Urban Community Mental Health Research Articles

Symptom syndromes of emergency cases in an urban Community Mental Health Center

The present study was made possible by the accidental confluence of two events. One event was the institution of the use at intake of a particular brief psychiatric rating scale developed by Overall and Garbam 1 in the Emergency Service of an urban Community Mental Health Center, and the subsequent accumulation of symptom profiles on a large sample of patients. The other was the design of a new computer program 2 that could take such data and sort patient symptom profiles in such a fashion as to discover patient groups manifesting similar overall symptom patterns. These events afforded an opportunity to ask what types of patients, symptomwise, were appearing for emergency service, how these symptom types might relate to other available information, and whether these types suggest a need for certain treatment emphases.

Intellectual characteristics of patients in an urban community mental health facility.

Intellectual characteristics of patients in an urban community mental health facility.