Admissions to a psychiatric hospital during the Persian Gulf War

A descriptive study of all the admissions to a psychiatric hospital in Israel during the first month of the persian Gulf War was carried out. There was no decline in the number of admissions, and all the admitted 31 patients were civilians. War-related symptoms were manifest at the admission of 12 patients. Delusions of war-related content were prevalent, sometimes with corresponding hallucinations; three cases with these features are described briefly. There appeared to be an over-representation of female patients whose families originated in the Persian Gulf area. These findings may help in the planning of psychiatric services for similar future emergencies.