A STUDY OF INSIGHT OF PSYCHIATRIC PATIENTS
CARROLL W. OSGOOD M. D.
1. The insight of 100 patients discharged from a private sanitarium has been studied.
2. Among those diagnosed as depressions there was a greater proportion of patients who showed good insight on admission than among those with other psychoses. Psychoneurotics all showed fair to good insight.
3. All but one of the patients discharged as "much improved" or "recovered" showed some insight and most of this group showed good insight.
4. Absence of insight on admission did not impair the prognosis for recovery, but patients with partial insight showed a poorer recovery rate than either those with no insight or those with good insight.
5. Lack of insight was frequently associated with such manifestations as disorientation, poor comprehension, irrelevance, memory impairment, hallucinations, delusions, conduct disorders and retardation.
