This book presents an intelligent and unbiased case for the proper use of the physical methods in the therapy of mental disorders. Concomitantly, the various forms of psychotherapy are discussed, and the roles that they play in therapy are emphasized. There is described a varied approach to the problem of therapy, stressing both the physical and the psychodynamic aspects, with the proper blending of the two. Emphasis is placed upon the importance of determining the type of therapy needed at various stages in the patient's illness.
Full attention is given to the indications, methods, neurophysiological aspects, and complications of the physical methods of treatment. Among the methods discussed are electroconvulsive and nonconvulsive therapy, electric coma, insulin coma and insulin subshock, and the various forms of psychosurgery. For this reason, the book is particularly recommended to beginners inpsychiatry.
Alexander's review of the literature and bibliography are definitive. There is a compilation