Results of a 5-year follow-up of 100 randomly selected patients
committed to a community-oriented mental hospital in 1947 are compared with
those of a 5-year follow-up of 100 randomly selected patients admitted to a
community-based mental health center in 1967. The data show that both
programs were successful in kepping patients with historis of long-standing
mental illness in the community, even thought the 1947 group did not
receive any modern psychotropic medication. One uoexpected finding of the
comparison is the suggestion that these drugs might not be indispensable;
in fact, they might actually prolong the social dependency of some
discharged patients.Abstract Teaser