The commonsense psychiatry of Dr Adolf Meyer : fifty-two selected papers / Adolf Meyer, Alfred Lief.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Meyer, Adolf, author.

Contributor:

Lief, Alfred, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Psychology, Pathological.

Mental illness.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvii, 677 pages) : illustrations, portrait

Other Title:

commonsense psychiatry of Dr. Adolf Meyer

Place of Publication:

New York : McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1948.

Summary:

"When I first met Dr. Meyer in his Baltimore home and told him of my desire to preserve and present his basic papers, he put a fresh log on the fire, seated himself near by, and folded his hands in his lap. He suggested that the book be an expression of my own needs and urges. Like many others who regard the world as a postgraduate education in life, I had been seeking clarity on the subject of psychiatry. The literature contained many illuminating answers attributed to Adolf Meyer. From the footnotes I turned to the sources. There, distinct from a psychiatry on a basis of psychoanalysis, was his concept of mind and behavior and organs as a biological whole. I looked for a complete statement, for a textbook, or at any rate a full-bodied volume, in which possibly he unfolded his findings; but though he had written close to two hundred papers, there was no such book. "The main thing, " the doctor continued, "is that your point of reference should always be life itself and not the imagined cesspool of the unconscious." In this book I have undertaken, as Dr. Meyer put it, "to give the average person a better practical understanding of my material"--As a help to himself and myself and "the many I should like to be helpful to." He has given me the liberty to make such use of it as will "aid in the receptivity of the reader." Fifty-two selections are presented here in a setting meant to portray the evolution of a psychiatrist and of his thinking and work. It is an exposition of American psychiatry and at the same time a picture of a physician in action. The papers have been edited with a view to integration and abridged where necessary to avoid repetition and preserve continuity. As a whole, it may stand as Dr. Meyer's declaration of independence from dogma. I also hope it fulfills his expectation that I would produce "very much what is needed to awaken in others a respect for the person and his behavior." Social workers, educators, clergymen, personnel directors, nurses, all who are interested in man, and all who are interested in medicine will find in Meyer, as I have found, a source of growth and a stimulating, steadying philosophy. I am especially interested in reaching the general practitioner, for Meyer has always kept in mind the fact that psychiatry is a branch of medicine and the intention that its fruits should return to the general body of medicine"--Foreword. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).

Contents:

Foreword vii Introduction: The Contributions of Psychiatry to the Understanding of Life Problems 11. Preparation in Europe 17 British Influences in Psychiatry 25 2. The American Setting 37 3. Action in Kankakee 43 Treatment of the Insane 53 Mental Abnormalities in Children 61 Early Prevention of Danger 71 4. Action in Worcester 77 The Biological Approach to Psychiatry 87 5. Action in New York 95 An Attempt at Analysis of the Neurotic Constitution 103 Arrest of Development in Adolescence 117 Emotion and Intellect in Paranoia 121 The "Hopelessness" of Psychology 134 6. More Action in New York 145 Principles in Grouping Facts in Psychiatry 153 Mental Factors in Psychiatry 169 The Role of Habit-disorganizations 178 Fundamental Conceptions of Dementia Praecox 184 Substitutive Activity and Reaction-types 193 Plan of Examination 207 The Criminal Insane and Medico-legal Problems 211 7. Dynamic Psychology Established 227 Case Histories Reflecting School Years 233 The Dynamic Interpretation of Dementia Praecox 247 Some Fundamental Issues in Freud's Psychoanalysis 260 8. Reaching to the Public 277 Promoting a Practical Interest among Practitioners 284 Modern Psychiatry: Its Possibilities and Responsibilities 292 After-care and Prophylaxis 300 The Mental-hygiene Movement 312 The Problem of the State 320 Case Work in Social Service 330 9. Action in Baltimore 335 The Henry Phipps Psychiatric Clinic 342 The Aims of a Psychiatric Clinic 359 10. Training the Doctors 369 The Value of Psychology in Psychiatry 379 Conditions for a Home of Psychology in the Medical Curriculum 386 Objective Psychology or Psychobiology, with Subordination of the Medically Useless Contrast of Mental and Physical 397 Progress in Teaching Psychiatry 406 The Aims and Meaning of Psychiatric Diagnosis 412 The Life-chart 418 Preparation for Psychiatry 423 Teaching Psychobiology 433 11. Social Aspects 449 Organizing the Community 457 Repression, Freedom and Discipline 479 Schools and Mental Health 491 The Right to Marry 501 Eugenics Research 511Birth Control 517 The Family Setting 520 Character Education and Religion 524 Mature Living 533 12. A Science of Man 537 Interrelations of the Domain of Neuropsychiatry 565 Spontaneity 576 The Psychobiological Point of View 590 A Plea for the Concept of "Sense" as the Essence of Consciousness 607 Subject-organization 616 The Concept of Wholes 623 Respect of Self and Others and Equity for Peace 628 Reference Notes 637 Glossary of Medical and Philosophical Terms 641 Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Includes bibliographical references and index.