an essential stage in the construction of a viable descriptive psychopathology.
Abstract: This paper offers a conceptual and historical analysis of descriptive psychopathology. The first section defines it as a cognitive system constituted by terms, assumptions and rules for its application. It traces the conceptual implications of this definition and relates them to clinical practice. The second section contains an up-to-date assessment of current historical work on descriptive psychopathology and offers a new hypothesis to account for its development during the nineteenth century. It is suggested that the work involved in the testing of the hypothesis should be carried out by psychiatrists with historical training and as a separate speciality. It is concluded that the historical calibration of psychiatric symptoms must be considered as an essential stage in the construction of a viable descriptive psychopathology.
TL;DR: Children referred to the Maudsley Hospital with conduct or emotional disorders who also suffered from hallucinations were found to be older than other children seen with similar diagnoses, more of them had below-average IQs and they were more frequently admitted as in-patients.
Abstract: In a retrospective study, children referred to the Maudsley Hospital with conduct or emotional disorders who also suffered from hallucinations were found to be older than other children seen with similar diagnoses, more of them had below-average IQs and they were more frequently admitted as in-patients. In most cases hallucinations were auditory. When compared with a group of 20 controls matched on these differentiating features, the 20 children with hallucinations had more precipitants of illness, a shorter duration of the disorder, symptoms of depression, and a family history of mood changes. They also had more symptoms suggestive of cognitive-perceptual dysfunction.
TL;DR: Dementia patients' spontaneous drawings were found to be impoverished in comparison with those of the controls, and significant relations were found between drawing performance and intellectual functioning and severity of dementia.
Abstract: A series of drawing tasks was administered to 15 patients with senile dementia who were assessed for intellectual functioning and severity of dementia. Their performance was compared with that of 15 elderly control subjects. The demented patients' spontaneous drawings were found to be impoverished in comparison with those of the controls. Copies of the same objects included more details, but these tended to be wrongly positioned in space. The performance of the patients with dementia was unlike that reported for patients with focal brain lesions. Significant relations were found between drawing performance and intellectual functioning and severity of dementia. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
TL;DR: It is significant that the WHO report barely mentioned the epidemiological contribution to its subject-matter, and this verdict is difficult to reconcile with the widespread concern aroused by the lengthening human life-span.
Abstract: A generation later, this verdict is difficult to reconcile with the widespread concern aroused by the lengthening human life-span. In retrospect, it is significant that the WHO report barely mentioned the epidemiological contribution to its subject-matter. Times have changed. The epidemiological perspective has now become indispensable not only for the psychiatrist concerned with the assessment and management of mental illness in the senium, but also for workers in several related disciplines. The descriptive epidemiologists, drawing on the techniques of demography and medical geography, have mapped the contours of a disturbing situation, based on an estimated increase in the global population of from 3-97 to 6-25 billion over the final quarter of the twentienth century. During this period, a reduced mortality in the early and late stages of the life-cycle will result in the achievement of their potential longevity by a much higher proportion of people so that the histogram of life-spans will become increasingly Gaussian about a mode of 75-80 years, with a shortening tail in the early years. The trend is already one of acute concern to industrialized countries and is clearly discernible in the developing world (Kramer, 1980). It confronts the medical epidemiologist with a challenge which can be approached in one of two ways, depending on whether the senescent population be denned as an age-limited aggregate which is different from and contrasted with chronologically younger groups, or as the residuum of a total population which has survived the hazards of middle age to enter the senium. The objectives of the investigator may, accordingly, tend towards the study either of disease or of decrement. The clearest example of the former outlook is that of the recently founded sub-discipline of 'neuroepidemiology', with its special focus on the dementias (Mortimer & Schuman, 1981; Capildeo et al. 1983). After a long period of neglect these conditions have recently reanimated the attention of neurologists because of the threat they pose as 'an approaching epidemic' (Plum, 1979). Their particular target is the Alzheimer-senile form of dementias because it accounts for more than 50% of dementia over the age of 65. To Plum this is
TL;DR: Analysis of possible predictors of mental health showed that the nature and quality of family life strongly affected adolescent mental health and positive evaluation of their school atmosphere and peer group life and their locus of control orientation also positively influenced their psychological well-being.
