- Email: [email protected]
Environmental variables and the prevention of mental illness
The central argument of the book rests upon three main assumptions. The first, that there exists a class of drugs which have the effect of reducing anxiety; the second, that the clinical action of these drugs is specific to anxiety; and the third. that there is much in common between human anxiety and the anxiety experienced by a rat or a mouse. The neural basis of anxiety is regarded as dependent upon the activities of the septo-hippocampal system (part 01 the limbic forebram). It IS argued that the chief function of this system is to compare actual with expected stimuli. When expectations are fultilled the qystcn--although not inactive-does not affect behaviour. When expectations arc not fulfilled. either because environmental events occur or because a predicted event fails to occur. anxiety arises in response to such mismatch. The largest part of the book- some 300 pages--is devoted to the review of the anatomy. physiology and pharmacology of the septo-hippocampal ayatem This section also contains a critical review of the behavioural effects of lesions in the septal and hippocampal regions. In the last four chapters the theory of anxiety is applied to the interpretation of human anxiety, its symptoms. its therapq and the personality of individuals who are especially susceptible to anxiety. Professor Gray presents a major theoretical contribution and the book will be important reading for all those who deal with the problems caused by anxiety. MARIA WYKI:
H. J. E~sn~c K: F’r~c~~~rrli/~~.G’c~/t,ti~~.c (UK/ Brhu~iour.
Praeger.
New York
(1982). xii + 340 pages.
In their daydreams moat young psychologists see themselves as helping individuals with their personal problems. helping society with its moral and pohtical problems. and all the while opposing ‘authority’ and conventional wisdom-including the wisdom of most other psychologists. The present volume is a forceful reminder that Hans Eysenck has shown such heroic idealism to bc realizable. Here. on the verge of his official retirement but with undiminished vigour. Eysenck once more display< his genius for speaking to both the beginner and the expert as he reviews his career and offers a sparkling selection of I~I? papers both ancient and (the majority) extremely modern. Whether lambasting psychoanalysis (now only ‘retaIled in textbooks for profit’) or ‘cognitive’ behaviour therapy (‘inadvertent use of extinction methods’) or ideological environmentalism (‘Stalinist. not Marxist’), his arguments combine historical continuity with up-to-theminute IncisivenesT and with determination to address the largest problems of scientific psychology. Whether he will prove imitable by today’s psychology students must be the tantalizing question for any reader of this lucid and engaging testimony to a remarkable academic career. It is perhap because of his understandable sense of his own pre-eminence that Eysenck does not always resist the temptation to bhnd the opposltlon mischievously with science. Thus. a factorially-established dimension of social attitudes ‘clearlq resembles’ Tcndermindedncs5 while being positively and especially highly loaded by approval of Royalty. Patriotism. Divine Law and Military Drill; Napalkov’s ‘incubation effect’, though itself a rarely witnessed paradox requiring resort to the uncertain concept of ‘drive‘ for its explication. is invoked to expand modern learning theory \o as to contain the proven ctficicacy of both flooding and desensitization as treatments for phobias: and exhortatory references to the sophistication? of biometrical genetics provide but an ephemeral substitute for straightforward demonstration that one lot of twins i5 more similar than another. Hardest of all for the reader to follow comprehendingly aill be Eysenck‘\ claim that three Independent factors of speed, error-checking and persistence determine success at IQ-teat Items. It is not Just that the 5pccd:accuracy negative trade-off has somehow vanished, presumably because high-IQ subjects arc pretty good at both; but aiao that to render persistence as an unalloyed blessing would seem to make too little room for it to manifest itself a\ hhnd obstinacy in the pursuit of inefficacious strategema for item-solution. Nevertheless. there are great advantages to be had from bustling the reader along. Not the least of these is to get across very clearly the model of psychology with which Eysenck works. One especially impressive paper deals with ‘the biosocial nature of man’: It provides a most cogent statement of Eysenck’s opinions concerning psychology’s broadest controversie5~betueen Watson and McDougall in the past, and between sociobiology and social environmentalism in the present. Llkc the hook a5 a whole it remind5 us that. although Eysenck’s familiar ‘dimensions of personality’ may 5ometime5 seem too simple to describe the subtleties of personality development in people of high intelligence and sol’histicution. hi\ ability and concern to address the outstanding features of the human condition should enhance hi5 appeal m cgalitarlan timea. C.
P. M. ISSFL (Ed):
(I 98I ).
~/71,i,-r,rr,?lr,,11trl C’rrrirrhlrs (I& rhz Prrurntion
qf Men/al
Illness.
Lexington
Books.
R.
Lexmgton,
BRANI>
Mass.
xi + 23X pages. f16.00.
