Long-term effects of physiotherapeutic treatment in outpatient psychiatric care

Abstract

Two consecutively selected groups of patients at an outpatient psychiatric clinic were studied (experimental (E) and control (C) groups). Both groups received conventional treatment, and in the E group psychiatric psysiotherapeutic treatment (PPT) was added. The effects of PPT were assessed immediately after termination of PPT and after a further 3.5 months. The instrument used for assessments were the SASB, measuring self-image; the SCL-90, measuring symptoms; and a semistructured interview focusing on satisfaction with treatment and treatment outcome. The patients were diagnosed on the basis of DSM-III-R, and a judgement of the level of psychologic development was made. Immediately after the E group's termination of PPT, patients in both groups had a less consistent self-image with more self-attack and lower self-control than a sample of “normals”, and the patients receiving PPT had an even less normal self-image, with more self-attack, lower self-control, and a more conflictive self-image than the C gr...