Abstract: This paper examines a comprehensive set of data on the prevalence and correlates of psychological distress in a sample of 1038 adolescent students in a major urban area of a Canadian prairie province. About 27% of the students reported 6 or more symptoms of psychological distress on the GHQ-30. The frequency of symptoms varied with age, grade level and average marks, with sex being the most significant variation. 'Anxiety' and 'social dysfunction' were the most frequent symptom dimensions reported. More detailed analysis of possible predictors of mental health showed that the nature and quality of family life strongly affected adolescent mental health. Adolescents' positive evaluation of their school atmosphere and peer group life and their locus of control orientation also positively influenced their psychological well-being.
TL;DR: Twenty patients who had taken long-term benzodiazepines were submitted to brain CT scan examinations and the mean ventricular/brain area measured by planimetry was increased over mean values in an age and sex-matched group of control subjects but was less than that in a group of alcoholics.
Abstract: Twenty patients who had taken long-term benzodiazepines were submitted to brain CT scan examinations. Some scans appeared abnormal. The mean ventricular/brain area measured by planimetry was increased over mean values in an age- and sex-matched group of control subjects but was less than that in a group of alcoholics. There was no significant relationship between CT scan appearances and the duration of benzodiazepine therapy. The clinical significance of the findings is unclear.
TL;DR: A new procedure is described which employs a simple modification to a standard video camera to produce an image which appears from 20% thinner to 40% fatter than the actual person, without other distortion of the image.
Abstract: Previously employed techniques for the measurement of body image are briefly described, with a short consideration of methodological or procedural limitations associated with each technique. A new procedure is described which employs a simple modification to a standard video camera to produce an image which appears from 20% thinner to 40% fatter than the actual person, without other distortion of the image. Reliability and preliminary validity data for the new procedure are presented.
TL;DR: Nearly 10% of a sample of men charged with a variety of offences claimed amnesia for their offence, and the amnesia occurred only among those who had committed violence and was most frequent following homicide.
Abstract: Nearly 10% of a sample of men charged with a variety of offences claimed amnesia for their offence. The amnesia occurred only among those who had committed violence and was most frequent following homicide. All the amnesics had a psychiatric disorder, four having a primary depressive illness and the remainder being almost equally divided between schizophrenia and alcohol abuse. None of the amnesias had any legal implications. The circumstances of the offences suggested a variety of mechanisms to account for the amnesia, including repression, dissociation and alcoholic black-outs. Psychological defence mechanisms were probably of some importance, even when alcohol was an important factor.
TL;DR: Analysis of a number of studies conducted in which a psychosocial intervention has been employed in an attempt to prevent relapse after discharge from hospital does not allow us to conclude that the authors can identify the 'active ingredients' in these psychossocial treatment regimes.
Abstract: Recent interest in the way social factors influence the course of schizophrenia has led to attempts to monitor and manipulate these factors. The work on the Expressed Emotion of the relative has been especially influential in this area. A number of studies have now been conducted in which a psychosocial intervention has been employed in an attempt to prevent relapse after discharge from hospital. These studies are reviewed with an emphasis on their methodological adequacy and on the nature of the intervention used. Recent studies have demonstrated a positive result for psychosocial interventions used in combination with neuroleptic medication. However, analysis of these studies does not allow us to conclude that we can identify the 'active ingredients' in these psychosocial treatment regimes. Although there is cause for optimism, further investigation is required.
TL;DR: No major progress can be expected unless it proves possible to integrate methods of early case-detection, and of systematic surveillance of the at-risk elderly, into the work of primary medical and social services.
Abstract: The scope for the early detection of dementing disorders in the elderly by means of screening techniques is reviewed in the light of the basic principles of early disease detection. It is concluded that, while there is an increasingly urgent need for the development and application of psychogeriatric screening methods as a step towards preventive action, such methods are still at an early experimental stage. Prescriptive screening programmes are contra-indicated at present. The most immediate requirement is for evaluative research, which should be planned to take account both of the properties of the screening instruments and of the health-care and social settings in which these are to be applied. No major progress in this field can be expected unless it proves possible to integrate methods of early case-detection, and of systematic surveillance of the at-risk elderly, into the work of primary medical and social services.
TL;DR: The significance of three issues relating to the diagnosis of bulimia nervosa were examined: laxative abuse, the frequency of self-induced vomiting, and a history of anorexia nervosa.
