Treatment program for mental hospitals.

Many thousands of patients in the "chronic" wards of mental hospitals have been considered unsuitable subjects for active treatment, on the assumption that little could be accomplished. However, a well integrated therapeutic program under skilled psychiatric direction and involving all personnel who will come in contact with the patient gives promise of returning a substantial number of patients to their homes. The program suggested in this paper also retards personality disorganization and refutes the current nihilistic attitude concerning the patient whose mental condition has been deemed to be chronic.