Community factors influencing psychiatric hospital utilization in rural and urban Ireland.

The role of community factors in psychiatric hospital utilization in rural and urban Ireland was evaluated using Hollingshead & Redlich's conceptual model. Rural and urban differences in identification of psychiatric disorders, attitude to psychiatric facilities and social isolation were assessed using a community survey (N = 200). No difference was found in the recognition of schizophrenic behavior. Rural residents tended to normalize neurotic behavior and significantly fewer recognized it as deviant. The two communities did not differ in the identification of alcoholism or neuroses as mental illness. Rural individuals had a more negative attitude to psychiatric facilities, and sought help more frequently from relatives who were less accessible than their urban counterparts.