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A Psychiatric Study of Amputees

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

G. D. Shukla ,
S. C. Sahu ,
R. P. Tripathi  and
D. K. Gupta
G. D. Shukla
Affiliation:
M.L.B. Medical College, Jhansi (U–P), India
S. C. Sahu
Affiliation:
M.L.B. Medical College, Jhansi (U–P), India
R. P. Tripathi
Affiliation:
M.L.B. Medical College, Jhansi (U–P), India
D. K. Gupta
Affiliation:
M.L.B. Medical College, Jhansi (U–P), India
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Summary

Psychiatric manifestations were studied in 72 amputees in the post-operative period. All were right handed. Besides phantom limb phenomena, which were observed in nearly four-fifths of the cases and are described in another paper, nearly two-thirds had psychiatric symptoms in the form of depression (45 patients), anxiety (38), crying spells (38), insomnia (34), loss of appetite (23), suicidal ideas (21) and psychotic behaviour (2). Right arm amputees had phantom phenomena and insomnia significantly more often than left.

Nearly one-fifth of the cases were diagnosed as having psychotic depressive reactions, two-fifths as having depressive neurosis and two, both with right upper limb amputations, as schizophrenic.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 141 , Issue 1 , July 1982 , pp. 50 - 53
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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