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This remarkable volume is based on thousands of articles, records, and books on Russian neuropsychiatric literature that has been accumulating over some 30 years. The first chapter explains the Soviet system of philosophy, namely, dialectical materialism in its relationship to psychiatry, and contrasts it with the philosophical idealism characteristic of the western countries.
Psychiatry in Russia is strongly organically oriented and based on pavlovian experiments and doctrines. It has no use for the concepts of the unconscious and is therefore antipsychoanalytic. Other forms of psychotherapy are utilized with emphasis on work and social contacts as important therapeutic aids.
Among the sections there are excellent informative accounts of the organization of psychiatric care, child psychiatry, clinical psychiatry, therapy, education and research and an appendix which presents some of the most interesting topics of controversial import. The author has obviously spent a great deal of time and effort in patiently surveying and sifting the Soviet literature from original sources and has brought together a complex body of information in an understanding manner. Any one reading this book will acquire an insight into Soviet psychiatry and philosophy. Dr. Wortis and the publishers are to be congratulated for making such a text available to all workers in the field of psychiatry.