We report on a 70-year-old man who suffered from persecutory delusions during the last 20 years. During first visits, he showed neither cognitive impairment nor Schneiderian first rank symptoms. Inpatient and day clinic treatment as well as further outpatient therapy led to reintegration into social life and trusting relationships between the patient and the therapeutic team, although the persecutory delusions still persisted. During following years, symptoms of cognitive impairment increased gradually and neurological symptoms could be observed. We present a psychodynamic hypothesis regarding the reported psychopathology and discuss alternative diagnoses and pharmacological treatment.

BackgroundLong-stay hospitalization is often a consequence of insufficient care structures. This article examines the characteristics and care conditions of long-stay hospitalization (LSH) in an urban area in Germany.MethodsExtensive data of patients in the urban catchment area of the Medical School of Hannover, capital of Lower Saxony, were evaluated during a 10 years period.Results and conclusionCommunity psychiatric efforts certainly help to reduce long-stay hospitalization, but cannot fully prevent it. Reference figures are given for comparable urbanized areas: consequently 500 chronically mentally ill persons per 100.000 inhabitants must be expected, 20% of which must be considered as long stay hospitalized according to a given definition. We estimate 250 places per 100.000 inhabitants to be required for institutionalised outpatient care, further 30 places for day clinic and full-time in-patient treatment and 40 places for residential home treatment. We suggest these results as a guidance for psychiatric planning in comparable communities.

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