One hundred and twenty-seven white male alcoholics, treated in a rural setting, were assigned to one of two groups. Seventy-three subjects received intensive aftercare by Community Psychiatric nurse and fifty-four control subjects received standard aftercare with outpatient appointments. Subjects were assessed one year after treatment. Fifty-four per cent of those given Community Psychiatric Nurse follow-up were completely abstinent compared with twenty per cent of those in the control group. Those receiving Community Psychiatric Nurse follow-up were less likely to have blackouts, hospital admissions or marital discord in the year following treatment. They were more likely to attend hospital meetings regularly. This form of aftercare is an effective way of maximising the benefits of expensive inpatient treatment.

Anorexia nervosa in males is relatively uncommon and therefore is difficult to research. Nevertheless, the study of such cases is important and may yield valuable clues to the aetiological mechanisms and expression of this disorder. This study compared the characteristics of 12 males with primary anorexia nervosa with 36 female anorectics. The pattern of the disorder was remarkably similar in both sexes. Our findings are discussed with relevance to the available literature on this topic.

Opiate antagonists, such as naloxone, have been employed to indicate the possible involvement of endogenous opioids in a variety of behaviours including the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. This paper describes two experiments which were performed to determine the effects of naloxone on fluid intake and activity in rats. In experiment 1, the administration of 1mg/kg naloxone significantly (p<0.001) reduced water intake. 10mg/kg naloxone considerably reduced water intake, although this result was not significant. This influence was transient, since water intake was restored to control levels at the end of the 4 hours test period, and not dose related. A low dose of naloxone 0.01mg/kg produced no effect. In experiment 2, doses of 1 and 10mg/kg did not influence locomotor activity, rearing or grooming in the open field. These results suggest that naloxone may exert a primary antidipsogenic action that does not depend upon any suppression of concomitant activity. Furthermore, mechanisms controlling water intake and activity appear to be dissociated. A speculative role for the endogenous opioid system is discussed.

Suicide is recognised as the most devastating possible outcome of a schizophrenic illness. This study examined the characteristics of 15 schizophrenic patients who committed suicide. These patients were older and less socially isolated than noted in other research. Drowning was the commonest method of suicide and overall, the methods chosen were comparable to those reported among the general Irish population. A past history of deliberate self harm was common although no temporal relationship between such behaviour and suicide emerged. The findings are discussed in the light of the existing literature on this topic.

The aetiology of dental anxiety is multifactorial. Psychologically traumatising events associated with dental treatment have been shown to be of particular importance. The present investigation examines the role of memory in relation to these traumatic episodes and investigates their influence on the patient's response to dental treatment.

The study has shown that patients with dental anxiety have had more experience of “traumatic dental events” (p<0.001), relate the cause of their dental anxiety to specific dental procedures and report more fear of dental treatment than controls. The memories of such traumatic dental events are important indicators of anxiety in the clinical setting, with dentally anxious patients having significantly higher scores for dental anxiety (p<0.001) compared with controls. Furthermore, the memories of these events have a special relevance to the patient's subjective experience of dental anxiety in the here and now. The past event sensitises the susceptible patient and maintains and intensifies the anxiety through a feed-back mechanism, resulting in a vicious circle of anticipatory dental fear.

Using urine specific gravity testing to estimate fluid intake Compulsive Water Drinking (CWD) was found to occur, without an age or sex bias, in 19.1% of rehabilitation inpatients in a Canadian psychiatric hospital. Chart review indicated that Water Intoxication had not been a major problem for these patients during their hospitalisation. Nursing opinion appeared to be a relatively weak test for CWD. In a comparison with age and sex matched control patients no significant association with alcohol abuse for the CWD patients or their relatives was found.

In a national representative survey, 1,403 people were interviewed on their attitudes to depression and its sufferers and their understanding of the causes, treatability and treatment of depression. Some two-thirds of the interviewees regarded depressives as being neither mentally ill, weak willed, nor as feeling sorry for themselves. Stress, bereavement and hereditary were considered to be the most frequent causes of depression. Seventy-three per cent said that depression could be successfully treated. While 81 per cent recommended getting professional help, only 17 per cent mentioned their GP as a source of treatment for depression. People who had depression, or who had a friend or relative who had depression and those who had visited a patient in a psychiatric hospital expressed more positive attitudes to depression and its management.

A time series analysis of suicide in Northen Ireland and the USA for 1960 to 1984 revealed different correlates. Whereas divorce rates predicted national suicide rates in the USA, birth and marriage rates predicted suicide rates in Northern Ireland.

The major sociological theory proposed for understanding variations in national suicide rates was that of Durkheim. Durkheim proposed that two broad social characteristics were in large part responsible for the appearance of suicidal behaviour: social integration, the degree to which the people in a society were interconnected through social relationships, and social regulation, the degree to which the emotions and desires of people in the society were controlled and channeled by the social norms and customs.

Durkheim argued that suicide would be common when social integration was very strong (altruistic suicide) or very weak (egoistic suicide) and when social regulation was very strong (fatalistic suicide) or very weak (anomic suicide). Later theorists have argued that Durkheim placed more emphasis than was warranted on very strong social integration and regulation. Johnson argued, for example, that suicide would be more common when social integration and regulation were weak.

During the course of imprisonment, whether on remand or when serving a sentence, people sometimes need to be transferred to a psychiatric hospital. In the Republic of Ireland the only psychiatric hospital a person can be transferred to is the Central Mental Hospital (C.M.H.).

We describe 99 female prison transfers to the C.M.H. between 1983 and 1988. The mean age of the 70 sentenced prisoners was 26.43 years and that of the 29 remand prisoners was 33 years. The primary diagnoses were Schizophrenia (11), Mania (7), Depression and Stress (23), Personality Disorder (36), Mental Handicap (2) and Drug Addiction (16). The longest average stay at the hospital was for personality disorders (5 weeks). The longest sentences were for drugs offences. There were no cases of homicide or sex offences. We recommend that many of these cases could be handled in their catchment area hospital rather than in a high security Special Hospital.

Twenty-six women who had been sexually abused in childhood were assessed by means of structured interviews as to the nature of the abusive experience and subsequent psychiatric disorder. Nineteen (73.1%) fulfilled the criteria of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and a comparison was made between PTSD and non-PTSD groups with regard to quantitative abuse variables. The phenomenon of latency or delay in onset in PTSD symptomatology was investigated. The possible implications of those findings were discussed.

This study examines the changes in behaviour following residential relocation in 2 groups of adults with mental handicap. Both groups were transferred (one from the community and one from psychiatric hospitals) to small bungalow dwellings in a village type setting at a centre for persons with mental handicap. Relocation had a major impact on a number of behaviours, most prominently, ‘domestic activities’. The impact of the transfer on both groups, the relevance of the findings for future transfer projects and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Motivation towards learning was assessed in a class of 3rd, 4th and 5th standard, using a self report scale. Results for children identified as behaviourally deviant were compared with those of their non-disturbed peers. The findings show no significant difference on motivational scores between both groups; behaviourally deviant children differing from their non-disturbed peers only on an informational subscale of judgment.

Two cases of prolonged hypersomnia following neuroleptic therapy are described. No previous reports exist in the literature. The implications are briefly discussed.