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P.S.W. saw Mrs.G. at her office. Mrs.G. is a woman of good average intelligence
44 years of age. Her husband, the patient is 60. The couple have a daughter of 21. Mrs.G.
was in absolute despair. She told P.S.W. that her husband has been a very active and
intelligent man, a good husband and father, and earned well in his business. This man
suffered from tuberculosis two years ago, and since his discharge from sanatorium his behaviour
has changed completely.
He refuses to get up or to wash, or to cook for himself, which is necessary as Mrs.G.
is at work throughout the day. He Just sits and broods. He has violent fits of temper
during which he accuses his wife and daughter of neglecting him. In fact, life for Mrs.G.
and her daughter has become almost unbearable. He is not willing to be seen by any
psychiatrist.
P.S.W. paid a home visit and was able to persuade this man to accept a psychiatric
interview which was given to him at St. Mary's Hospital. Patient was admitted to Goodmayes
Hospital and seemed to make a very good recovery. Mrs.G. asked for his discharge, but
unfortunately as soon as patient returned home he showed the same behaviour as before his
admission to hospital.
P.S.W. saw Mrs.G. repeatedly and tried to help her to accept this man's changed
behaviour. Mrs.G. tried very hard to look upon her husband as a chronic invalid, but the
everyday situation with this very sick and difficult man again became quite unbearable for
the wife and daughter, and the man had to be re-admitted to hospital. Patient is still in
hospital, and at present the doctors are unable to predict with any certainty when he will
be discharged.
Example: Mrs.F.
Patient is a woman of 36 who is the mother of a boy of 16, a boy of 11 and a girl
of 4. She gave birth to a baby girl, and after the birth of this child she became severely
depressed and hallucinated. She stayed in Goodmayes Hospital for a month, and was then
discharged and placed in the care of the Health Department.
P.S.W. immediately contacted the Health Visitor who had known this woman prior
to her admission to hospital, which enabled both Health Visitor and P.S.W. to make
comparisons between the woman's behaviour before and after her discharge. Various
home visits were made by both Health Visitor and P.S.W. It appeared that the talks
with both workers helped this woman to gain confidence in herself again as a mother.
After a comparatively short time, patient had sufficiently recovered not to need any
more visits from P.S.W. The case is carried on as a routine visiting case by the Health
Visitor who has reported to P.S.W. from time to time.
Nine months after patient's discharge from hospital Health Visitor reported that
Mrs.F. no longer shows any signs of disturbance. She is keeping well and the baby is thriving.
In addition to the above work, the Psychiatric Social Worker has taken part in the
new venture, the pioneer Health Visitor Training Group under the leadership of Dr. Sutherland
of the Tavistock Clinic and later Dr. Whatley, our Consultant Psychiatrist. A description of
the work of this group is contained on page 6l.
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