ABSTRACT
One hundred fifty clients of a shelter for homeless youths in New York City were interviewed to obtain information about their backgrounds and the incidence of behavioral and emotional disorder. Most of the respondents came from backgrounds characterized by severe emotional deprivation and physical or sexual abuse. Of the 140 who completed the full interview, 90 percent fulfilled DSM-III-R criteria for an emotional or behavioral disorder. Fifty-nine percent had conduct disorder, three-quarters were depressed, 41 percent had considered suicide, and more than one-quarter had attempted suicide.
Subject(s)
Affective Symptoms/epidemiology , Antisocial Personality Disorder/epidemiology , Ill-Housed Persons/statistics & numerical data , Juvenile Delinquency/statistics & numerical data , Runaway Behavior , Social Environment , Urban Population/statistics & numerical data , Adolescent , Affective Symptoms/diagnosis , Affective Symptoms/psychology , Antisocial Personality Disorder/diagnosis , Antisocial Personality Disorder/psychology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Depressive Disorder/diagnosis , Depressive Disorder/epidemiology , Depressive Disorder/psychology , Female , Ill-Housed Persons/psychology , Humans , Incidence , Juvenile Delinquency/psychology , Life Change Events , Male , New York City/epidemiology , Personality Development , Risk Factors , Socioeconomic FactorsABSTRACT
Twenty-four chronic schizophrenic patients were treated successfully with the addition of acetazolamide and thiamine (A + T) to their unchanged existing therapies in a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study. Therapeutic effects were measured by the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms and the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms. Overall, 50% of the patients showed improvement on all assessment scales. No untoward effects occurred in these patients or in patients in previous studies who have been treated continuously with A + T therapy for as long as 3 years.
Subject(s)
Acetazolamide/administration & dosage , Schizophrenia/drug therapy , Thiamine/administration & dosage , Adult , Blood Glucose/metabolism , Chronic Disease , Clinical Trials as Topic , Double-Blind Method , Drug Therapy, Combination , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Schizophrenic PsychologyABSTRACT
At Rockland Psychiatric Center 60 newly admitted (and readmitted) young adult chronic patients were given tests of intellectual functioning and academic achievement three weeks after admission. The majority of these patients (83 percent) had below-normal IQs and more than half were found to be functionally illiterate. The authors point out that such patients require intensive socialization training and remedial education if they are to survive in the community.
Subject(s)
Achievement , Intelligence , Mental Disorders/psychology , Adult , Chronic Disease , Educational Status , Female , Humans , MaleABSTRACT
This study was carried out to determine whether long term chronic deteriorated patients could be taught skills in activities of daily living by therapy aides to improve their quality of life in the hospital. It was designed as a controlled trial comparing active intervention in the experimental wards with routine nursing care in the control wards. The results showed that, even in such a short period as 3 months, active treatment produced results which were statistically significantly better than the controls. It is concluded that mental hygiene therapy aides, given adequate support and encouragement, can make measurable and observable improvements in the behavior of long term patients. The implications of the results are considered.
Subject(s)
Mental Disorders/rehabilitation , Psychiatric Aides/statistics & numerical data , Psychiatric Department, Hospital/organization & administration , Activities of Daily Living , Adult , Aged , Attitude of Health Personnel , Attitude to Health , Chronic Disease , Evaluation Studies as Topic , Female , Hospitals, State/organization & administration , Humans , Long-Term Care/organization & administration , Male , Mental Disorders/psychology , Middle Aged , Psychiatric Aides/psychology , Quality of LifeSubject(s)
Hospital Volunteers , Mutism/therapy , Adult , Aged , Chronic Disease , Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over , Humans , Inpatients/psychology , Middle Aged , Mutism/psychologyABSTRACT
A three-month pilot project was devised to test the effectiveness of treatments designed by therapy aides for improving the daily living skills of long-term chronic psychiatric patients. The study was conducted on two male and two female wards; one male and one female ward were chosen for experimental treatment, the other two as controls. Patients behaviors were rated by a nurse or therapy aide and by one of the investigators both before and after the trial began. Ratings by nursing staff-showed no over-all effect of treatment on male and female patients combined but significant improvement among the males. Investigators rated both male and female treatment groups as significantly improved. The results suggest that improvements in behavior can be achieved using procedures that are much simpler and less costly than formal behavior modification programs.
Subject(s)
Allied Health Personnel , Mental Disorders/rehabilitation , Psychotherapy/methods , Behavior Therapy , Chronic Disease , Female , Humans , Male , Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care , Pilot ProjectsABSTRACT
Devised a checklist to measure the ability of regressed chronic, psychiatric patients to perform skills of daily living because no other scale found was appropriate for measuring the behavior of such patients (N = 73). Areas assessed by the checklist were eating habits, grooming, dressing, inappropriate social behavior, and uncooperative behavior. Reliability was high, and the checklist was a valid measured of change.
