MENTAL HYGIENE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 30, 4 August 1939, Page 11

MENTAL HYGIENE

DEPARTMENT'S WORK

DIFFERENTIATION IN CASES

FIGURES FOR 1938

Differentiation between cases of acquired mental disorder and those of congenital origin, is made in the annual report of the DirectorGeneral of Mental Hospitals (Dr. T. G. Gray) for the year ended December 31, 1938; which was tabled in the House of Representatives today by the Minister of Health (the Hon. P. Fraser). "There were 8149 names of persons upon the registers at the end of the year, . including 44 patients and boarders at Ashburn Hall private licensed institution, and 637 patients and boarders who were absent on probation in the care of friends and relatives," states the report. "In actual residence in State hospitals on December 31, there were 7472 persons, a decrease of 80 compared with . the! previous year, and of this number, 7151 were subject to a reception order, whilst 321 were voluntary boarders. "There was a slight increase of 26 in the number admitted for the first time, the relative figures being 1149 for this year and 1123 for last, and 282 former patients and boarders returned to the hospitals! Of all classes of admissions we were able to 924, or 64:50 per cent., calculated upon the admissions, but not more than 517, or 36.12' per cent, could be regarded as fully recovered. ERRONEOUS CONCLUSIONS. "These figures refer to all classes of boarders, but most countries in compiling their mental hygiene statistics now differentiate between cases of acquired mental disorder and those of congenital origin, including idiots,, imbeciles, and the feeble-minded. In New Zealand, partly" because it is only witMn recent years that we have established separate institutions for the congenitally deficient, this practice has not hitherto been followed, with the result that erroneous conclusions have tended to be drawn as to the incidence of mental disease by those unfamiliar with the system followed. "Not only does the grouping of these classes under one heading lead to fallacious comparison tof our statistics with other countries, but it tends to 'mislead in other directions. For example, the establishment of the children's clinics at Auckland and Wellington has considerably increased the 'ascertainment' of mental deficiency, and the provision of Templeton Farm Colony and Nelson Hospital as separate institutions for children has greatly increased the number of congenital cases coming under our care. This is shown by the rise in the proportion of congenital cases in our certified institution population from 18.2 per cent, in 1927 to 26.6 per cent, in 1938. "The percentage of congenital cases admitted rose in the same period from 11.8 per "cent, to 17.5 per cent., and as our 'recovery rate' has been based upon the total number admittejg any comparisons as to the results of treatment in the intervening years must be fallacious unless account is taken of the factors recited above." Tables given in the report show that mental disorder cases remaining m institutions on December 31 numbered 5717, while the corresponding figure for the mentally deficient was 2080. In the former category, of those admitted under a reception order, 60.07 per cent were discharged, and of .that number 40.6 per cent, had recovered. In the same class the -ratio to population of the admissions, including Maoris, was 5.66 (males 5,03, females 6.31) per 10,000 mean population, and of first admissions 4.71 (males 4.15, females 5.25), so that 1778 persons in the general population contributed .one patient and 2135 contributed a patient admitted for the first time. VOLUNTARY BOARDERS. Omitting cases of congenital mental disorder, voluntary boarders now form slightly over 25 per cent, of the admissions. During 1938 there were 329 voluntary admissions, of whom 269, or 81.7 per cent, were discharged within twelve months. In the case of 26 boarders whose mental disorder became in degree sufficiently pronounced and sustained as 'to, render it improper for them to remain on a voluntary basis, a reception order was granted. Capital expenditure at Porirua during the year totalled £23,948. The total number of cases under care was 2011, of whom 1774 were committed patients, 223 voluntary boarders, and the remainder of cases were remanded for observation. In comparison with the previous year the figures showed a reduction in the number of deaths, a sligbweduction in the total number of caselv under care and the number of admissions, while the number of discharges and the percentage of voluntary boarders to total admissions both increased. Over 26 per cent, of all admissions for the year entered the hospital voluntarily.