Of a large group of problem children, 41.6 per cent had mothers suffering from severe neuroses. The author avoids classifying the mechanisms in the mothers because she does not want to run the risk of superficial evaluation. The resistance to treatment in these mothers was extreme. Their children served as objects of projection and there was, of course, an intimate connection between the child's and the mother's difficulties. The psychiatrist should not leave the investigation and therapy of the mother-child relationship to the psychologist and social worker. The great importance of this problem to mental hygiene is pointed out.