Dr. Sllvano Arleti's Response

The following is the acceptance speech made by Dr. Arieti on his receiving the 1975 National Book Award for his book, Interpretations of Schizophrenia.

In accepting this award I have all the excitement, the joy, the trepidation, the rebirth experience of people whose work has been recognized. This work of mine with schizophrenic patients, work to which I have devoted more than a third of a century, approximately thirty-four years, has been and continues to be not just part of my profession, but of my blood, my soul, the meaning of my life.

This personal involvement and recognition fortunately does not limit my understanding of what is implied in the selection of my book for this Award. This Award is much more than an appreciation of my work. First of all, it is a tribute to psychiatry, especially to psychodynamic psychiatry. To the best of my knowledge this is the first time that the National Book Award in the field of science has been given to a psychiatric book. In selecting this book, the judges honored many previous psychiatrists, without whose contributions this book could not have been written. I do not think only of Sigmund Freud, but also of Harry Stack Sullivan, Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, and many others, whose pioneer work led to a psychodynamic understanding and treatment of schizophrenia.

Secondly, in choosing this book the judges recognized the importance of schizophrenia as a mental illness and as a significant social fact. In spite of the progress made, the number of people suffering from this condition is increasing, and more hospital beds are occupied by schizophrenics than by patients affected by any other disease. In my book I insist that the doors of the hospitals can be opened for a large number of treated patients and I show how, step by step, they can be helped to resume their peace and their role in society.

Thirdly, the judges must have accepted my message that it is possible for the therapist to help the patient “to experience the human tie more i