Dr. Braceland discusses his 13-year tenure (1965-1978) as Editor of the American Journal of Psychiatry, noting that he took office during a period of social turmoil that in many ways resembled the decade of the Journal's founding 134 years ago. He describes the advantages and disadvantages of the peer review system he introduced to the Journal and states that this approach is essential in a time of ultraspecialization. He reviews the crafts of editing and writing for medical journals, both of which are brightened by clarity and brevity. As to the future of medical journals, he considers reports of their demise premature, while acknowledging the problems they face. Dr. Braceland briefly considered a "rocking chair" approach to his retirement from the Editorship, but the Editor Emeritus will instead continue to provide whatever assistance he can to his colleagues.

History, 19th Century↗

PubMed1978

Overview of psychiatry: an editor's viewpoint.

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Community Mental Health Centers↗

PubMed1976

A Bicentennial address: Benjamin Rush and those who came after him.

In this Bicentennial year, the author takes a look at the early days of Amercan psychiatry, focusing on some of the great men who helped to form the discipline. These men have much to teach us in a time when the field is divided within and faces a crisis of public confidence without. We can learn much from men like Benjamin Rush, who although they were actively involved in the social movements of their day, remained always the physician. Dr. Braceland suggests that it is time for psychiatry to move back into the mainstream of medicine, retaining, of course, mastery of psychotherpeutic techniques and knowledge of psychodynamics. This move can best be accomplished by employing the principle of complementarity, the art of encompassing different approaches to problems and utilizing the essentials of each to arrive at workable solutions.

Community Mental Health Services↗

PubMed1975