Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T17:19:01.722Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Tattoos, scars, body adornment and dishevelment in an acute psychiatric population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Kelwyn Williams
Kelwyn Williams*
Affiliation:
Wotton Lawn Hospital, Horton Road, Gloucester GL1 3PX
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Ninety-six successive acute psychiatric admissions were assessed with regard to dress, level of hygiene, the presence of tattoos, bodily piercing/decoration and surface marks of self-harm. These features were also examined in relation to ICD–10 category diagnosis. One-third were described as ‘dishevelled’, 21% ‘unclean’, 7% had multiple pierced ears and 3% other pierced body parts. Sixteen per cent had tattoos, rising to 34% in the F10–19 (substance misuse) category, and 15% had scars of self-harm. People with schizophrenia and related disorders were more likely to present in an unclean state. Those with personality disorders were no more likely to bear the scars of self-harm, tattoos or body piercing.

Type
Original Papers
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , February 1998 , pp. 94 - 96
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

References

Ali, A. H. (1990) Borderline personality and multiple earrings a possible correlation? (letter). American Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 1251.Google Scholar
Gelder, M., Gath, D., Mayou, R., et al (1996) Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry, p. 33. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Howard, R. J. & Valori, R. M. (1989) Hospital patients who wear tinted spectacles – physical sign of psychoneurosis: a controlled study. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 82, 606–608.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Inch, H. & Huws, R. (1993) Tattooed female psychiatric patients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 127–128.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Langbehn, D. R. & Pfohl, N. B. (1993) Clinical correlates of self mutilation among psychiatric inpatients. Annals of Clinical Psychiatry, 5, 45–51.Google Scholar
Raspa, R. F. & Cusack, J. (1990) Psychiatric implications of tattoos. American Family Physician, 41, 1481–1486.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.