Effects of community placement on chronic mental patients.

Patients judged ready for release from a state mental hospital were interviewed to determine their levels of depression and psychosocial functioning. This interview was repeated for 31 of the patients 8 weeks after their release and simultaneously repeated for 31 similar patients who remained in the hospital. In comparison with the matched controls, released patients became less depressed, less socially isolated, and less irritable. No differential improvement was found in their self-image. These findings, controlled for certain potential biases in a quasi-experimental design, identify some specific benefits of community placement for chronic mental patients.