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Hypothesis Concerning “Natural” Mortality in Psychiatry

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Interaction Between Mental and Physical Illness

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Abstract

The high mortality rate amongst psychiatric patients has been a well-known phenomenon for a long time (Esquirol 1838; Griesinger 1865; Cullere 1890; von Kraft-Ebing 1897). In 1838, Esquirol had already underlined the problem at the Bicêtre Hospital between 1784–1794 (Esquirol 1838), while the first paper on the subject using statistical methods dates from 1841 (Farr 1841). The first question is whether or not the phenomenon of high mortality still exists today: Craig and Lin (1981) have described an excess death rate in a psychiatric population in New York both before and after the introduction of psychotropic drugs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. École de Santé Publique, U.L.B., 808 Route de Lennik, B-1070, Bruxelles, Belgium

    Ph. Corten & M. Ribourdouille

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  1. Ph. Corten
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  2. M. Ribourdouille
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital, S-221 85, Lund, Sweden

    Rolf Öhman , Annika Franck Holmkvist  & Sören Nielzén ,  & 

  2. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 17 Belgrave Square, SWIX 8PG, GB-London, UK

    Hugh L. Freeman

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Corten, P., Ribourdouille, M. (1989). Hypothesis Concerning “Natural” Mortality in Psychiatry. In: Öhman, R., Freeman, H.L., Holmkvist, A.F., Nielzén, S. (eds) Interaction Between Mental and Physical Illness. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-73993-4_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-73993-4_8

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-73993-4

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