Psychological Medicine: A Short Introduction to Psychiatry
- Author:
Desmond Curran, M.B., F.R.C.P.,
D.P.M., and Eric Guttmann, M.D., L.R.C.P.(Ed.). Foreword by J. J. Conybeare, D.M.(Oxon), F.R.C.P. E. & S. Livingstone, Edinburgh. 10s. 6d.
The value of this book lies in its clear, relatively brief, yet comprehensive presentation of the disorders of the mind. It will have a real appeal to students, General Practitioners and especially to Medical Officers in the Services, who have long recognized their need to keep abreast of modern points of view on this subject, but have been unable to give the time for the close consideration demanded in reading the immensely detailed literature already in existence. Psychiatrists also will welcome this book in that they are overburdened with work, a great part of which would be spared them if there were a wider knowledge of diagnosis and ability to administer simple treatment. In particular the appendix on Wartime Psychiatry, a section dealing specifically with psychiatry in the Services, is to be commended. The collaboration of these two authors has resulted in a welded and integrated production. No longer are disorders divorced from the human subject, analysed and catalogued so that the student becomes bewildered and subsequently terrified of handling the mentally ill. The authors stress the fact that they are dealing with individuals and not ” disease entities ” and advocate an attitude which asks, ” What type of reaction does this individual show and how can we understand it ? ” and not ” What kind of mental disease has this patient got ? ” Having clarified this point in the chapters on aetiology and symptoms of mental disorder, they pass on to a survey of treatment, general and particular, the latter including modern shock-therapy and psychotherapy. Full details are not given, but the bibliography appended at the end of each chapter indicates where more specific information can be obtained. The authors then lucidly present the main syndromes and reactions together with descriptions of constitutional anomalies. Of especial value is the brief chapter on the legal aspects of mental illness.
In the appendix on Wartime Psychiatry the reader is given the benefit of the authors’ experiences of psychiatry in the Naval and Emergency Medical Services, and it is encouraging to note that most of the functional states in war-serving personnel are relatively simpler and easier Bv to manage than those in civilians, the external stress having greater significance than internal conflict in their determination.
This book is aptly sponsored by J. J. Conybeare, the protagonist of clarity and brevity in the exposition of medical knowledge. L.M.
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