Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T01:25:14.650Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A census study of mental illness in Samsø

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Johannes Nielsen*
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatric Demography, Aarhus Psychiatric Hospital, Risskov, Denmark
Jørgen Achton Nielsen
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatric Demography, Aarhus Psychiatric Hospital, Risskov, Denmark
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Johannes Nielsen, Institute of Psychiatric Demography, Aarhus Psyciatric Hospital, DK-8240 Risskov, Denmark.

Synopsis

Census data from the Danish island of Samsø have provided information on all but 20% of the population. Fifty per cent of the population with past or present mental illness had been referred to the psychiatric service during the 18-year-period 1957–74; the proportion varied from 85 % for patients with psychoses (100 % for schizophrenic patients, and 90% for manic-depressive patients) to 43 % with non-psychotic disorders. The frequency of past and present mental illness was 24 %, higher for women with manic-depressive disorders, psychogenic (reactive) psychoses, and neuroses. The possible reasons for these and other findings are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bentsen, B. G. (1970). Illness and General Practice. Universitetsforlaget: Oslo.Google Scholar
Hinkle, L. E. (1961). Ecological observations of the relation of physical illness, mental illness, and the social environment. Psychosomatic Medicine 23, 289296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hinkle, L. E. & Wolff, H. G. (1957). The nature of man's adaption to his total environment and the relation of this to illness. A.M.A. Archives of Internal Medicine 99, 442.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hinkle, L. E. & Wolff, H. G. (1958). Ecologic investigations of the relationship between illness, life experiences and the social environment. Annals of Internal Medicine 49, 1373.Google ScholarPubMed
Mazer, M. (1976). People in Predicament. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, Mass.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nielsen, J. (1962). Geronto-psychiatric period-prevalence investigation in a geographically delimited population. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 38, 307330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nielsen, J. (1963). Home visits by psychiatrists. Comprehensive Psychiatry 4, 442460.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nielsen, J. (1976). The Samsø project from 1957 to 1974. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 54, 198222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nielsen, J., Juel Nielsen, N. & Strömgren, E. (1965 a). A five-year survey of a psychiatric service in a geographically delimited rural population given easy access to this service. Comprehensive Psychiatry 6, 139165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nielsen, J., Wilsnack, W. & Strömgren, E. (1965 b). Some aspects of community psychiatry. British Journal of Preventive and Social Medicine 19, 8593.Google ScholarPubMed
Sainsbury, P. (1975). Evaluation of community mental health programs. In Handbook of Evaluation Research, vol. 2 (ed. Guttentag, M. and Struening, E. L.), pp. 125159. Sage Publications: Beverly Hills.Google Scholar
Scocozza, L. & Søndergaard, K. (1973). Incidens og prævalens af invalidepension. Ugeskrift for læger 135, 26432654.Google Scholar
Svalastoga, K. (1959). Prestige, Class and Mobility. Gyldendal: Copenhagen.Google Scholar