Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-995ml Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T14:00:08.957Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Are patients with severe depression traumatized by admission to an aged psychiatry ward?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2006

Penelope A. Pollitt
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Monash University, Australia
Daniel W. O'Connor
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Monash University, Australia

Abstract

Background: Research on young psychiatric patients suggests that a significant proportion experience trauma and, in some cases, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of hospitalization. This paper focuses on the evidence of trauma and PTSD associated with admission to an aged psychiatry ward.

Methods: Fifty former patients from three Melbourne hospitals were interviewed in their own homes, using a semi-structured, open-ended questionnaire.

Results: Thirty-four percent of participants reported having felt frightened, unsafe, powerless, and undermined at some time during their hospital stay. In 24% of cases these experiences could be described as “traumatic.” None met criteria for PTSD.

Conclusion: Most of the distressing experiences reported had been re-evaluated in the light of recovery or the passage of time. Nevertheless, finding ways to reduce the occurrence of such potentially traumatic experiences is clearly desirable. The evidence from this study suggests that providing opportunities for patients with depression to spend time apart from disturbed and disruptive patients would be helpful in this regard.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
International Psychogeriatric Association 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)