Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-04-02

disturbance wards but who have
reserpine, two new tranquilizing
drugs.
The impact Of the new drugs
is so definite that for the first
time in the hospitals 100-year
history the number of patients
has begun to decline.
+ When the drugs were intro
duced experimentally at St.
ElizazabethS in 1854 the average
daily patient load was TILT. The
average reached a peak last June
I-7,279.
4 Last January the average
daily load was Ills patients.
Decline in Patient Load
t A downward trend seems to
have started, psychiatrists say,
and they hope it will continue
until the mental hospital of to-
morrow arrives.
| DR.. Addison Duval, assistant
superintendent, said the decline
in the patient load may be due
i'm part to increased discharges
because of the drugs and in part
ito reduction in admissions.
The psychiatric section of the
District General Hospital also
uses the tranquilizing drugs to
calm disturbed patients. 1t is
experimenting with other even
newer drugs. BY calming the
patient there, effective Short
term treatment is sometimes
made possible so that some pa
ItientS never reach st. Elizabeths
from the city hospital.
. Private psychiatriStS use them
Disturbed patients who formerly
would have to be committed to
st. Elizabeths are often treated
in the psychiatriSt's Office now.
Practitioners Use Drugs
At the recent scientific assem-
bly, Of the American Academy of
General Practice, DR.. Frank j.
Ayd, jr.. Baltimore psychiatrist,
pointed out that the use of the
tranquilizing drugs on patients
who must still go to mental in
situations is beneficial.
Rather than forcibly taking
the patient to the hospital, hav-
ing him committed by the courts,
the disturbed patient can be adj
ministered drugs. He can then
be reasoned with and may go
voluntarily.
DR.. Ayd also declared that the
general practitioner has begun
to use the drugs, He said good
family doctor can determine
which patients he can calm and
treat and which need to be re-
ferred to a pSychiatrist.
He urged physicians to go into
the field, saying that mental
patients can often be cured more
quickly if treated early. He said
the new drugs make the use of
general hospitals feasible for
many mental patients.
Economic implications
Dr. Ayd added that many
mental patients, Gained by the
drugs, may be treated in a gen.
eral hospital and be back home
again in a month.
The economic implications are
great. Private psychiatric hos
pitfalls are costly. Public institu-
tons are cheaper for the pa
tents family, but costly to the
taxpayers.
When mental patients can be
treated briefly in general hos
pitfalls or while living at home.
untold amounts of money can
be saved. Often, the patient can
remain on his job while under
treatment.
Although, DR.. Ayd said, much
advancement has been made
there is still a certain stigma at
tached by the general public to
a person who has been confined
III a mental institution. This is
not the case when a person goes
to a general hospital. The use of
the drugs by family doctors.
however, is still a controversial
subject among pSychiatrists.
But. what are these drugs that
have made psychiatric history?
Chlorpromazine is an antihis-
famine discovered in France.
Rerserpine comes from a plant
root, first used 400 years ago in
India, but isolated in stronger
form several years ago in Switz-
erland.
ChlOrprOmazine Preferred
Psychiatrists at st. Elizabeths
have been using both but tend to
prefer chlorpromazine because it
produces Switter results.
At first in the hot summer OF
1854 skcptical staff of PSYCHE
artists began using the drugs
without enthusiasm. Just two
more Sedatives was their atti-
Itude.
But, suddenly, the realization
swept the hospital staff that here
were two new types of chemical
agents. While temporary side