Abstract: Following a television documentary on bulimia nervosa, people who thought that they had this type of eating problem were asked to complete a confidential questionnaire. 579 women who fulfilled self-report diagnostic criteria for bulimia nervosa were thereby identified. These women closely resembled patients with bulimia nervosa, although the age range was wider. They had grossly disturbed eating habits and almost half vomited at least daily. Laxative abuse was also common. Although almost two-thirds had been overweight in the past, the majority had a weight within the normal range. A minority had previously fulfilled diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa. On standardized measures, these women had abnormal attitudes to their weight and shape, as well as significant levels of psychiatric symptomatology. Nearly three-quarters thought that they definitely needed professional help, yet only a third had ever been referred for psychiatric treatment. Using data from this sample and an independent sample of 499 probable bulimia nervosa cases, the significance of three issues relating to the diagnosis of bulimia nervosa were examined: laxative abuse, the frequency of self-induced vomiting, and a history of anorexia nervosa.
TL;DR: Results are interpreted as showing that memory alone is inadequate to explain the calendrical calculating performance of the idiot savant subjects.
Abstract: Eight idiot savant calendrical calculators were tested on dates in the years 1963, 1973, 1983, 1986 and 1993. The study was carried out in 1983. Speeds of correct response were minimal in 1983 and increased markedly into the past and the future. The response time increase was matched by an increase in errors. Speeds of response were uncorrelated with measured IQ, but the numbers were insufficient to justify any inference in terms of IQ-independence. Results are interpreted as showing that memory alone is inadequate to explain the calendrical calculating performance of the idiot savant subjects.
TL;DR: The banality that, since God causes all things he also causes mental illness, was only used by medieval authors under special circumstances and in a minority of cases and does not constitute evidence of superstitious and primitive notions about mental illness in the early Middle Ages.
Abstract: The modern stereotype that in the Middle Ages there was a general belief that mental illness was caused by sin is reviewed. The authors examined 57 descriptions of mental illness (madness, possession, alcoholism, epilepsy, and combinations thereof) from pre-Crusade chronicles and saints' lives. In only 9 (16%) of these descriptions did the sources attribute the mental illness to sin or wrongdoing, and in these cases the medieval authors appeared to use this attribution for its propaganda value against an enemy of their patron saints, their monastery lands, or their religious values. The medieval sources indicate that the authors were well aware of the proximate causes of mental illness, such as humoral imbalance, intemperate diet and alcohol intake, overwork, and grief. The banality that, since God causes all things he also causes mental illness, was only used by medieval authors under special circumstances and in a minority of cases. It does not constitute evidence of superstitious and primitive notions about mental illness in the early Middle Ages.
TL;DR: It is shown that in controlled conditions non-chronic schizophrenics receiving neuroleptic medication show no disparity between recall and recognition, and patients receiving both Neuroleptic and anticholinergic drugs show this disparity, performing less well on recall than on recognition.
Abstract: Unlike previous studies, this study shows that in controlled conditions non-chronic schizophrenics receiving neuroleptic medication show no disparity between recall and recognition. Patients receiving both neuroleptic and anticholinergic drugs show this disparity, performing less well on recall than on recognition. These patients also seem more severely disturbed. The importance of task matching, drugs and chronicity are discussed.
TL;DR: The continuation of hallucinations and episodes of altered awareness in some of the subjects may indicate a special predisposition to hallucinate.
Abstract: In a controlled study, 20 children with hallucinations and emotional or conduct disorders were followed up into adulthood. The mean follow-up time was 17 years and the mean age at follow-up was 30 years. Hallucinations in childhood did not carry an increased risk for psychoses, depressive illness, organic brain damage or other psychiatric disorders. The continuation of hallucinations and episodes of altered awareness in some of the subjects may indicate a special predisposition to hallucinate.
TL;DR: A 7% one-year prevalence rate of conspicuous psychiatric morbidity was found in patients attending a single general practice and a personality disorder was present in 33.9% of all patients seen, although it was rarely diagnosed as the primary problem and was linked to the diagnosis of anxiety states, rather than depressive neurosis.
Abstract: A 7% one-year prevalence rate of conspicuous psychiatric morbidity was found in patients attending a single general practice. The nature of the morbidity was examined by a detailed assessment of mental state and personality, using interview schedules administered by a psychiatrist. Depressive disorders were presented by nearly half of the patients. The overall sex incidence of the disorders was equal, but alcohol abuse was more common in males. A personality disorder was present in 33.9% of all patients seen, although it was rarely diagnosed as the primary problem and was linked to the diagnosis of anxiety states, rather than depressive neurosis. These findings are discussed in relation to other epidemiological studies in primary care.