Psychological adjustment to physical disability: trends in theories

Explanations of psychological reactions to physical disability have recently tended to ascribe maladjustment to environmental rather than to personal causes. Historically, common-sense theories were first replaced by metalistic doctrines. These, in turn, were later supplemented by theories that integrated mentalism with environmentalism and by approaches that recognized only environmental causes of behavior. Each theory makes a unique contribution to rehabilitation. Consequently, unification rather than elimination should be the goal of future theoretical development.