Patterns of neurotic illness in the community.

THE past 40 years have seen the growth of an extensive literature on the course and outcome of the neuroses. A comprehensive review of the subject by Ernst, Kind and Rotach-Fuchs (1968) provides over 1,000 references. While many of these investigations were concerned with the evaluation of treatment methods, others focused on what has been called the natural history of neurotic illness (Greer and Cawley 1966). The extent to which problems of definition and method have been solved varies enormously, but most of the published studies share in common the disadvantage of being based exclusively on hospital case-material.