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The Role of Stress as a Precipitating Factor of Psychiatric Illness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Arthur P. Schless ,
Alicia Teichman ,
J. Mendels  and
Joseph N. DiGiacomo
Arthur P. Schless
Affiliation:
Veterans Administration Hospital, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
Alicia Teichman
Affiliation:
Veterans Administration Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
J. Mendels
Affiliation:
Affective Diseases Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania; Veterans Administration Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
Joseph N. DiGiacomo
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania; and Chief of Psychiatry, Veterans Administration Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
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Summary

Fifty-six psychiatric patients were interviewed to obtain a record of life events preceding admission to hospital, using a modified version of the Schedule of Recent Experiences. Two control groups were studied for comparison: medical and surgical in-patients and a ‘normal’ population studied independently by Myers. Psychiatric patients reported a significantly larger number of events than the medical-surgical patients, who, in turn, reported significantly more events than the ‘normal’ population. There were no significant differences in the specific life event histories between groups.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 130 , Issue 1 , January 1977 , pp. 19 - 22
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists 1977 

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