Comparison of two five-year follow-up studies: 1948 to 1952 and 1967 to 1972

Results of a 5-year follow-up of 100 randomly selected patients committed to a community-oriented mental hospital in 1947 are compared with those of a 5-year follow-up of 100 randomly selected patients admitted to a community-based mental health center in 1967. The data show that both programs were successful in kepping patients with historis of long-standing mental illness in the community, even thought the 1947 group did not receive any modern psychotropic medication. One uoexpected finding of the comparison is the suggestion that these drugs might not be indispensable; in fact, they might actually prolong the social dependency of some discharged patients.