Discriminators between neurotics who die and neurotics who live

Abstract

An increased death rate has been found in patients treated in hospital for neurosis but the reasons for this are not known. A case note study is described in which 37 patients who were treated in hospital for neurosis and subsequently died are compared with a cross-matched sample of treated neurotics who were alive at follow-up. Measures believed to indicate greater severity of neurosis were found to be significantly higher in the experimental (dead) group than in the control (living) group.