Reader5 of this ,journal need no reminding of the importance of the effective social environment in shaping and maintaining deviant forms of hehaviour. Those who are familiar with ICD-9 are aware that one axis in that classification of the five axes. Thus. there is a need system is devoted to psychosocial stress. and it is clearly the least researched for a good. critical rcvicu of environmental variables implicated in both mental health and. for those stuck at the earl) Freudian mcdlcal-model stngc. ‘mental illness’. Alas. this text does not meet these needs.
BOOK REVIEWS
97
The editor provides an introductory chapter which is largely a summary of what he then presents in Chapter 2-social climate and mental health-which in turn is a simple introduction to Moos’s published work. Monahan and Vaux identify noise levels, population density and economic factors as related to the incidence of problems. Having cautioned against confusing correlation with causality, they proceed to draw causal implications from cross-sectional studies. Mitchell and Trichet provide a useful beginners’ guide to social-network research which is essentially cross-sectional and descriptive with few tested interventions based on the work. Camara, Baker and Dayton take 68 pages to tell us that the American family is changing but that their divorce rate is not really higher than other countries, it is just that other countries fiddle their statistics. Wiltman amazes us with the revelation that ‘sociophysical settings’ (i.e. buildings) constrain social interaction, but does not say how town planning and architecture might be improved to prevent psychiatric disorders. Swift gets to the point quickly, despite massive funding (which is now ceasing) half the U.S. catchment areas still have no mental health services. Community and preventive services had been seen as a cheap alternative to traditional servtccs and, as such, must be assessed within the sociopolitical climate which spawned them. The tinal few chapters are amazingly trivial. Sommer describes ‘behavioural mapping’ as one technique of observation which might prove useful for something. sometime, if only someone would fund him to do it; Solso provides the mandatory ‘cognitive psychology’ comment to prove that this is a thinking man’s text. (Sorry, there was no feminist contribution. How did that happen?) Williams says that diet and jogging are good for you (not for me, I hasten to add). And the tinal “Summary and Conclusions” is a merciful three pages long. In Chapters 2-7. novices will find some useful American references. Then, if they pretend to a professional interest in the area, they should read the studies which followed Brown and Wing’s studies of the social structure of mental hospitals in Britain; Tizard’s pioneering work in changing institutions: and the work on formal and informal social structure which followed the operationalizing of Goffman’s views of the total institution by King. Raynes and Tizard. developed new measurement techniques. advanced theoretical These studies began with good solid observations, knowledge and led to social engineering which was evaluated. None of this is reflected in the present text and thereby its authors do a great disservice to the clients who depend on them. WILLIAM YULE
P. J. CLAYTON and J. E. BARRETT (Eds): Treatmmt CI/’Dqmssion-Old Controwrsie.~ ~tnd New Approuchr.v. Psychopathological Association Series. Raven Press. New York (1983). xiv + 338 pages. $60.76.
American
This stimulating book arises out a meeting on depression held by the American Psychological Association in 1981. It covers recent developments in the diagnosis and treatment of depression and takes a fresh look at some old controversies. Chapters are by internattonal experts mainly from North America. and are followed by transcripts of critical discussions which add spirit to an already lively book. The first section is devoted to neuroendocrine. biochemical and psychophysiological aspects, and biologically-orientated psychiatrists will enjoy the futuristic approach. A feeling of optimism pervades this section. with the expectation of a major breakthrough ‘just around the corner’. Time will tell whether this enthusiastic approach will endure. The next section takes a new look at the predictive power of plasma antidepressant levels and the use of lithium in recurrent affective disorders, and discusses recent findings with regard to unilateral vs bilateral electroconvulsive therapy. New evidence added to old arguments produces interesting reading. The section ends with an up-to-date account of the effect of antidepressant treatments on receptor sensitivity. The third section covers issues of classification and includes discussion of the concepts of ‘secondary’ and ‘atypical’ depression. There is an interesting chapter on the use of voice recordings in the study of mood changes. The final section considers the psychotherapies in the treatment of depression and includes a chapter on cognitive therapy by Beck and a searching discussion of methods of evaluating psychotherapy by Klerman. Unfortunately. Beck extends his practical approach into a kind of personality theory and appears to be discussing the old endogenous-reactive controversy under a new banner. There is an attempted evaluation of the usefulness of drugs and psychotherapy in elderly depressives and the final chapter discusses the use of cognitive therapy in rape victims. This is a refreshing book with many new ideas. All clinicians and research workers interested in depression will find a tour through its pages interesting, although biological psychiatrists will probably find the journey most worthwhile.
D. A. LUEPNITZ: Child 191 pages. f15.00.
C‘ustody-A
Stu&
o/
Fundies
rrfirr
Dirorw.
Lexington
Books.
Mass.
