Migration and psychosis in acute inpatient psychiatry

Abstract

Retrospective data in this report suggests that the development of psychotic disorders in immigrants and non-immigrants may be different.

Migration and risk of psychosis in Australia

“…Dear Sir, Clozapine is considered highly effective for treatment-resistant schizophrenia. 1 It is plausible that it still remains under-utilised in psychiatric treatment; almost certainly, as prescribers, we are careful to postpone its use due to the high adverse risk profile. Rigid prescribing protocols exist that attempt early identification of adverse risks.…”

“…Lim and Wong (2016) report a retrospective study aiming to ‘examine the biological and psychosocial factors associated with psychotic disorders among immigrants’ by comparing 67 first or second generation migrants to 86 Australian-born inpatients. 1 However, the methods of the study cannot meaningfully address the stated aim of the paper, to establish whether there are different risk factors for immigrants with psychosis, and we question the underlying assumption that migration is in fact a risk factor for psychosis in Australia.…”