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Interpersonal psychodynamics of voluntary psychiatric admissions

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The hypothesis is suggested that voluntary admission to a psychiatric hospital is an event occasioned by a shift in equilibrium of the dyadic relationship between the patient and the central family figure, subsequent to a change in the external environment. Furthermore, the admission is not a function per se of the severity of the patient's symptoms or of his desire for relief. The hypothesis is evaluated by an analysis of 20 patients admitted voluntarily to the New York State Psychiatric Institute. The findings are considered in terms of interpersonal psychodynamics. the implications for treatment are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto 5, Ontario

    Harvey C. Stancer Ph.D., M.D., John A. Sours M.D. & Lothar Gidro-Frank M.D.

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, Columbia, USA

    Harvey C. Stancer Ph.D., M.D., John A. Sours M.D. & Lothar Gidro-Frank M.D.

  3. New York State Psychiatric Institute, 722 West 168th Street, 10032, New York, N. Y.

    Harvey C. Stancer Ph.D., M.D., John A. Sours M.D. & Lothar Gidro-Frank M.D.

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  1. Harvey C. Stancer Ph.D., M.D.
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  2. John A. Sours M.D.
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  3. Lothar Gidro-Frank M.D.
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Stancer, H.C., Sours, J.A. & Gidro-Frank, L. Interpersonal psychodynamics of voluntary psychiatric admissions. Psych Quar 39, 516–536 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01569483

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