Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1998, Page 5

ARVAEGINLEIKAKANNINGAR í FØROYUM
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from Scotland, Ireland, England, the
Netherlands, Germany and France. Even
pirates from Algiers attacked the islands in
1629 (Young, 1979).
The size of the population remained
around 4000 inhabitants from the late 13th
century until around 1800. A count in 1769
shows that it was then 4773. As severe epi-
demics occurred periodically the size of the
population has occasionally been less. It is
believed that up to around one third of the
population died from the plague around
1349. A severe smallpox epidemic oc-
curred in Torshavn in 1709. Periods of star-
vation have occurred as the islands were
never self-sufficient in grain. From 1801-
1860 the population doubled to around
9000. Since then the population has in-
creased to around 45000 today. Immigra-
tion has been sparse and the expansion has
mainly been by increasing the number of
children per amily. For centuries the popu-
lation was scattered in about 85 small vil-
lages each containing an average og 10-12
families. Internal subisolates have been
present up till today. Today one third of the
population lives in Torshavn,and two thirds
of the population lives in Streymoy and
Eysturoy. As one of the remotest communi-
ties of Europe the Faroese have maintained
their own national and cultural identity, in-
cluding their own language and the me-
dieval ballad tradition of ring dance (Wang,
1996).
The Faroese have had a Home Rule Gov-
emment within the Kingdom of Denmark
since 1948.
Psychiatric morbidity
on the Faroe Islands
In the 19th century it was believed that
there was a greater prevalence of mental
disorder on the Faroe Islands than in other
parts of Scandinavia. Today the incidence
and pattern of psychiatric disorders as val-
ued from hospital admissions are similar
compared to Denmark (Joensen and Wang,
1983; Wang, 1981, 1984; Palmquist and
Wang, 1997).
Concerning affective disorders the oc-
currence of attempted suicide and suicde is
low on the Faroes (Wang,1996).
Collection of bipolar cases and diagnostic
assessment
Well documented cases with bipolar disor-
der were sought among patients treated at
the Department of Psychiatry. National
Hospital, Torshavn, which is the only psy-
chiatric department in the Faroe Islands.
Furthermore patients who themselves and
whose ancestors predominantly originated
from a relatively isolated regions of the
Faroe Islands were selected. The interviews
were performed by an experienced psychi-
atrist (A.G.W.) using a brief version of Pre-
sent State Examination. On the basis of
hospital notes and the interview a clinical
narrative was made for each patient. Final
diagnosis was made as a best estimate by an
experienced psychiatrist who independant-
ly had reviewed the clinical narrative and
other relevant material. The diagnosis were
made in accordance with ICD-10, Diagnos-
tic Criteria for Research and DSM-IV
(WHO, 1996). The eight patients included
were 3 males and 5 females. Age of onset