(1982).
xv +
Many parents involved in divorce custody disputes have been awarded joint custody to solve the dilemma of choosing between the mother and the father. Some argue that there should be one permanent custodian while others hold the view that joint custody ts the optimal arrangement. Dr Luepnitz’s study is a systematic comparison of three custody situations-maternal, paternal and joint. Her volunteer sample was I6 custodial mothers, 16 custodial fathers and 18 parents with joint custody. The 91 children were matched for age, sex and number in each family. No significant differences were found between groups on child and parental measures of child adjustment and academic performance. The parents’ ratings of conflict with their spouse were found not to differ significantly between custody type. A comparison between families headed by men and by women showed no significant difference on independent ratings
H. J. E~sn~c K: F’r~c~~~rrli/~~.G’c~/t,ti~~.c (UK/ Brhu~iour.
Praeger.
New York
(1982). xii + 340 pages.
In their daydreams moat young psychologists see themselves as helping individuals with their personal problems. helping society with its moral and pohtical problems. and all the while opposing ‘authority’ and conventional wisdom-including the wisdom of most other psychologists. The present volume is a forceful reminder that Hans Eysenck has shown such heroic idealism to bc realizable. Here. on the verge of his official retirement but with undiminished vigour. Eysenck once more display< his genius for speaking to both the beginner and the expert as he reviews his career and offers a sparkling selection of I~I? papers both ancient and (the majority) extremely modern. Whether lambasting psychoanalysis (now only ‘retaIled in textbooks for profit’) or ‘cognitive’ behaviour therapy (‘inadvertent use of extinction methods’) or ideological environmentalism (‘Stalinist. not Marxist’), his arguments combine historical continuity with up-to-theminute IncisivenesT and with determination to address the largest problems of scientific psychology. Whether he will prove imitable by today’s psychology students must be the tantalizing question for any reader of this lucid and engaging testimony to a remarkable academic career. It is perhap because of his understandable sense of his own pre-eminence that Eysenck does not always resist the temptation to bhnd the opposltlon mischievously with science. Thus. a factorially-established dimension of social attitudes ‘clearlq resembles’ Tcndermindedncs5 while being positively and especially highly loaded by approval of Royalty. Patriotism. Divine Law and Military Drill; Napalkov’s ‘incubation effect’, though itself a rarely witnessed paradox requiring resort to the uncertain concept of ‘drive‘ for its explication. is invoked to expand modern learning theory \o as to contain the proven ctficicacy of both flooding and desensitization as treatments for phobias: and exhortatory references to the sophistication? of biometrical genetics provide but an ephemeral substitute for straightforward demonstration that one lot of twins i5 more similar than another. Hardest of all for the reader to follow comprehendingly aill be Eysenck‘\ claim that three Independent factors of speed, error-checking and persistence determine success at IQ-teat Items. It is not Just that the 5pccd:accuracy negative trade-off has somehow vanished, presumably because high-IQ subjects arc pretty good at both; but aiao that to render persistence as an unalloyed blessing would seem to make too little room for it to manifest itself a\ hhnd obstinacy in the pursuit of inefficacious strategema for item-solution. Nevertheless. there are great advantages to be had from bustling the reader along. Not the least of these is to get across very clearly the model of psychology with which Eysenck works. One especially impressive paper deals with ‘the biosocial nature of man’: It provides a most cogent statement of Eysenck’s opinions concerning psychology’s broadest controversie5~betueen Watson and McDougall in the past, and between sociobiology and social environmentalism in the present. Llkc the hook a5 a whole it remind5 us that. although Eysenck’s familiar ‘dimensions of personality’ may 5ometime5 seem too simple to describe the subtleties of personality development in people of high intelligence and sol’histicution. hi\ ability and concern to address the outstanding features of the human condition should enhance hi5 appeal m cgalitarlan timea. C.
P. M. ISSFL (Ed):
(I 98I ).
~/71,i,-r,rr,?lr,,11trl C’rrrirrhlrs (I& rhz Prrurntion
qf Men/al
Illness.
Lexington
Books.
R.
Lexmgton,
BRANI>
Mass.
xi + 23X pages. f16.00.
Reader5 of this ,journal need no reminding of the importance of the effective social environment in shaping and maintaining deviant forms of hehaviour. Those who are familiar with ICD-9 are aware that one axis in that classification of the five axes. Thus. there is a need system is devoted to psychosocial stress. and it is clearly the least researched for a good. critical rcvicu of environmental variables implicated in both mental health and. for those stuck at the earl) Freudian mcdlcal-model stngc. ‘mental illness’. Alas. this text does not meet these needs.
