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Cure and care of neurosis1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

I. M. Marks
I. M. Marks*
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
2Address for correspondence: Professor I. M. Marks, Institute of Psychiatry, Dc Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF.
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Synopsis

Behavioural psychotherapy has long historical roots. Recently it has led to effective treatment for selected neuroses, including phobic, obsessive-compulsive and sexual disorders. Potent therapy has become a tool of experimental psychopathology which advances theory and practice. A pervasive principle is exposure of the patient to those stimuli which evoke his discomfort until this subsides. Level of arousal during exposure does not affect outcome. Theoretical issues are reviewed which decide when exposure will be sensitizing or habituating. Both psychoanalytical and conditioning models of neurosis are out of date, and models derived more directly from clinical experiment are becoming possible. The aetiology of phobias and rituals can be seen as failed extinction rather than enhanced acquisition. Relevant phylogenetic and biological factors are discussed. At the other extreme, well-documented faith-healing indicates huge gaps in our knowledge of psychotherapy.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 9 , Issue 4 , November 1979 , pp. 629 - 660
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1979

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Footnotes

1

This paper is based on the Salmon Lectures given to the New York Academy of Medicine, 30 November 1978. It will be included in Cure and Care of Neurosis, by I. M. Marks (submitted for publication).

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