Neurosis in Hospital and General Practice

Abstract

Although there is general agreement that the neuroses constitute a major public health problem there is little reliable information about their distribution. The difficulty is largely one of definition. As most people experience emotional conflict of some sort, the concept of neurosis can be widened so readily as to rob it of much value for medical purposes. Epidemiological enquiries have been hampered by disagreement about the nature of neurosis and by the lack of screening techniques (Shepherd, 1960). In consequence formal morbidity surveys have proved difficult to conduct and their results still harder to interpret.