Abstract
The literature on psychiatric impairment and adjustment in hemophiliacs is reviewed with particular regard to types of psychiatric disorder and social maladjustment which have been found in adolescents and adults. A set of hypotheses is developed from the literature regarding factors which may interact with hemophilia to produce psychiatric impairment. The hypothetical factors relate to the age of onset and frequency of bleeding episodes; degree of gratification and restriction consequent to them; rejection by the father; and death of a sibling. Five cases are presented which are representative of the spectrum of psychiatric impairment in hemophilia. Some of the hypothesized factors are found to be significantly operative in the individual cases, and others are not.
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