Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T06:51:08.472Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A community mental health team in Northern Ireland: new referrals as a result of civil disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Judith Allen ,
Cahill Cassidy  and
Clare Monaghan
Clare Monaghan
Affiliation:
Southern Health and Social Services Board, St Luke's Hospital, Loughgall Road, Armagh, BT61 7NQ, Northern Ireland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective: Northern Ireland has suffered from civil unrest since 1969. During this time both the nature of violence and the nature of psychiatric services have changed. Considerable variation in incidence figures for psychological consequence of civil unrest exists in the international literature (1). The purpose of our study was to ascertain the workload for a new community mental health team which had accrued solely as a result of civil unrest and the possible implication for the local service. Method: The new patient referrals to a Community Mental Health Team November 1990-91 which were solely and directly consequent on civil disorder were identified. The litigant population was excluded from study. We checked how many still remained in treatment in November 1992 and used Fisher's Exact Test to identify factors associated with still being in treatment at two years. Results: We found that 8.2% of the new referrals satisfied the criteria and 30% remained in treatment at two years. Satisfying criteria for post traumatic stress disorder was not significantly associated with still being in treatment. Remaining in treatment at two years was associated with having received or not received stress management advice in those satisfying post traumatic stress disorder criteria. Conclusion: Civil unrest substantially increased the Community Mental Health Team workload in the first year of existence.

Keywords

Civil disorderPsychological symptomsWorkload
Type
Clinical and Brief Reports
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , June 1994 , pp. 67 - 69
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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.)

References

1.Hadden, WA, Rutherford, WH, Merrett, JD. 1978. The injuries of terrorist bombings: a study of 1532 consecutive patients. Br J Surgery; 65 (8): 525–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2.Loughrey, GC, Curran, PS. The psychopathology of civil disorder. In: Dawson, AM, Besser, GM, editors. Recent advances in medicine, No. 20. London: Churchill Livingstone, 1987: 1–17.Google Scholar
3.Curran, PS, Bell, P. Murray, A, Loughrey, G, Roddy Rocke, LG. Psychological consequences of the Enniskillen bombing. Br J Psychiatry 1990; 156: 479–82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.Cairns, E, Wilson, R. The impact of political violence on mild psychiatric morbidity in Northern Ireland. Br J Psychiatry 1984; 145: 631–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Lyons, HA. Psychiatric sequelae of the Belfast riots. Br J Psychiatry 1971; 118: 265–73.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Davis, A, Simpson, J, Curran, P. Psychiatric referrals as a result of terrorist violence in North Belfast. The Royal College of Psychiatrists: Abstracts from the Annual Meeting 1992; 63.Google Scholar
7.Richards, AR, Rose, JS. Exposure therapy for post traumatic stress disorder. Br J Psychiatry 1991; 158: 836–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.Davidson, J. Drug therapy of post traumatic stress disorder. Br J Psychiatry 1992; 160: 309–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed