Mental Hygiene in Public Health
- Author:
Lemkau,
M.D. McGraw Hill Book (Jo. 38s. 6d.
This book cannot be over-praised, because it opens a wide field for the activities of Medical Officers of Health. It arises as a result of a series of lectures given in an American University by a Public Health Officer, who has had the vision to see that mental health is as important as physical health.
The new Health Service Act has laid much stress on hospital and clinical care and treatment, but the preventive side of medicine has been passed by. It is very necessary that in the mental health world every measure should be taken to prevent the development of mental illness, or to arrest it as soon as detected. This means that a Public Mental Health Officer must be aware of the early signs and symptoms of deviations from normal mental health, and make arrangements for early treatment in the community to prevent the development of the illness to such an extent that the patient requires hospital care. To this end he must understand normal emotional development and the beginnings of emotional abnormality. Lemkau’s book gives this understanding. He indicates the kind of preventive mental health service that could be set up and also describes the development of personality so that a clear picture is given of the strains and stresses that give rise to early mental illness. A description is given of the various Mental Health Services in the different States in the United States, and one feels that although some of them are ahead of us, others are not so well organized. If Medical Officers of Health are looking for a new field to conquer, they should buy this book and use it as a text-book for the development of an enlightened mental health service. A.T.
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