Psychiatry: The Mind-Body Problem Summary and Analysis

Konner's next rotation was psychiatry at Galen's affiliated Sullivan Psychiatric Institute. He was interested in psychiatry because his training in anthropology led him naturally to further study and understanding human behavior and how it breaks down. The field was divided between psychoanalysis promoted by Freud and others and recent developments in psychopharmacology where drug treatment for mental disorders like schizophrenia, mania and others was popular. Konner was conflicted between effective drug therapy and Freudian's ritualized "talking cure." His rotation group of six medical students met psychoanalyst Katherine Ballard in her office. She was particularly interested in the "borderline" syndrome and described a patient just beyond neurosis but not yet psychotic who can benefit from the psychoanalytic talking cure. Borderline patients were stable and open to therapy so psychoanalysts maintained their interest.

The group was sent...