"Coffee and...": A Way to Treat the Untreatable
RUTH MASNIK M.S.W.1,
LUIGI BUCCI M.D.2,
DAVID ISENBERG , , and
WILLIAM NORMAND M.D.3
1 Psychiatric Social Worker at the Mental Health Clinic, Metropolitan Hospital, 1901 First Ave., New York, N.Y. 10029
2 Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, New York Medical College and Attending Psychiatrist at the Mental Health Clinic, Metropolitan Hospital, 1901 First Ave., New York, N.Y. 10029
3 Associate Professor of Psychiatry, New York Medical College and Director of Psychiatric Outpatient Services, Metropolitan Hospital, 1901 First Ave., New York, N.Y. 10029
The authors describe a socialization program for outpatients, most of them chronic schizophrenics, that accepts the patients' regressed state and their need to gratify their exaggerated oral dependent strivings. A total of 39 patients were involved in the program for eight months. At the end of that period, 15 of the 39 showed a noticeable improvement in social functioning.
