First Published in 1978. One of the questions constantly being asked of a psychiatrist is, ‘Are mental illnesses on the increase?’ A second is, ‘Do you think the stress of modern living is responsible for the increase in mental illness?’ This book, which is one of a series on psychiatric illness, takes a cool but compassionate look at the whole field of psychiatric disorder and, in the process, rips away some of the veils of obscurity surrounding it. The series is not primarily designed for medical men, rather, it is designed for the concerned layman—a very wide term. It has been authoritatively calculated that one person in ten in the United Kingdom will enter hospital at some time in life with a predominantly psychological problem, and one in four will consult a doctor at some stage with such a condition.