AbstractsPsychology

The psychobiologists, the personologists, and the configurationists have drawn attention to the necessity for considering the total personality in its entire socio-economic setting. The new tool of general semantics is extremely helpful in enabling the patient to understand more clearly both himself and the universe around him. Thus, the words used to describe the treatment for alcohol addiction in the nineteenth century have now come to be imbued with a much enlarged and deepened meaning, so that, as present-day psychiatrists gradually learn how to use these newer tools and approaches more skillfully, the percentages of recovery from alcohol addiction should show a steady upward trend. The great need today is for more research by qualified experts, for the training of greatly increased numbers of therapists in the techniques already understood, for reliable statistical data on the long-term results of treatment by various methods, and for the nation-wide education of the public and of the medical profession as to the actualities of the disease of alcohol addiction and its treatment.