Premium
Prevalence of mental disorders in young adults with chronic physical diseases since childhood as identified by the Present State Examination and the CATEGO program
Author(s) -
Kokkonen J.,
Kokkonen E.R.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1993.tb03365.x
Subject(s) - psychiatry , depression (economics) , disease , medicine , prevalence of mental disorders , pediatrics , mental health , clinical psychology , psychology , economics , macroeconomics
To find out whether long‐term physical disorders in childhood increase the risk for mental disorder, we interviewed 407 young adults and compared their findings to a control group of 123 age‐matched controls. The overall prevalence of mental disorders according to ICD‐8 classification exceeded 20% in both groups. Depression and phobic disorders were the most common diagnostic syndromes, being most prevalent in women with motor handicaps or short stature. Only 7 patients had received psychotherapy, 5 for psychotic symptoms. In conclusion, only a severe physical disease, visible and disabling for years in everyday life, seems to increase the risk for mental problems. The results demonstrate the need to improve the approach towards psychological problems in the somatic clinics treating patients with long‐term physical diseases.