Cox's chair: 'a moral and a medical mean in the treatment of maniacs'.

Two hundred years ago Joseph Cox published his book on the treatment of insanity. His novel technique was rotating the body in a specially designed chair. Initially modest and later extravagant claims were made for the therapeutic benefit of 'Cox's chair'.

Predictors of successful rehabilitation in long-stay patients.

Fifty-one long-stay psychiatric patients admitted to a new rehabilitation unit were followed up for 3-4 years. Two groups were identified, one (n = 29) where significant progress had been made, and a second (n = 22) where no significant progress had been made. The groups were compared on a number of demographic measures and on measures of mental state, social behaviour, self-care skills, and work performance in hospital.

The reliability and validity of two assessment scales in the elderly mentally handicapped.

The Clifton Assessment Schedule and the Shortened Stockton Rating Scale were administered to 38 elderly, mentally handicapped patients. Inter-rater reliability was high and the CAS was found to be a useful measure of cognitive ability. The tests measure different features of patients, but both correlated significantly with estimated levels of independence.

A trial of bran and bran biscuits for constipation in mentally handicapped and psychogeriatric patients.

Six elderly psychiatric and 17 mentally handicapped individuals suffering from severe constipation received 3 week periods of treatment with 10 g unrefined bran, three bran biscuits, and Senokot syrup daily or three times weekly. There was no significant difference in the number of bowel movements or enemas or in the consistency of the motions. The results suggest that bran may be substituted for laxatives.

Symptom patterns among chronic schizophrenic in-patients.

The Delusions-Symptoms-States Inventory (DSSI) was administered to 33 chronic non-paranoid schizophrenic patients resident on long-stay wards. It was found that the vast majority of cases (81 per cent) produced symptom patterns conforming to the hierarchy of classes of personal illness model, but with a radically different distribution among the classes from that in acutely ill patients. Within the model a half of the patients were allotted to the two lowest classes--Class 0 (Symptom-free) and Class 1 (Dysthymic States).

The token economy in the National Health Service: possibilities and limitations.

The effects after 1 year of the introduction of a token economy system into a long-term male psychiatric ward of 45 mainly schizophrenic patients are described. The main objectives were (1) to define the limits of such programmes in "average" National Health Service conditions, where additional resources in staff, finance, and facilities are very limited and (2) to introduce the principles and techniques of behaviour modification to nursing staff. The programme succeeded in reducing social withdrawal and apathy and in increasing self-care skills and involvement in constructive activity.

Use of a standardized psychiatric interview in mentally handicapped patients.

This study attempted to assess the applicability of the Clinical Interview Schedule (Goldberg et al., 1970) to mentally handicapped patients in a hospital. Twenty-seven patients were rated simultaneously by three raters.