Objectives: In an era of cost containment in the health services, it is important to endeavour to manage existing resources in the optimum way. This study examines admissions to an acute psychiatric unit in a general hospital in order to identify factors that characterise these admissions, which in turn may suggest appropriate interventions.

Methods: This was a retrospective casenote review of 105 consecutive admissions. Demographic information and clinical data concerning this admission and service contact in the preceding year was collected. Chi-squared tests were used to compare patients who were admitted during normal working hours with those admitted after 5pm and at weekends. Patients whose length of stay exceeded four weeks were compared with those who had a shorter admission.

Results: Eventually 101 patients were included in the study; of these 46.5% of admissions occurred during normal working hours. Admissions outside this time were more likely to be under 45 years (χ2 = 4.05, df = 1, p <0.05) and to be diagnosed with a depressive illness or schizophrenia/psychosis (χ2 = 19.12, df = 3, p <0.05). These admissions were of shorter duration (χ2 = 4.45, df = 1, p <0.05) and had not been in contact with the community psychiatric nurse (CPN) in the preceding year (χ2 = 4.09, df = 1, p <0.05). Length of stay >4 weeks duration was more likely in single patients (χ2 = 9.68, df = 2, p <0.01), those living outside the more urban areas (χ2 = 4.04, df = 1, p <0.05) and those who had a diagnosis of a depressive illness or schizophrenia/psychosis (χ2 = 13.43, df = 3, p <0.01). Patients with a diagnosis of alcohol or substance abuse were spending significantly shorter periods in hospital.

Conclusions: Further development of day hospitals is necessary to provide alternatives to inpatient treatment and facilitate earlier discharge for patients living throughout the catchment area. Alternative methods of service delivery such as outreach programmes should be considered for subgroups of patients who are unable or unwilling to access traditional services. Introducing outpatient detoxification programmes would have a substantial impact on admission patterns in the unit.

Objectives: To investigate the extent and quality of substance use history taking by trainee psychiatrists.

Method: A retrospective clinical casenote audit of admissions to an acute inner city psychiatric unit during three randomly selected months. Data on substance use history taking was recorded by means of a specially designed study checklist.

Results: In almost three-quarters (45, 73%) of admission episodes trainee psychiatrists had made some mention of substance misuse. However, substance use history taking often occurred subsequent to the initial clinical assessment and varied greatly in quality.

Conclusions: The need for a brief, standardised substance use screening questionnaire, easily incorporated into the existing psychiatric interview format is highlighted.

Adult ADHD is becoming a rather ‘firm’ diagnosis in adult psychiatry practice. Nevertheless it is a diagnosis that is often missed which leads to unnecessary distress to patients. This paper sets out the treatment possibilities.

Objectives: There have been concerns in the international literature that the manner in which psychiatry and psychiatric patients is portrayed in the print media is negative and sensational. If correct this has serious implications for the stigma and prejudice that our patients will suffer. This study was designed to evaluate the content and tone of articles relating to psychiatry. It was compared with a broadly similar study published in 1995 and will form the base from which to measure changes in psychiatric coverage over time.

Method: All the daily broadsheets, one daily tabloid and three Sunday broadsheets were examined for a six month period in 1999 and all articles, letters or headlines incorporating psychiatry-related material were examined. Using specific definitions, articles and headlines were examined for tone and content as well as for the contribution of mental health professionals.

Results: Overall 0.65 articles per newspaper per day were found. News items and feature predominated, with forensic issues receiving the greatest attention. The tone of the articles was either neutral or positive and the improvement in the tone of articles in the tabloids was particularly noticeable when compared with an earlier study. This is very different from the findings of international studies. However, the headlines were more sensational in tone than the contents of the articles themselves. Increasingly the opinion of health professionals was sought but contributions from psychiatrists remained low, writing just two articles and constituting 15% of health professionals whose opinions were sought. Nine per cent of items constituted misuse of terms.

Conclusions: The Irish print media are not hostile to psychiatry and there has been an improvement in tone and type of article in the past five years. Greater involvement of psychiatrists in the media and particularly more direct engagement with editors is required if there is to be a shift from coverage of forensic matters in favour of informative articles as well as improvement in the headline tone.

More than a century ago Freud provoked a bitter controversy concerning alleged recollections of childhood sexual abuse: Were they fact or fiction? This debate is still ongoing, with some professionals stubbornly holding on to deeply entrenched and polarised positions. On the one side there are those who continue to deny the veracity of all ‘recovered memories’, and thus also of the implicated psychological defenses of repression and dissociation. At the other extreme are those therapists who simplistically assume that particular symptoms invariably imply sexual abuse. Over the decades there is a growing corpus of anecdotal, clinical and, more recently, research evidence supporting the contention that childhood sexual abuse, like all other trauma, can be forgotten for days, and even for many years, before being recalled. However, the reconstruction of these memories is a complex and, at times, a rather fallible process.

