Citation

Gregory MENASS. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 1935; 105(3): 175-181.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1935, American Medical Association)

DOI

10.1001/jama.1935.02760290009004

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Our conceptions of psychiatry have undergone considerable evolution during the past quarter of a century. The term psychiatry is now used in a very broad sense, embracing all kinds of mental disease, mild or grave, transitory or protracted, benign or malignant; in fine, every variety of mental disorder or abnormality, including personality problems, behavior disorders, child guidance and problems of mental hygiene, social maladjustment, crime and delinquency.In the present discussion, while using the term in its broader sense, I shall confine myself to a few psychiatric problems of importance and especially to those which serve as a background for the discussion of psychotherapy, which is of the utmost importance in general practice.To avoid the use of psychiatric technicalities and for the sake of brevity, I shall refer to several well recognized general groups; namely, the affective or emotional group, the schizophrenic group, the organic group, the toxic infective