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The Homeless Person and the Psychiatric Services: An Edinburgh Survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Robert G. Priest
Robert G. Priest*
Affiliation:
St. Mary's Hospital Medical School (University of London), London, W9 3RL
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Summary

A representative sample (R.S.) of 79 subjects living in Edinburgh common lodging houses was compared with a clinical series (O.S.) of 44 patients from the same type of residence. C.S. patients were more likely to be out of work, to be under 55 years of age, and to have been married at some time. They had spent much shorter times in lodging houses, in Edinburgh and at their current address. Alcoholism was rather more often diagnosed in the C.S., and personality disorder much more often. Schizophrenia tended to be found more in the R.S. The O.S. obtained higher Personal Illness and ‘Character Disorder’ scores. It is concluded that those subjects presenting to the psychiatric services are a highly selected group quite unrepresentative of homeless single persons in general.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 128 , Issue 2 , February 1976 , pp. 128 - 136
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1976 

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