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Psychosomatic medicine. The first Hahnemann symposium
Book
65
reviews
Edited by JOHN H. NODIN and JOHN H. Psychosomatic Medicine. The First Hahnemann Symposium. MOYER. Henry Kimpton, London, 1962. pp. xxvi + 1002, 123s. 6d. THIS massive volume is a curious compound. Four hundred and fifty pages alone are devoted to problems relating to psychopharmacology, the remaining contributions ranging from the classification of psychoses and psychoneuroses to the management of low back pain. Over 130 individuals took part in the Symposium, representing many disciplines-psychology, pharmacology, physiology, medicine, psychiatry and neurology. Whilst it is gratifying to see this concrete evidence of a wider it is nonetheless impossible to justify this mammoth understanding of psychosomatic medicine, compilation. Many of the contributions are somewhat fragmentary, others will soon be out-of-date, and the excitement with which one opens the book becomes tempered as one proceeds with frustration at the lack of really satisfying contributions. Surely this is yet another example of the dreadful urge to publish, with which doctors seem to be afflicted. It adds very little to our knowledge or understanding of psychosomatic medicine, or psychosomatic research. DENS LEIGH
WILLIAM GOLDFARB:
Childhood Schizophrenia.
Harvard
University
Press, 1962.
Pp. xxv + 216.36~.
THIS is an account of a study at the Ittleson Center, New York, of 26 patients diagnosed as suffering from childhood schizophrenia and matched against normal controls; it is not, as the title might suggest, a comprehensive text book on the subject. Ittleson opened in 19.53 for the residential psychiatric treatment of severely disturbed children and to undertake research; an interesting account of the treatment regime there is given in the first chapter. The present report, the product of their team of researchers directed by Dr. Goldfarb, is regarded by them as a pilot study, the findings needing to be validated on larger groups of children. The diagnostic category Childhood Schizophrenia has been clarified over the years, but it is still apt to be used to cover a rather heterogeneous group of patients and there may not everywhere be agreement on the inclusion or not of some of them. This group was divided into 17 children with some evidence of neurological defect. those with a gross neurological lesion having been excluded, and 9 children with no such defect. The division was made after careful and independent observations, but it seems debatable if some of the so-called “organic” cases included were in fact suffering from childhood schizophrenia in the narrow sense of the term. Clinical descriptions are given of some of them who were undoubtedly very disturbed in their behaviour; they included apparently brain damaged or epileptic children and it was significant that some such were described as having improved greatly with the tolerant care and treatment received. Could truly schizophrenic children have improved so far? This diagnostic uncertainty thus leads to doubt on all that follows. The “organic”, “non-organic” and control groups in the investigation were most carefully investigated and a large number of scores, ratings and observations from behaviour tests were recorded. These were subjected to factorial analysis. a perhaps uncertain procedure with such small numbers. The interesting findings were perhaps inevitably rather indeterminate. However, the main value of this book, the result of painstaking work, is that it is most informative on possible approaches to the investigation of this rather nebulous group of children, and at the same time it underlines the dificulties that are likely to be met. W. WARREN
JAN OSWALD: Sleeping and Waking. Physiology and Psychology. New York. 1962, pp. ix ~- 232. Florins 22.50.
Elsevier
Publishing
Co., Amsterdam.
