ABSTRACT
The results of a neuropsychological study of 102 patients with severe psychiatric illness, 96 of whom had a diagnosis of schizophrenia, are described. A third of the patients were aged 20 to 40, a third 40 to 60 and a third 60 to 80, but all were comparable in terms of severity of illness. The study confirmed that severe psychiatric illness, manifested by prolonged hospitalisation, is associated with severe cognitive impairment comparable to that found in known neurological disorders. This cannot be attributed to the effects of hospitalisation or previous physical treatment. It is associated with indices of neurological disorder. It is most likely an integral part of the psychiatric disorder. It appears soon after the onset of the psychiatric disorder. It is not necessarily progressive, but is apparently progressive in a substantial subgroup of such patients possibly due to an interaction with the ageing process.
