This volume is divided into eleven chapters, four of which are by Zapparoli, while the others are by various authors, who are either members of the Italian Psychoanalytical Society or work in psychiatric equipes supervised by Zapparoli. The volume in question is an extensively revised version of a book with the same title published in 1985 by Stimmgraf of Verona. The work bears witness to the clinical activity and theoretical reflections conducted at the Centre of Clinical Psychology of the Province of Milan, which is where Zapparoli and his collaborators have worked for many years.

This seems to be an important work on the psychopathology of serious psychiatric cases, particularly of schizophrenics. Specific attention is paid to the interaction between patients, their relatives