BOOK REVIEWS
97
The editor provides an introductory chapter which is largely a summary of what he then presents in Chapter 2-social climate and mental health-which in turn is a simple introduction to Moos’s published work. Monahan and Vaux identify noise levels, population density and economic factors as related to the incidence of problems. Having cautioned against confusing correlation with causality, they proceed to draw causal implications from cross-sectional studies. Mitchell and Trichet provide a useful beginners’ guide to social-network research which is essentially cross-sectional and descriptive with few tested interventions based on the work. Camara, Baker and Dayton take 68 pages to tell us that the American family is changing but that their divorce rate is not really higher than other countries, it is just that other countries fiddle their statistics. Wiltman amazes us with the revelation that ‘sociophysical settings’ (i.e. buildings) constrain social interaction, but does not say how town planning and architecture might be improved to prevent psychiatric disorders. Swift gets to the point quickly, despite massive funding (which is now ceasing) half the U.S. catchment areas still have no mental health services. Community and preventive services had been seen as a cheap alternative to traditional servtccs and, as such, must be assessed within the sociopolitical climate which spawned them. The tinal few chapters are amazingly trivial. Sommer describes ‘behavioural mapping’ as one technique of observation which might prove useful for something. sometime, if only someone would fund him to do it; Solso provides the mandatory ‘cognitive psychology’ comment to prove that this is a thinking man’s text. (Sorry, there was no feminist contribution. How did that happen?) Williams says that diet and jogging are good for you (not for me, I hasten to add). And the tinal “Summary and Conclusions” is a merciful three pages long. In Chapters 2-7. novices will find some useful American references. Then, if they pretend to a professional interest in the area, they should read the studies which followed Brown and Wing’s studies of the social structure of mental hospitals in Britain; Tizard’s pioneering work in changing institutions: and the work on formal and informal social structure which followed the operationalizing of Goffman’s views of the total institution by King. Raynes and Tizard. developed new measurement techniques. advanced theoretical These studies began with good solid observations, knowledge and led to social engineering which was evaluated. None of this is reflected in the present text and thereby its authors do a great disservice to the clients who depend on them. WILLIAM YULE
P. J. CLAYTON and J. E. BARRETT (Eds): Treatmmt CI/’Dqmssion-Old Controwrsie.~ ~tnd New Approuchr.v. Psychopathological Association Series. Raven Press. New York (1983). xiv + 338 pages. $60.76.
American
This stimulating book arises out a meeting on depression held by the American Psychological Association in 1981. It covers recent developments in the diagnosis and treatment of depression and takes a fresh look at some old controversies. Chapters are by internattonal experts mainly from North America. and are followed by transcripts of critical discussions which add spirit to an already lively book. The first section is devoted to neuroendocrine. biochemical and psychophysiological aspects, and biologically-orientated psychiatrists will enjoy the futuristic approach. A feeling of optimism pervades this section. with the expectation of a major breakthrough ‘just around the corner’. Time will tell whether this enthusiastic approach will endure. The next section takes a new look at the predictive power of plasma antidepressant levels and the use of lithium in recurrent affective disorders, and discusses recent findings with regard to unilateral vs bilateral electroconvulsive therapy. New evidence added to old arguments produces interesting reading. The section ends with an up-to-date account of the effect of antidepressant treatments on receptor sensitivity. The third section covers issues of classification and includes discussion of the concepts of ‘secondary’ and ‘atypical’ depression. There is an interesting chapter on the use of voice recordings in the study of mood changes. The final section considers the psychotherapies in the treatment of depression and includes a chapter on cognitive therapy by Beck and a searching discussion of methods of evaluating psychotherapy by Klerman. Unfortunately. Beck extends his practical approach into a kind of personality theory and appears to be discussing the old endogenous-reactive controversy under a new banner. There is an attempted evaluation of the usefulness of drugs and psychotherapy in elderly depressives and the final chapter discusses the use of cognitive therapy in rape victims. This is a refreshing book with many new ideas. All clinicians and research workers interested in depression will find a tour through its pages interesting, although biological psychiatrists will probably find the journey most worthwhile.
D. A. LUEPNITZ: Child 191 pages. f15.00.
C‘ustody-A
Stu&
o/
Fundies
rrfirr
Dirorw.
Lexington
Books.
Mass.
(1982).
xv +
Many parents involved in divorce custody disputes have been awarded joint custody to solve the dilemma of choosing between the mother and the father. Some argue that there should be one permanent custodian while others hold the view that joint custody ts the optimal arrangement. Dr Luepnitz’s study is a systematic comparison of three custody situations-maternal, paternal and joint. Her volunteer sample was I6 custodial mothers, 16 custodial fathers and 18 parents with joint custody. The 91 children were matched for age, sex and number in each family. No significant differences were found between groups on child and parental measures of child adjustment and academic performance. The parents’ ratings of conflict with their spouse were found not to differ significantly between custody type. A comparison between families headed by men and by women showed no significant difference on independent ratings