No access

Article

Published Online: January 1942

HOSPITAL TREATMENT OF PATIENTS WITH PSYCHONEUROTIC DISORDERS

DONALD M. HAMILTON and JAMES H. WALLAuthors Info & Affiliations

Publication: American Journal of Psychiatry

Volume 98, Number 4

https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.98.4.551

Get Access

Abstract

1. A study of 100 psychoneurotic men patients admitted to the New York Hospital, Westchester Division, between 1927 and 1937 has been made.

2. Review of the family background revealed that these individuals predominantly came from close-knit, small families, where the father was a weak individual and the mother was aggressive and dominated the home. (Father was weak in 64 cases, mother aggressive and dominating in 67 cases.)

3. An analysis of the life histories revealed a high incidence of serious and prolonged physical illness in infancy and that this was one factor in fixing attention on the body in later life. Such patients responded unfavorably as a group to treatment.

4. The study of the present illness revealed that psychoneuroses tend to be of long duration before hospital treatment is instituted.

5. Identification with relatives suffering from serious physical or mental illness was an etiological factor in the illness of one-fourth of the patients.

6. Outstanding mental symptoms in their order of frequency were tenseness, depression, anxiety, sexual preoccupation, hypochondriasis, obsessions and compulsions, fear of insanity, and weakness. Patients with depression and anxiety as outstanding symptoms responded best to treatment, while fewer recoveries were found in the group displaying hypochondriasis, weakness or fear of insanity, than in the total group. The compulsive and obsessive patients responded least well to treatment.

7. The value of a full and varied program of activities supervised by the physicians and fitted to the patients' needs and capacities, together with frequent psychotherapeutic interviews, was substantiated by this study.

8. The average length of hospitalization was eight and a half months.

9. Follow-up studies of 100 men with psychoneurotic disorders, 4 to 14 years after discharge, revealed that 46 patients were then recovered, 5 much improved, 17 improved, making a total of 68 who had benefited by treatment.

Get full access to this article

View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.

Get Access

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

American Journal of Psychiatry

Volume 98 • Number 4 • January 1942

Pages: 551 - 557

History

Published in print: January 1942

Published online: 1 April 2006

Authors

Affiliations

DONALD M. HAMILTON

The New York Hospital, Westchester Division, and the Department of Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical College, New York.

View all articles by this author

JAMES H. WALL

The New York Hospital, Westchester Division, and the Department of Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical College, New York.

View all articles by this author

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Export Citations

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.

Format	RIS (ProCite, Reference Manager) EndNote BibTex Medlars RefWorks
Direct importt
Citation style
Style

Copy to clipboard
Tips for downloading citations

There are no citations for this item

View Options

Get Access

Login options

Already a subscriber? Access your subscription through your login credentials or your institution for full access to this article.

Personal login Institutional Login Open Athens login

Purchase Options

Purchase this article to access the full text.

PPV Articles - American Journal of Psychiatry

Not a subscriber?

Subscribe Now / Learn More

PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5-TR^® library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.

Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).

HOSPITAL TREATMENT OF PATIENTS WITH PSYCHONEUROTIC DISORDERS

Abstract

Get full access to this article