Patients working out from a psychiatric hospital

Outside employment was obtained by 630 resident male patients who had 1447 admissions to a South London Hospital between 1963 and 1969. This "working out" group were compared with all male patients admitted to the hospital during the same period and with a national sample from the Mental Health Enquiry for 1969. The working patients had 827 spells of employment working for 742 employers, 75% of whom had employed only 1 patient for 1 spell of employment. A quarter of all male patients under 65 had worked out from the hospital over the seven years, approximately 90 out of 320 new admissions annually. This group were the younger patients admitted. The most frequent length of employment before discharge was 1--4 weeks. Patients with the diagnosis of alcoholism (the largest group in the sample) had shorter admissions and working out period than those with schizophrenia. The value of "working out" is discussed.