As soon as Adolf Hitler came to into power in 1933, four laws on racial segregation and race protection were edicted between 1934 and 1935. Schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychoses, epilepsy and alcoholism were regarded as hereditary mental illnesses. These laws were responsible for the sterilisation of 350,000 individuals who were thought to be at the source of the propagation of hereditary illnesses which might endanger the health and the future of the Aryan Germans. On September 1, 1939, Action T4 was launched: it required that all the mentally ill be exterminated. This action, which was run by the highest level of the Reich's chancellery with the help of psychiatrists coming from all backgrounds including university professors, was supposed to grant a serene death to all the mentally ill considered as untreatable. The death sentences were carried out by the medical staff in psychiatric hospitals specially equipped with gas chambers. Following protests, Action T4 was officially stopped on August 24, 1941, but, in reality, continued until the end of the war. The death sentences were carried out using either lethal doses of medication or food deprivation. One hundred and fifty thousand individuals fell victim to that therapeutic extermination which played an economic role as important as the one deemed to social protection. Many German academics, researchers, psychiatrists, geneticians and anthropologists played and active part in these murders which were carried out in the name of Nazi ideology based upon the supremacy of the Northern Germanic race and the necessity to protect it from miscegenation, especially from Jews. In the final part of this paper, the author gives an explanation of the perversion of ethics carried out by German psychiatrists.

There has been a growing interest in the quality of life (QoL) of the mentally ill, subsequently a number of instruments to measure QoL have been developed. One of the measures of QoL which has received considerable attention is the Lancashire QoL Profile (LQOLP). The present study investigated test-retest reliability and internal consistency in the Swedish translation of the LQOLP using a cross-sectional sample of 29 inpatients. The results showed that test-retest reliability of subjective life satisfaction in the nine life domains covered by the LQOLP was satisfactory in seven of the domains, and acceptable in two (social relations and religion). Test-retest reliability for total subjective satisfaction score, global well-being, and an interviewer rated QoL were all on a satisfactory level (r > 0.80). The internal consistency and homogeneity of the total subjective QoL scale and the nine life domain subscales was satisfactory except for the social relations scale, where it was somewhat low.

Background: The elderly are vulnerable to illness and particularly to psychiatric illness. Many mentally ill elderly patients end up on non-psychiatric wards owing to somatization of their illnesses. Even for these patients, a psychiatric diagnosis may not be made. The literature on the elderly in Uganda is very scanty. This study aims to establish the prevalence and factors associated with psychiatric disorders among elderly patients admitted to non-psychiatric wards.

Methods: We carried out a descriptive cross-sectional study of 127 consenting elderly patients. They were administered a standardized questionnaire comprising the Self Reporting Questionnaire 25, the Mini-mental State Examination and the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV. Study variables included socio-demographic characteristics, physical illnesses, psychiatric disorders and the treatment given.

Results: The rate of psychiatric morbidity was 48%. The sex ratio was 1:1; however, women had a higher rate of psychiatric illness than men, 54.6% and 41.3% respectively. Being widowed or separated and having cancer were associated with SRQ > 5, p = 0.02 and p = 0.04 respectively. Depressive disorders were the most common at 25.2% and were more common in women. Increasing age was associated with dementia (p < 0.00).

Conclusion: There is a high rate of psychiatric morbidity among the elderly in Uganda. Particular attention should be given to the psychological health of elderly people admitted to general hospitals.