PAPERS PRESENTED AT GENERAL SESSIONS 



This has perhaps contributed to a certain amount of 



;icism on the part of those outside towards the practi- 

 cal value of the methods of mental science. It is inter- 

 esting to note also in this connection that the extension 

 of life and the saving- of infant lives, of which medicine 

 is so proud, have served to complicate the problem from 

 the mental side. A favorite comment of journalist 

 this topic is to the effect that medicine is now saving the 

 unfit, that we are tampering with nature's law of the 

 survival of the fittest and thus incr the numbers 



of the unfit who endanger the welfare of the more favored 

 individuals : that all that has been accomplished has been 

 to protect the weak and inadequate without benefit to 

 anyone. I need not examine this argument more cl 

 at this time or point out all the fallacies involved. The 

 struggle for existence and the survival of the fittest may 

 be shown to be still active even in our social organization 

 of today It is true -ince the pr :ience is 



uneven, inequalities may arise and that at a given 

 moment in one or another direction the difficulties may 

 be inci - 1 rather than lessened. Nevertheless, it must 

 be perfectly obvious to any fair-minded observer that the 

 sum-total of gain is far in excess of any circumscribed 

 Whatever inequalities of this nature may now 

 exist will undoubtedly be wiped out by the further pro- 

 — of knowledge and by our increased control over 

 ourselves and our environment, to which we can confi- 

 dently look forward. 



The question that I wish to deal with today is not 

 whether mental is worth while, but rather are we 



applying effectively all the knowledge now available: are 

 Ave dealing with such problems as those jus 

 as well as we now are able. Psychiatry deals with me 

 disorder-. ! m the Public Health aspect, however, it 

 deals less with the mental disorders themselves than with 



iary phenomenon, namely, human behavior. Thus 

 a person is not considered insane because his mind i - 

 ranged, but because of what he does as a result of such 

 derangement. 1 sychiatrist has observ sated 



s of individuals with gross mental disorders who 



