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This volume is a revised and greatly improved edition of one published twelve years ago. Its value has been especially enhanced by Dr. Appel's contribution of three new chapters entitled: “Emotion”, “Fear”, and “Anger”.
The book is written mainly for the laiety who will find in it a long needed guide to the understanding of mental illness and the structure of neurosis. It contains a clear and simple presentation of psychological mechanisms, describing in an easy manner, with a minimum of technical terms, how feelings and emotions work, the origin of conflicts, and how disturbing conflicts can be understood and avoided, or if present, how they can be eliminated or reduced.
Especially skillful is the presentation of healthy and pathological reactions. The psychoanalytic concept of personality is embodied in the contents of the book, which tries to teach the reader ways and modes of prevention of mental ailment, emphasizing the dynamic psychology of psychoanalysis.
The discussion of the conscious, sub-conscious and unconscious parts of the personality is very clear, and the criterion of mental health established by psychoanalysis, which is healthy cooperation between these three strata of the mind, is reemphasized by the authors, who point out the importance of the proper balance and interplay of the conscious, sub-conscious and unconscious.
There is only one part with which I find fault, namely, the oversimplification of all these problems for the reader who happens to suffer from some emotional disturbance. The authors believe that by following their guidance as set forth in the book, many patients can “carry on therapeutic work away from the physician's office.” This may be true of some patients who have already had professional treatment. However, it is a doubtful procedure for any one else, and at times even for those who have had previous treatment.