A STATISTICAL STUDY OF PSYCHOSES DUE TO DRUGS OR OTHER EXOGENOUS POISONS
BENJAMIN MALZBERG PH. D.1
1 New York State Department of Mental Hygiene.
1. Psychoses due to drugs or other exogenous poisons represent very few first admissions to hospitals for mental disease in New York State. Such psychoses average only about 0.2% of all first admissions.
2. Despite the small number of such first admissions, it is evident, nevertheless, that psychoses due to drugs, etc., are more frequent among females than among males.
3. Very few cases of such psychoses arise from poisoning due to a metal or to a gas. The largest single category is probably that arising from the use of opium or its derivatives.
4. The average age of first admissions with psychoses due to drugs, etc., is approximately 46 years. Females averaged about a year older than males. Approximately 60.0% of such admissions are found within ages 35 to 54.
5. There was a high percentage of intemperate users of alcohol among first admissions due to drugs, etc.
6. When classified as to marital status, all first admissions with drug psychoses, etc., except the married group, were in relative excess of the numbers expected when compared with similar marital groups in the general population. The excess was especially marked among those who were separated or divorced.
7. When compared with the general population, first admissions with drug psychoses, etc., did not show any significant differences with respect to degree of education. However, they included higher percentages with a high school or college education than is found among all first admissions.
8. Psychoses due to drugs, etc., occurred more frequently among the urban than among the rural population. With respect to the latter, they were confined to the nonfarm group.
9. Negroes had a higher rate of first admissions with drug psychoses, etc., than whites. This was due to a great excess among Negro males. Negro females on the contrary contributed less than their quota of such first admissions.
10. Foreign-born whites had less than their quota of first admissions with psychoses due to drugs, etc. Native whites had an excess of such admissions.
11. There is a suggestion of a relatively high rate of first admissions with psychoses due to drugs, etc., among Jews, in contrast with unusually low rates of first admissions with alcoholic psychoses among them.
