[Contemporary aspects of psychiatry in Communist China]

Psychiatry in Communist China is at a delicate phase where it is drawn both to modern Western medicine and to the wealth of traditional medicine. This is conveyed through accounts of some present-day situations as seen by the author during stays in Peking and Shanghai. After the treatment provided in various hospitals for acute-care and chronic-care patients is described, we are introduced to the organization of mental health at the various levels of hospital and external structures. A general survey of the research being done in epidemiology, neurology and traditional medicine at the Peking Research Centre is also presented. The novel nosography reveals one particular entity: phasophrenia, described as a stereotyped and recurring acute psychotic episode that responds poorly to neuroleptic chemotherapy. Finally, the medico-legal aspects of psychiatry and the effects of the new birth-rate policy are briefly discussed.