Trichotillomania is a relatively uncommon condition that classically occurs in young females. It can result in trichobezoar formation, which is usually managed successfully by surgical intervention, although rarely it can be fatal. This article presents a brief review of trichotillomania. A literature search was performed for ‘trichotillomania’ using the PubMed database, and relevant papers and their references were researched. This review commences by defining the condition and considering its presentation and its prevalence. Diagnostic dilemmas including differential diagnosis and the uncertainty about structural abnormalities in the brain as indicated by magnetic resonance imaging findings are then reviewed. Finally we examine the current treatment options of this interesting condition.

Low serum and urinary Cortisol has been a consistent finding in post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Glucocorticoid receptor numbers are increased. PTSD patients have a significantly lower adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in response to corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH) when compared to a control group of normal volunteers. The dexamethasone suppression test exhibits an exaggerated suppression response of Cortisol to dexamethasone, when the dose utilised is lower than that utilised to test patients with depression. Increased urine levels of noradrenaline and dopamine has been noted in patients with PTSD. This is believed to be related to the hyperarousal state of PTSD.

Research is currently recognised as an integral part of higher training in psychiatry, but can become a poorly structured training experience. The Collegiate Trainees' Committee (CTC) suggests that clear objectives should be set for the use of a trainee's research time, allowing far greater flexibility over the methods by which those training objectives are met. The process of setting and meeting these objectives requires a fundamental review with the possibility of teaching and supervision being increasingly solicited from other professional groups. Without adequate supervision and support many trainees will continue to struggle unnecessarily with research, and lack confidence in using research findings (for their patients benefit) throughout their consultant careers.

This review identifies similarities between behavioural indicators of children with future schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and prodromal symptoms in the first episode of schizophrenia. An alternative concept of prodrome is described with implications for early recognition, monitoring and intervention of individuals at risk of future schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Priapism is a rare urological emergency, which can be associated with the use of psychotropic medication. The authors were able to find only one brief report of this condition in people with an intellectual disability. A case is reported in a man with moderate intellectual disability, who was receiving antipsychotic medication to manage extreme challenging behaviour. We discuss the condition and its implications for pharmacological treatments of behavioural disturbance in susceptible individuals.

Health policy documents recommend screening for cognitive impairment, although in practice this is not implemented. This article looks at the issues which require consideration in implementing a screening programme. These include factors pertinent to the disease under consideration, resources, both personnel and time, lack of experience of cognitive screening at a primary care level, use of screening instruments and uncertainty about management of positive cases. Only by identifying the practical difficulties involved in screening, can steps can be taken to overcome them and to implement screening programmes which are acceptable to the population under consideration and their primary care physicians.

Rehabilitation services are changing across Britain. The focus of service developments appears to be in relation to community teams and assertive outreach. This leaves the question of which direction rehabilitation services are heading. As patients move into the community from long stay wards as part of the process of bed closures and resource transfer, rehabilitation services are left with changing patient characteristics. In addition, patient characteristics in rehabilitation vary between Trusts. This article explores and expands on these themes.

A case of affective psychosis and cognitive impairment is described. The patient had a history of cerebrovascular disease and had been ingesting large quantities of a complex herbal tonic prior to presentation. Diagnostic issues are discussed. Relevant literature on cerebrovascular disease and herbal remedies is reviewed. We propose a stress-diathesis model to account for this patient's illness and we advise caution in the use of complementary therapies in patients with compromised cerebrovascular status. Appropriate practice guidelines are outlined.

Suicide, assisted suicide and euthanasia are elusive and controversial issues worldwide. To discuss such issues from only one perspective may be limiting. Therefore, this paper was written by authors from various regions, each of whom has been asked to reflect on the issues. The countries/cultures are: Australia, China, Cuba, Ireland, India, Japan, Russia, South Africa, The Netherlands, North America (Turtle Island) and United States. Historically and today, suicide is viewed differently. Assisted suicide and euthanasia are equally seen from multifarious perspectives. Highlighting development in the Netherlands, Australia's Northern Territory and Japan (ie. the famous Yamanouchi Case), the review shows growing re-examination of the right to die. There appear, however, to be no uniform legal and ethical positions. Further debate and discussion globally is needed to avoid myopic perspectives.