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| Schizophrenia |
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is the most common chronic variety of psychosis in Egypt, and represents themajor bulk of inpatients in our mental hospitals.
The figure of 15.3% of the total newly examined cases at university hospitals in Egypt presents a different sample from those attendingmental hospitals.
The former are more representative of psychiatric patients seen in the community without the necessity of their admission to mental hospitals .
Delusions were affected by the individual characteristics of the patients in relation to the Egyptian
culture. Religious, political, scientific and sexual delusions were the most frequent types. Financial, social delusions related to health, emotional and autistic delusions were less common. Religious delusions were frequent due to the highly religious standards in Egypt. Political delusions were positively correlated to the level of political sanctions and pres-sure. Sexual delusions weremore common in groups in whom sexual behavior is severely suppressed, e.g., single and rural patients. Mixing males and females at the university level might increase the frequency of sexual delusions among the highly educated. Delusions of sin were present in masturbators in the younger, single and the student-group, and among those with high religious values.
Persecutory delusions with ideas of reference are the rule, delusions of grandeur are not common. The delusional content greatly differs in relation to the cultural background. What strikes one first and foremost in schizophrenia occurring among rural populations is the belief in the intervention of supernatural beings, occult forces or of magic. Systematized delusions are not common, except in the educated group.
Our observations revealed that catatonic forms are relatively common compared to other varieties.
The main symptoms were retardation, withdrawal, mutism and stupor. This may be interrupted by outbursts of excitement. A large group of patients presented with an undifferentiated type of schizophrenia, exhibiting a wide variety of symptoms such as confusion of thinking and turmoil of emotionmanifested by perplexity, ideas of reference, fear, dream states and dissociative phenomena.
Schizophrenia is the most common chronic variety of psychosis in Egypt, and represents themajor bulk of inpatients in our mental hospitals.
The figure of 15.3% of the total newly examined cases at university hospitals in Egypt presents a different sample from those attendingmental hospitals.
The former are more representative of psychiatric patients seen in the community without the necessity of their admission to mental hospitals .
Delusions were affected by the individual characteristics of the patients in relation to the Egyptian
culture. Religious, political, scientific and sexual delusions were the most frequent types. Financial, social delusions related to health, emotional and autistic delusions were less common. Religious delusions were frequent due to the highly religious standards in Egypt. Political delusions were positively correlated to the level of political sanctions and pres-sure. Sexual delusions weremore common in groups in whom sexual behavior is severely suppressed, e.g., single and rural patients. Mixing males and females at the university level might increase the frequency of sexual delusions among the highly educated. Delusions of sin were present in masturbators in the younger, single and the student-group, and among those with high religious values.
Persecutory delusions with ideas of reference are the rule, delusions of grandeur are not common. The delusional content greatly differs in relation to the cultural background. What strikes one first and foremost in schizophrenia occurring among rural populations is the belief in the intervention of supernatural beings, occult forces or of magic. Systematized delusions are not common, except in the educated group.
Our observations revealed that catatonic forms are relatively common compared to other varieties.
The main symptoms were retardation, withdrawal, mutism and stupor. This may be interrupted by outbursts of excitement. A large group of patients presented with an undifferentiated type of schizophrenia, exhibiting a wide variety of symptoms such as confusion of thinking and turmoil of emotionmanifested by perplexity, ideas of reference, fear, dream states and dissociative phenomena.
