PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT OF THE VETERAN OUTPATIENT
JOSEPH HUGHES M. D.1, and
BLAINE E. MCLAUGHLIN M. D.1
1 The Woman's Medical College Hospital, Philadelphia.
1. With skilled and positively directed psychotherapy and a well-integrated clinic setup, the veteran patient suffering from service-connected psychoneurotic disorder may be expected to be supporting himself and working each day after a period of 12 weeks of treatment (12 interviews).
2. The patient whose neurotic symptoms are an expression of emotional instability based on life-long faulty habit patterns may also be expected to respond favorably if well motivated. Thirty-two of 47 such patients in this group are working and have gained healthful insight into the emotional nature of their symptoms through psychotherapy.
3. Schizophrenic patients may be carried along on an outpatient basis providing they have partial insight and are not too unpredictably aggressive.
4. From the standpoint of recovery it can be said that adequate outpatient care is the first step to be taken in any treatment effort directed to restore the veteran patient to healthy relationships with his family and the community.
