Private Practice: The First Five Years

Abstract

This is a longitudinal study of all patients seen in the first five years of a private psychiatric practice. At the present time, it is believed to be the only known complete study of patients in a typical private practice. The data from 486 patients has been collected and analyzed and some of the results have been compared to those obtained in other studies. Some significant findings emerged. Depression is the single commonest condition and its frequency was similar to that found in other studies. Psychoses were rare. A large category of patients was described as having a Personality Disorder. The implications of these and other findings are discussed. The data are relevant to aspects of clinical psychiatry, to the teaching of psychiatry, and to the financial insurance coverage of medical services.