It is generally accepted that the national rate of mental
hospitalization has been stable in recent years (at 1.8 million). That
conclusion, based largely on data from the National Institute of Mental
Health (NIMH), ignores all inpatient episodes for mental disorders in
general hospitals without psychiatric units. Surveying the more extensive
data base, the authors previously reported a much larger number of
inpatient episodes (about 3 million). This article investigates changes in
rates across years and finds a steady increase from 1965 to 1979. The
difference is entirely attributable to inpatient episodes in general
hospitals without psychiatric units, where the number of episodes has been
rapidly increasing.
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