Abstract
(1) IN this lecture Dr. Hart discusses modern conceptions of the nature and treatment of mental and nervous disorders. He points out that, though the “physiological conception” the belief that mental and nervous disorders are due to deranged bodily processes, and in particular to diseases of the brain—still holds its place, its sway is no longer undisputed, for there has now arisen the “psychological conception,” which holds that some at least of these phenomena are due to mental causes, capable of determination by psychological investigation, and of removal by psychological methods of treatment. The conspicuous success of this latter treatment has been amply demonstrated in our military hospitals for “shell shock” and similar disorders. Dr. Hart insists upon the present imperative necessity of provision for civilian patients, both men and women, in those incipient phases of mental and nervous disorder when treatment promises the best results, and urges the desirability of institutions in which physiologist, chemist, and psychologist can attack, together and from every side, the many problems that await solution. In emphasising the necessity for the close association of treatment with organised investigation and with teaching, he points out that these three functions have their natural home in the universities and medical schools, and it is from them that we shall confidently expect the developments that are so urgently needed.
(1) The Modern Treatment of Mental and Nervous Disorders.
A Lecture delivered at the University of Manchester, on March 25, 1918, by Dr. B. Hart. Pp. 28. (Manchester: At the University Press; London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1918.) Price 1s. net.
(2) The Re-education of the Adult: 1. The Neurasthenic in War and Peace.
By Capt. A. J. Brock. (London: Headley Bros.) 6d.
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(1) The Modern Treatment of Mental and Nervous Disorders (2)The Re-education of the Adult: 1. The Neurasthenic in War and Peace . Nature 102, 142 (1918). https://doi.org/10.1038/102142a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/102142a0