First-episode schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other psychoses in a rural Irish catchment area: Incidence and gender in the Cavan–Monaghan study at 5 years

Abstract

BackgroundThe potential of first-episode studies in schizophrenia is maximised through systematic epidemiological, clinical and biological comparisons between homogeneous populations of the psychoses.AimsTo conduct prolonged accrual of ‘all’ cases of non-affective and affective psychotic illness on an epidemiologically complete basis.MethodWithin the region covered by Cavan–Monaghan psychiatric service (population 102 810), all putative cases of first-episode psychosis were diagnosed using DSM–IV.ResultsFrom 1995 to 2000, 69 cases of psychosis were ascertained, the incidence being 2.3-fold lower in females than in males. On resolving the ‘core’ diagnoses of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, incidence of schizophrenia among women was 7.5-fold lower than among men whereas incidence of bipolar disorder among women was 6.6-fold lower than among men.ConclusionsThis homogeneous population, which eliminates factors associated with urbanicity and minimises confounding factors such as socioeconomic, ethnic and geographical diversity, shows a markedly reduced incidence among females both of schizophrenia and of bipolar disorder.

Feeling Bodies: Embodying Psychology

“…Studies have shown that paranoia is associated with immigration and low socio-economic status (Kendler, 1982), refugee status (Westermeyer, 1989), victimisation and stressful life events (Johns et al, 2004). There is also some evidence associating madness in clinical populations and paranoia in the general population (Johns et al, 2004) to maleness: in their study controlling for the confounding effects of urbanicity and migration, Scully et al (2002) found that paranoid and other core schizophrenia diagnoses were 7.5 times more likely to be given to men than women.…”

Feeling the Way: Qualitative Clinical Research and the Affective Turn

“…Qualitative research has itself been implicated in (colonial) oppression (Denzin & Lincoln 2000), and quantitative research can be politically progressive, for example, in demonstrating the classed, gendered, racialised character of schizophrenia diagnoses (Boydell et al 2001;Harrison et al 2001;Scully et al 2002). Nevertheless, critics have shown that quantitative psychological methods have many negative political connotations.…”

Paranoia

“…Other studies have shown that paranoia is associated with immigration and low socio-economic status (Kendler, 1982), refugee status (Westermeyer, 1989), victimisation and stressful life events (Johns et al, 2004). There is also evidence that paranoia is associated with maleness, both in the general population (Johns et al, 2004) and in clinical samples, where for example paranoid and other core schizophrenia diagnoses are 7.5 times more likely to be applied to men than women (Scully et al, 2002) In contrast to psychiatry, in recent years British clinical (predominantly cognitive) psychologists have conducted innovative research focusing on particular kinds of homogeneous psychotic experience (unusual beliefs, hearing voices) rather than heterogeneous diagnostic categories (e.g. schizophrenia).…”