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Five lectures given by Jarl Jørstad in 1985 on the Norwegian Radio caused so much attention that they were published in an Oslo newspaper and formed the beginning of this book.
Jørstad has tried to cemonstrate that the psychiatrist works with ordinary human problems and crises which for some people become really unbearable, causing even greater catastrophes. In the preface, Jørstad writes that 35 years of work as a psychotherapist and psychoanalyst have formed in him the conviction that this form of psychological work is useful.
Jørstad also indicates in the preface that it has been a difficult task to describe as complex and delicate a topic as psychiatry and psychoanalysis in a simple way using the least possible foreign words. However, this is done very successfully. Without any reservation, this popular book can be recommended as a serious introduction to modern psychodynamic psychiatry to all beginners in the profession, and also to many others.
Part (I), which consists of eight short chapters, gives a readable expos$e of the important parts of modern psychoanalytic developmental psychology. It is astonishing to note how much J$orstad manages to cover, in spite of the fact that he writes for readers without any qualifications. Seldom does he have to use technical terms, which are indicated by an asterisk, referring to definitions of words at the end of the book. Of course, these definitions of words provide a summary, and therefore do not contribute to the fluent and expository style of the book.
In the early chapters J$orstad deals with some of the basic problems of psychiatry in a quiet and balanced way. Simplifications are naturally inevitable in a popular presentation, but though J$orstad makes no attempts to hide his attitude, he also discusses alternative concepts. The therapeutic optimism which pervaces the whole book is probably somewhat greater than is realistic, but the positive attitude is very appropriate for a book which among other things tries to dem