The Consequences of Unplanned Repatriation

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham B15 2TH

Sixteen mentally ill patients (seven male, nine female) with a history of repatriation from England and admitted to the mental hospital in Jamaica are described. They represented one in every seven patients with a history of previous admission to hospital in an unselected series. Certain reactive features seem likely precipitants to unmask an endogenous predisposition to illness in these patients.

No support for optimism about repatriation as therapy was found. In fact the mental sequelae are accompanied by severe stigma in society and a worsening of the mental state. This is typified by depressive features, lack of motivation, difficulty in gaining employment and a chronic-course—called the repatriate syndrome. Planned rehabilitation is recommended for these patients.