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The psychological experience of surgery
Journal of Psychosomoric Pnnted in Great Bntain.
Research,
Vol. 32,
No.
2, pp. 231-233
1988.
0022.3YY9/XR $3.00 + .OO 1988 Pergamon Press plc
BOOK REVIEWS Advanced Methods in Psychobiology. HUPPMANN. Gottingen: C. J. Hogrefe,
Edited 1987.
by J. N.
HINOTGEN,
D.
HELLHAMMER
and
G.
THIS book aims to provide up to date information on techniques used in psychobiological research. This should help readers to evaluate published work and choose the most appropriate methods for their own work. It covers a range of techniques used in animal and human experimentation with a minimum of overlap between contributors. However the main emphasis is on the use of animal models. Much of the text is given over to detailed descriptions of the procedures used to create these animal models. Each method is considered in isolation and no attempt is made to critically evaluate its importance in, or relevance to, the area under study. Considerable attention is paid to the need to care properly for the animals during and after experimentation. It is obvious from the book that specific lesions are difficult to achieve and this therefore casts doubt on the results which can be obtained using the methods available. Assessment of behavioural effects and conditioning procedures is less troublesome in that outcome is specified but the principles underlying the methods are less clearly understood. Areas of human investigation covered include neuroendocrine tests and genetic screening. An entire chapter is spent on the measurement of thyrotrophin releasing hormone. Unfortunately it is so technical that it would be incomprehensible to the average reader. The main deficiency in this section is the absence of a chapter on radiological investigation, e.g. NMR, CAT and PET, all of which would be of interest to clinicians. Overall this volume is unlikely to be of general interest but could be used as a highly specialised reference test. Unfortunately the detailed descriptions and the jargon make it largely appropriate for scientists already working in the relevant fields and they are probably familiar with much of the content. DIANA MORRISON Astra Chemicals Stockholm, Sweden
The Psychological Experience of Surgery. Edited 1987. pp. 236.
by RICHARD
S. BLACHER.
New York:
John Wiley,
‘Surgery . . . may be the most profound incident in his life’. So opens this new text in the Wiley series in general and clinical psychiatry in which a group of authors examine the psychodynamic issues raised by various types of surgery. A striking observation for most psychiatrists who work in a general hospital is how infrequently we are asked to see surgical patients. However, when we do, they often pose great problems of diagnosis and management. A recurrent theme in this review is that it is important to seek a personal meaning of the surgery for the individual. Much of the data provided is anecdotal, yet stimulating. On the other hand, several authors automatically assume that surgical patients are in a regressed and child-like mode of thinking which I did not find helpful and indeed became rather tiring. The multi-authorship makes the text at times repetitive and uneven; for example, three times as many pages are devoted to bypass surgery for superobesity as are devoted to breast surgery. On the whole the psychodynamic review is competently handled. A second aim of the book is to communicate these ideas to surgeons and nurses. In this aim, the book fails. It is often repeated that the jargon of psychiatrists is a barrier to understanding and acceptance of psychiatry in the general hospital. Although this book contains much practical advice that would be of value to members of the surgical team, the simple repetition of unexplained expressions such as ‘narcissistic regression’, ‘castration anxiety’, ‘archaic oral incorporative levels’ and so on will simply provoke hostility. This book would be suitable for the psychiatric library but I would not recommend it for the psychiatrically naive as it may reinforce rather than weaken the unhelpful stereotype of the psychiatrist in the general hospital.
University 231
ALLAN Scorr of Edinburgh
Research,
Vol. 32,
No.
2, pp. 231-233
1988.
0022.3YY9/XR $3.00 + .OO 1988 Pergamon Press plc
BOOK REVIEWS Advanced Methods in Psychobiology. HUPPMANN. Gottingen: C. J. Hogrefe,
Edited 1987.
by J. N.
HINOTGEN,
D.
HELLHAMMER
and
G.
THIS book aims to provide up to date information on techniques used in psychobiological research. This should help readers to evaluate published work and choose the most appropriate methods for their own work. It covers a range of techniques used in animal and human experimentation with a minimum of overlap between contributors. However the main emphasis is on the use of animal models. Much of the text is given over to detailed descriptions of the procedures used to create these animal models. Each method is considered in isolation and no attempt is made to critically evaluate its importance in, or relevance to, the area under study. Considerable attention is paid to the need to care properly for the animals during and after experimentation. It is obvious from the book that specific lesions are difficult to achieve and this therefore casts doubt on the results which can be obtained using the methods available. Assessment of behavioural effects and conditioning procedures is less troublesome in that outcome is specified but the principles underlying the methods are less clearly understood. Areas of human investigation covered include neuroendocrine tests and genetic screening. An entire chapter is spent on the measurement of thyrotrophin releasing hormone. Unfortunately it is so technical that it would be incomprehensible to the average reader. The main deficiency in this section is the absence of a chapter on radiological investigation, e.g. NMR, CAT and PET, all of which would be of interest to clinicians. Overall this volume is unlikely to be of general interest but could be used as a highly specialised reference test. Unfortunately the detailed descriptions and the jargon make it largely appropriate for scientists already working in the relevant fields and they are probably familiar with much of the content. DIANA MORRISON Astra Chemicals Stockholm, Sweden
The Psychological Experience of Surgery. Edited 1987. pp. 236.
by RICHARD
S. BLACHER.
New York:
John Wiley,
‘Surgery . . . may be the most profound incident in his life’. So opens this new text in the Wiley series in general and clinical psychiatry in which a group of authors examine the psychodynamic issues raised by various types of surgery. A striking observation for most psychiatrists who work in a general hospital is how infrequently we are asked to see surgical patients. However, when we do, they often pose great problems of diagnosis and management. A recurrent theme in this review is that it is important to seek a personal meaning of the surgery for the individual. Much of the data provided is anecdotal, yet stimulating. On the other hand, several authors automatically assume that surgical patients are in a regressed and child-like mode of thinking which I did not find helpful and indeed became rather tiring. The multi-authorship makes the text at times repetitive and uneven; for example, three times as many pages are devoted to bypass surgery for superobesity as are devoted to breast surgery. On the whole the psychodynamic review is competently handled. A second aim of the book is to communicate these ideas to surgeons and nurses. In this aim, the book fails. It is often repeated that the jargon of psychiatrists is a barrier to understanding and acceptance of psychiatry in the general hospital. Although this book contains much practical advice that would be of value to members of the surgical team, the simple repetition of unexplained expressions such as ‘narcissistic regression’, ‘castration anxiety’, ‘archaic oral incorporative levels’ and so on will simply provoke hostility. This book would be suitable for the psychiatric library but I would not recommend it for the psychiatrically naive as it may reinforce rather than weaken the unhelpful stereotype of the psychiatrist in the general hospital.
University 231
ALLAN Scorr of Edinburgh