Dementia Præcox and Paraphrenia

Since general paralysis of the insane, after a century of observation and research, has yielded up most of its secrets, the most important practical problem facing the psychiatrist and the community, in the domain of mental hygiene, is that of dementia praecox. The patients with this disease form the major part of the inmates of our mental hospitals. The heavy financial burden imposed upon the public for the treatment of the insane resolves itself therefore very largely into the outlays needed for the lifelong care of almost hopeless victims of this disorder. Moreover, since these patients lead protected lives and live long, they tend to accumulate. They thus become the chief reason for the periodic enlargement of our mental hospitals and for their erection in new localities.