It is difficult to describe clinically the conditions that these children present after self-poisoning, and I doubt whether our conventional diagnostic termi nology is appropriate. In the Bradford group few children were seriously ill. Many were quite Cheerful and anxious to return home, as if the experience in itself had had a cathartic effect. Many had no wish to die, either before or after the event, and did not appear to appreciate the irreversibility of death. Complaints of being ‘¿ fed up' and an attitude of
Better Services for the Mentally Handicapped (1971) forecasts a diminution in the number of beds in hospitals for mental handicap. It can be achieved only by the admission of fewer new long-stay patients. This paper considers 50 new long-stay cases admitted to a hospital for mentally handicapped in the five years 1970 to 1974. Of these admissions 42% were children, and of all the admissions 54% had Wechsler intelligence quotients under 25. Further, 62% of the admissions were for behaviour problems and 38% were for physical infirmity and helplessness. It is concluded that there are some mentally handicapped people who have problems with which only a hospital can cope. The high nursing dependency and the profound mental retardation of a majority of the new long-stay patients present a formidable challenge.
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