Reactions of Adolescents to Short-Term Hospitalization
SANDER M. ABEND M.D.1,
HYMAN KACHALSKY M.D.2, , and
HARVEY H. GREENBERG M.D.3
1 Division of child psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Eastchester Road and Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, N. Y. 10461, chief of the adolescent outpatient clinic
2 Chief of child psychiatry, Grasslands Hospital, Valhalla, N. Y.
3 Division of child psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Eastchester Road and Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, N. Y. 10461, inpatient service for adolescents
The authors present their observations of adolescents hospitalized on a short-term psychiatric ward over a four-year period. Three stages of adjustment are identified in the course of hospitalization, reflecting a gradual formation and dissolution of a strong emotional attachment on the part of the adolescent patients to the ward staff. Evidence that a positive transference to staff does occur during short-term hospitalization lends support to the trend toward community-based mental health care.
