EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS and What You Can Do About Them

Subtitled First Aid to Wiser Living this should be stressed as preventive medicine in the field of mental health, rather than a guide to cure emotional problems- and for that reason is to be sincerely recommended. Dr. Terhune, medical director of Silver Hill Foundation and a psychiatrist in the Yale School of Medicine, discusses in simple, direct terms, designed for the layman, the fundamentals of mental health, and the techniques for meeting specific psychological emergencies. He approaches the subject on levels of adult life, older people, children; and while there is nothing startingly new in what he has to offer, there is a reasonable, matter-of-fact attitude that reenforces his contention that mental health is largely a matter of accepting as basic certain minimum psychological requirements for maturity. At times one feels that the viewpoint is more moralistic than psychiatric. For some this may be an asset. The section dealing with techniques may well help normal people to avoid mental illness by preparedness in meeting emotional challenges. From imparting of bad news, to meeting the problems of accident, illness, alcoholism, death -- or even such relatively minor issues as tendency to tantrums, fears, loss of confidence,- he offers suggestions of procedure that would help not only the person involved, but family and friends. Emotional and psychological emergencies on when to consult a doctor -- and how to determine what kind of doctor. This for anyone interested in the field, lay or professional. The kind of book professionals might well suggest at times of marital crises, or when others are facing almost any normal type of emotional problem and needing help.