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Deafness and Psychiatric Illness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

A. F. Cooper
A. F. Cooper*
Affiliation:
Leverndale Hospital, 510 Crookston Road, Glasgow G53 7TU; Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
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Summary

Review of the literature concerning the relationship between deafness and psychiatric disorder reveals differences in the pattern of illness depending on the severity of deafness and the age of onset. In particular, the prevalence of schizophrenia in the prelingually deaf is similar to that found in the normal population, whereas the hard of hearing are over-represented among samples of patients suffering from paranoid psychoses in later life.

Possible modes of action of long-standing hearing loss in the aetiology of paranoid illnesses are considered: the psychological and social consequences of deafness, the possible contribution of sensory deprivation phenomena, and the interference of hearing loss in attention, perception and communication. Finally, possible future lines of research are suggested.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 129 , Issue 3 , September 1976 , pp. 216 - 226
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1976 

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