A comparison of a community mental health centre-based psychiatric service with one based in an outpatient department at the same hospital.

Referrals and response to referrals of two psychiatric services with similar catchment areas of the same hospital, one with a Community Mental Health Care (CMHC) centre and the other based at an outpatient department, were compared over a five-month period. While the service with a CMHC had an increased number of referrals, which may reflect the aims of the CMHC of making mental health services more accessible and less stigmatised, most referrals were from general practitioners and therefore likely to be appropriate. In spite of its increased workload, the time from referral to assessment for the CMHC-based service was significantly shorter than for the outpatient-based service.

Expressed emotion and a hypothetical model of relapse in schizophrenia.

A hypothetical model is proposed that connects the risk of relapse in schizophrenia and expressed emotion in relatives with genetic factors in the individual, familial schizophrenia, severity of illness, family psychopathology, age of onset of the illness, and length of family exposure to a psychotic relative.

A comparison of prescribed medication in learning disability patients before and after resettlement from hospital into the community.

The use of prescribed medication was examined in 34 people with learning disability who underwent a planned resettlement from a hospital into the community. No significant differences were found in the number of subjects receiving antipsychotic, antimuscarinic, antidepressant, and anticonvulsant medication, lithium preparations, and non-psychoactive medication, just prior to discharge and 1 year after discharge. This study indicates that long-stay hospitalised adults with moderate, severe or profound mental retardation can successfully be relocated into the community--in spite of suffering from behavioural and major psychiatric disorders--with the aid of appropriate medication, psychiatric follow-up, and community resources.

A double-blind comparison of zuclopenthixol tablets with placebo in the treatment of mentally handicapped in-patients with associated behavioural disorders.

Fifty-two mentally-handicapped in-patients with associated behavioural disorders were entered into this double-blind trial comparing zuclopenthixol dihydrochloride tablets (10 mg) with placebo. The study consisted of a 6-week open phase, in which all patients were treated with zuclopenthixol tablets, followed by a 12-week double-blind phase where approximately half of the patients were transferred to placebo tablets. Demographic data was obtained from the patients at entry to the study.

Tardive dyskinesia with schizophrenic relapse.

A case of a borderline subnormal schizophrenic is described in a patient who developed tardive dyskinesia after 21 years of neuroleptic therapy. However, features of tardive dyskinesia manifested only during the psychotic relapses and disappeared on remission of psychotic symptoms.

Prolonged oculogyric crisis on addition of nifedipine to neuroleptic medication regime.

Extrapyramidal symptoms, including oculogyric crisis, are well recognised side-effects of clopenthixol medication, but precipitation of prolonged oculogyric crisis on addition of nifedipine to an ongoing clopenthixol regime has not so far been reported.