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Geographical Differences in the Prevalence of Mental Deficiency

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Hans Olof Åkesson*
Affiliation:
Psychiatric Department III, Lillhagen's Hospital, S-422 03 Hisings-Backa, Sweden

Extract

Like other mental disorders, mental deficiency presents great problems in diagnosis. These diagnostic problems derive ultimately from the fact that a medical diagnosis can be made only in exceptional cases. Mental retardation is not a disease in itself, but only a symptom which may be found in a number of different conditions. It is true that there are a great number of oligophrenia syndromes with known aetiology, but together they represent a numerically small group. When one considers, in addition, that no clear cut distinction between the normally intelligent and the mentally retarded can be made, since the difference is merely quantitative, the difficulties of diagnosis become manifest.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1974 

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References

Åkesson, H. O. (1961) Epidemiology and Genetics of Mental Deficiency in a Southern Swedish Population. Uppsala: Almqvist and Wiksell.Google Scholar
Åkesson, H. O. (1963) Urban-rural distribution of low-grade mental defectives. Acta genet. (Basel), 13, 275–89.Google Scholar
Åkesson, H. O. (1967) Severe mental deficiency in a population in Western Sweden. Acta genet. (Basel), 17, 243–7.Google Scholar
Wallin, L. (1974) Severe mental retardation in a Swedish Industrial Town. Göteborg: Scandinavian University Books.Google Scholar
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