You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
There has been a marked increase in the number of adolescent patients and young adults admitted to private psychiatric hospitals during the past decade. As a consequence, increasing interest and attention has been focused on the hospital treatment of this group.
The upswing in the admission of adolescents to private psychiatric hospitals has been a general trend across the country. Adequate statistics are not readily available but the changes that have taken place at the Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital in Towson, Maryland are reasonably representative. In 1961, just 26 teenagers entered the hospital, accounting for 10% of the admissions. Through the 1960's there was a steady increase, so that by 1966, 54 teenagers were admitted, accounting for 19%. At that time a marked increase began: in just two years admissions doubled so that by 1968, the 109 patients admitted accounted for 28%; in 1970, the 140 teenagers admitted accounted for 34%; and by 1972, 166 teenagers accounted for 33% of the admissions. The increase has now leveled off.
This explosive increase in the admission of younger patients came as a surprise, and we are still not clear of the causes. There may be earlier and more accurate diagnosis because more psychiatrists have directed their attention to the care of this group of patients. Families and to some extent the adolsecents themselves