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With this volume Dr. Hinsie has entered the field of semi-popular writing and has produced a book which will be of lasting interest, not only to anyone dealing with the problems of humanity but in some instances to the patients themselves.
Bibliotherapy as a treatment technique has frequently been recommended but has been usually disapproved because of the scarcity of books which could be given freely to patients to read. The author has overcome this problem insofar as psychosomatic conditions are concerned in giving us a book based on his extensive psychosomatic and psychiatric experience, which is sufficiently readable to interest the average patient and scientifically sound enough to satisfy the most rigid clinician. The author discusses the emotional development of the individual and follows this with a chapter on the roots of psychosomatic disorders in which he clearly depicts the development of psychosomatic symptoms. His handling of the basic sexual conflicts inherent in such disorders is extremely skillful in that he carefully avoids anything which might offend a sensitive patient while it emphasizes the dynamic basis for these disorders. He discusses problems of homosexuality, marriage as a cure for sickness, introversion, extroversion, epileptoid personalities and the climacteric.
His concluding chapter should prove of value to physicians untrained in this field of medicine, and the author indicates eight tests which a general practitioner can apply in making a diagnosis of psychosomatic disorder. There are countless case examples given, and while some authorities may feel the author's attempt somewhat superficial he has written a book which admirably serves as “an introduction to psychosomatic medicine”. [D. M. Kelley.]