SLEEP disturbance is perhaps one of the commonest manifestations of illness, and it is surprising how little the physician, or indeed the psychiatrist is familiar with the physiology and psychology of sleep. Now, with the appearance of this book, there is no further excuse for ignorance. Dr. Oswald’s work is clearly a labour of love to him, the result being that he has written what is both a survey of the literature and a personal account of his own views on many aspects of sleep. Laboratory work can become so specialized that the physician finds difficulty in comprehending it, but so well does Dr. Oswald write that, with a certain amount of concentration and thought. the problems become comprehensible. Balanced, stimulating, and enthusiastic, t read this book with great interest-to my knowledge it provides the physician with the best account of the physiology and psychology of sleep that we have yet had. DENIS LEIGH
65
reviews
Edited by JOHN H. NODIN and JOHN H. Psychosomatic Medicine. The First Hahnemann Symposium. MOYER. Henry Kimpton, London, 1962. pp. xxvi + 1002, 123s. 6d. THIS massive volume is a curious compound. Four hundred and fifty pages alone are devoted to problems relating to psychopharmacology, the remaining contributions ranging from the classification of psychoses and psychoneuroses to the management of low back pain. Over 130 individuals took part in the Symposium, representing many disciplines-psychology, pharmacology, physiology, medicine, psychiatry and neurology. Whilst it is gratifying to see this concrete evidence of a wider it is nonetheless impossible to justify this mammoth understanding of psychosomatic medicine, compilation. Many of the contributions are somewhat fragmentary, others will soon be out-of-date, and the excitement with which one opens the book becomes tempered as one proceeds with frustration at the lack of really satisfying contributions. Surely this is yet another example of the dreadful urge to publish, with which doctors seem to be afflicted. It adds very little to our knowledge or understanding of psychosomatic medicine, or psychosomatic research. DENS LEIGH
WILLIAM GOLDFARB:
Childhood Schizophrenia.
Harvard
University
Press, 1962.
Pp. xxv + 216.36~.
THIS is an account of a study at the Ittleson Center, New York, of 26 patients diagnosed as suffering from childhood schizophrenia and matched against normal controls; it is not, as the title might suggest, a comprehensive text book on the subject. Ittleson opened in 19.53 for the residential psychiatric treatment of severely disturbed children and to undertake research; an interesting account of the treatment regime there is given in the first chapter. The present report, the product of their team of researchers directed by Dr. Goldfarb, is regarded by them as a pilot study, the findings needing to be validated on larger groups of children. The diagnostic category Childhood Schizophrenia has been clarified over the years, but it is still apt to be used to cover a rather heterogeneous group of patients and there may not everywhere be agreement on the inclusion or not of some of them. This group was divided into 17 children with some evidence of neurological defect. those with a gross neurological lesion having been excluded, and 9 children with no such defect. The division was made after careful and independent observations, but it seems debatable if some of the so-called “organic” cases included were in fact suffering from childhood schizophrenia in the narrow sense of the term. Clinical descriptions are given of some of them who were undoubtedly very disturbed in their behaviour; they included apparently brain damaged or epileptic children and it was significant that some such were described as having improved greatly with the tolerant care and treatment received. Could truly schizophrenic children have improved so far? This diagnostic uncertainty thus leads to doubt on all that follows. The “organic”, “non-organic” and control groups in the investigation were most carefully investigated and a large number of scores, ratings and observations from behaviour tests were recorded. These were subjected to factorial analysis. a perhaps uncertain procedure with such small numbers. The interesting findings were perhaps inevitably rather indeterminate. However, the main value of this book, the result of painstaking work, is that it is most informative on possible approaches to the investigation of this rather nebulous group of children, and at the same time it underlines the dificulties that are likely to be met. W. WARREN
JAN OSWALD: Sleeping and Waking. Physiology and Psychology. New York. 1962, pp. ix ~- 232. Florins 22.50.
Elsevier
Publishing
Co., Amsterdam.
SLEEP disturbance is perhaps one of the commonest manifestations of illness, and it is surprising how little the physician, or indeed the psychiatrist is familiar with the physiology and psychology of sleep. Now, with the appearance of this book, there is no further excuse for ignorance. Dr. Oswald’s work is clearly a labour of love to him, the result being that he has written what is both a survey of the literature and a personal account of his own views on many aspects of sleep. Laboratory work can become so specialized that the physician finds difficulty in comprehending it, but so well does Dr. Oswald write that, with a certain amount of concentration and thought. the problems become comprehensible. Balanced, stimulating, and enthusiastic, t read this book with great interest-to my knowledge it provides the physician with the best account of the physiology and psychology of sleep that we have yet had. DENIS LEIGH