Psychiatric Ruminations

Extract

By time-honoured tradition one of the first duties of your newly-elected President is to inflict upon you a Presidential address. This is at once a very considerable responsibility and a privileged opportunity, but the feelings of awe and apprehension with which I face such a distinguished and erudite audience are mercifully lessened by the knowledge of the unwritten rule of our Association that no outspoken criticism of the subject matter of the address is permitted. I wish to ask you to bear with me, for a few minutes, whilst I put before you what I think may best be termed psychiatric reflections or ruminations, based on a certain amount of experience and, I can say quite sincerely, a true interest in the matters touched upon. I fear, however, that I have little or nothing original to offer you.