You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
This second volume consists, as did its predecessor seven years ago, of a collection of papers by various British writers, covering a wide field of psychiatric and ancillary subjects. There are twenty-four articles, dealing with such diverse topics as Psychiatric Genetics, Cybernetics, Physiological Psychology, Intelligence Testing, Schizophrenia, Epilepsy, Insulin Therapy, Suicide, etc. Each article is accompanied by an extensive bibliography, and a conscientious effort has been made to bring as much as possible of the plethora of published literature under consideration as could be encompassed within seven hundred odd pages. From this point of view, the volume is a useful one for the reference shelf.
The general emphasis of the articles is on the organic aspects of psychiatry, and these aspects and the developments in physical therapy are competently summarized.
The psychoanalyst, however, will find the book disappointing in the eclecticism of those articles which touch more specifically on psychotherapy, psychodynamics, and psychopathology. Fairly profuse references are made to psychoanalytic literature, but a lack of understanding of fundamental concepts has prevented correlation and synthesis. The presentation of material has been obscured by an overemphasis on divergent trends and controversial issues, so that the reader for whom the volume is intended is likely to be left confused and bewildered.