Acute Psychiatric Services in the General Hospital: I. Implications for Psychiatry in Emergency Admissions
MORRIS E. CHAFETZ M.D.1,
HOWARD T. BLANE PH.D.2, , and
JAMES J. MULLER PH.D.3
1 Director of the Alcohol Clinic and Acute Psychiatric Service, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Mass. 02114
2 Associate Psychologist, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Mass. 02114
3 Assistant Psychologist, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Mass. 02114
At Massachusetts General Hospital, visits to the psychiatric service increased from one percent of total visits in 1952 to three percent in 1961. This probably reflects an increase in acknowledgment of psychiatric disturbance rather than an actual rise in its incidence. The increase in emergency psychiatric admissions to general hospitals—which are now often used as "the poor man's family doctor"—has many implications for the future practice of psychiatry.
