Social isolation and personality of schizophrenic patients at first admittance and 12 months later

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine whether schizophrenic patients' social contacts 12 months after their first admittance correlated with social contacts and personality function at the time of first admittance. During the calendar year of 1989 a cohort of 18 first-admittance schizophrenic patients from the catchment area of the Psychiatric Hospital in Aarhus were studied at admittance and 12 months later. The diagnostic assessment was carried out using the Present State Examination; the social conditions were examined using a questionnaire called SOUL; and the personality assessment was carried out using the questionnaire Karolinska Scales of Personality. The survey showed the following results: an increased number of the schizophrenic patients were often lonely, as they lacked friends with whom to discuss personal problems 1 year after first admission. Especially schizophrenics with low Impulsiveness became lonely. The unemployment rate decreased 1 year after index admittance, but the schizophrenics with a high irritability score were unemployed more frequently than other schizophrenic patients. The conclusion deducted from this survey is that the personality of schizophrenic patients, as measured by the Karolinska Scales of Personality, is associated with the social contacts of the patients 12 months later.

Key Words:

• Loneliness
• Psychiatry
• Schizophrenia
• Social support
• Unemployment

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ole Mors

Joyce Laing works in the Department of Child and Family Psychiatry, Playfield House, Cupar, Fife, and is a Consultant Art Therapist to Psychiatric Hospitals and Prisons and Chairwoman of the Scottish Society of Art and Psychology.