Mobilizing affect: a possible effect of day hospital treatment for chronic psychiatric patients

A study of 82 Psychiatric Day Hospital patients was undertaken to identify the program's specific effects on individuals with longer standing (i.e., chronic) psychiatric disability. Sociodemographic information and self-ratings, staff ratings and significant-other ratings were used to identify changes in functioning during the 3-week treatment as well as during the period 3 months after treatment. Findings suggest (1) that the Day Hospital patients were as seriously psychiatrically impaired as psychiatric inpatients, (2) that, as a group, they demonstrated a significant improvement in symptoms and functioning, and (3) that the more chronic patients displayed a distinctive pattern of decreased hostility and increased anxiety over the course of treatment. Findings are discussed in relation to the proposition that mobilizing the chronic patient's affect is an important factor in reengaging the therapeutic process.