Abstract
THIS book is principally an appreciation of the late Dr. L. S. Barnes. It describes his attitude to neurasthenia and his method of treating the neurasthenic, which appears to have been by the application of his own strong personality in encouragement, coupled with an appeal to the patient's intelligence. Apart from the statement that Dr. Barnes considered all neurasthenic troubles to originate in fear, there is no indication of what he considered to be the etiology of functional nervous disorders. This defect, and a lack of detail regarding the line of treatment, will hamper other physicians attempting to follow the same method of psycho-therapy. The book does, however, encourage doctors to pay serious attention to the neurasthenic, and provided the tendency to regard the subconscious mind as a sort of separate personality is not taken too literally, it will also encourage patients to believe that neuroses are susceptible to treatment. It is a matter for regret that Dr. Barnes did not live to publish his own views on psycho-pathology and psycho-therapy.
A Challenge to Neurasthenia.
Doris Mary
Armitage
By. Pp. 52. (London: Williams and Norgate, Ltd., 1929.) 5s. net.
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A Challenge to Neurasthenia . Nature 124, 944 (1929). https://doi.org/10.1038/124944d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/124944d0