OBSERVATIONS IN TREATMENT OF PATIENTS WITH PSYCHOSOMATIC DISORDERS USING SUBSHOCK INSULIN IN A GROUP SETTING

A program is described that has proved useful in practice. It is based on the operation of a psychiatric team. It is designed to give maximum treatment to a group of psychosomatic cases so disabled by their anxiety that they could not relate themselves in a therapeutic situation. The program involves the use of subshock insulin as an adjunctive therapy helpful in allaying anxiety, improving the patient's well-being, and making him more accessible to psychotherapy. The subshock insulin treatment moreover serves as the agent around which a homogeneous group of patients can be formed. The observers note the therapeutic value of the structure, i.e., a homogeneous group within a heterogeneous group. A general tendency toward the remission of symptoms is pointed out. The observation is made that there should be a trained correlator-observer in programs for treating patients in a large therapeutic milieu, for the individual psychotherapist is often not aware of his patient's actions-in-living.