(2 of 2)
Drug treatment Dr. Kline said, constitutes direct action on many patients for whom all other methods of treatment have failed. True, many patients nowadays are further benefited by other methods, but the important thing is that they would not have responded at all to any treatment without the drugs. "Disturbed behavior is reduced so that the staff is able to concentrate on those who will benefit, rather than, as in the past, having to spend almost all its time managing assaultive patients. And there is now more personnel available because the work is no longer so hazardous or distasteful." The family physician, said Dr. Kline, should take much more responsibility for treating depression ("far and away the most common of the emotional disorders") and refer only the stubborn cases to psychiatrists.
Problems from Solutions. Dr. Kline attacked the common misconception that the neuroses are "less severe" than the psychoses. "Both the diagnosis and treatment of the psychotic are simpler and more effective than those of the neurotic patient," he said. "With adequate drug treatment, plus a few basic psychiatric skills, the family physician would be able to handle the bulk of psychiatric patients and thereby free the psychiatrist to work with the more difficult disorders—such as neurosis."
So little is known about how the drugs work that selecting the right one for a particular patient often takes precious time. And although there seem to be so many drugs, there are really not enough. "New drugs are badly needed to treat conditions which are not yet treatable. These include mental deficiency, diseases of aging, certain types of juvenile delinquency, and psychopathic personality." Even without these, psychiatric services must be reorganized to take full advantage of what the drugs have made possible. "There is nothing more productive of problems," Dr. Kline concluded, "than a really good solution."