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The article presents a clinical study which examines the prevalence of delusions in schizophrenics to determine its relation to socio-cultural variables. The subjects of the study were schizophrenics who were examined the prevalence of their delusions in relation to their age, sex, and social and familial characteristics. The results show that delusions with religious content were more frequent in the person with higher social status.

The article presents a study that describes the effects that patients have on their families in a community care and a control psychiatric service in Chichester, England. A group of patients treated in two psychiatric services with differing admission policies was followed-up and the effects of the patients on their families was measured and compared. Analysis showed that the community service which favored extra-mural care left the patient's families more heavily burdened. When the difference between the services in family burden was examined, higher ratings obtained in the community service were found.

The article presents a study that describes the clinical features of patients with depressive disorders who were referred to a special hypochondriasis clinic after prolonged general medical evaluation. The study compared 21 patients with similar diagnosis but no somatic symptoms and patients with depressive illnesses developing somatic symptoms. The study found that patients with somatic symptoms have greater similarity between their pattern of symptoms and those of their mothers, poorer marriage relationships and sexual adjustment and a greater chronicity of the current illness compared to patients without somatic symptoms.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article about the contents of the "British Journal of Psychiatry" in the previous issue.