Report of the proceedings of a conference on mental health : held at Seymour Hall, London, 14th-16th January, 1948.

  • Conference on Mental Health (1948 : London)
Date:
[1946]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the proceedings of a conference on mental health : held at Seymour Hall, London, 14th-16th January, 1948. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    8/104 page 6
    It is those words “I am involved in Mankinde” which I think are worth while emphasising. However technical your discussions may be in these two days, I am sure you will agree that it is desirable to keep in mind the individuals whom the Mental Health Service exists to serve; the patients, the mentally deficient, the difficult child, the neurotic man or woman who comes for rehabilitation. All these people are part of us. To be involved in mankind is to be involved in them. I believe that it is always a good thing for all of us— be we doctors, nurses, politicians, or Local Authority repre- sentatives—in all our work, to bear in mind some individual persons whom we are seeking to serve. These considerations are not merely national, our in- volvement is world wide. I hope therefore with all my heart that this Conference is going to be a good preparation for the great International Congress which is to take place later in the year and in the organisation of which the Association will have the fullest support from the Ministry of Health. One thing that pleases me is that this Conference consists very largely, I am told, of laymen and laywomen as well as professionals. I hope I shall not be thought disrespectful if I say that I am very glad about that because I think it will keep the professionals in their place. I think that one of the difficulties of those who practise in the field of psychology or psychological medicine has always been that of communi- cating with one another, and the presence of intelligent lay folk always means that the professionals who talk have got to try to be as precise as they can and to put what they have to say in simple and everyday terms. I remember some words of a psychologist written as far back as 1924 when in a flippant mood he wrote: “ We shall have to give over the fun of arguing words and begin to face facts. Our intellectual joust is over. It is time to plant some beans.” Now, it is this business of planting beans which I consider important. That is why I congratulate those who organised the Con- ference on the practical bias which has been shown in the programme. The matters to be discussed are, for the most part, essentially immediate and practical, upon which those who are trained in the sciences concerned may cast some light, but in the working out of which, all of us are involved. First in the series of topics which you will consider is the question of rehabilitation. Certainly, as one of the psychologists has put it, ““how we may avoid disaster and how we may regain the right track,” is of the first impor- tance. Some twenty years ago, when I was a student, I had to study a book which no doubt is regarded nowadays as 6 -
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3