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GOVERNOR OPENS MEDICAL COSTUM

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PSYCHONEUROTIC AND PSYCHOSOMATIC ILLNESSES APPEAR TO BE INCREASING IN HONG KONG, THE GOVERNOR, SIR MURRAY MACLEHOSE, SAID TODAY.

>WITH THE STRESSES OF MODERN SOCIETY, ITS PROBLEMS AND ITS ENVIRONMENT, WE HAVE BECOME INCREASINGLY FAMILIAR WITH PSYCHOSOMATIC DISORDERS, BUT HE NEED TO KNOW MUCH MORE,◊ HE SAID WHEN OPENING THE SYMPOSIUM ON PSYCHOSOMATIC MEDICINE IN THE CITY HALL THIS MORNING.

THE GOVERNMENT, HE ADDED, RECOGNISED THIS TREND AND ONE OF THE STATED ODJECTIVES IN THE MEDICAL WHITE PAPER WAS TO PROVIDE MORE SPECIALIST TREATMENT FOR PSYCHIATRIC CASES.

+THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THIS OBJECTIVE VILL DEPEND LARGELY ON A SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF TRAINED PERSONNEL BEING AVAILABLE TO US, SIR MURRAY SAID, AND HE HOPED THAT THE SYMPOSIUM WOULD ENCOURAGE MORE PSYCHIATRIC SPECIALISATION IN HONG KONG.

THE GOVERNOR NOTED THAT, DESPITE APPARENT DEFECTS IN OUR SOCIETY, A SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER STANDARD OF MATERIAL WELL-DEING HAD BEEN ATTAINED OVER THE LAST TWO AND A HALF DECADES. AT THE SAME TIME WE HAVE BECOME MORE AWARE OF THE PRESSURES ASSOCIATED SUCII AS STEM FROM WITH A MORE COMPLEX AND SOPHISTICATED LIFE HIGH DENSITY, AND HIGH-RISE EXISTENCE, A COMPETITIVE SOCIETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL, POLLUTION.>

AS ELSEWHERE, HONG KONG ALSO HAD ITS CONFLICTS OF VALUES BETWEEN YOUNG AND OLD AND CONFLICT FROM CHANGES IN CULTURAL AND MORAL VALUES, <FORTUNATELY, THE CHINESE FAMILY UNIT STILL REMAINS A GREATER SOURCE OF STRENGTH AND COHESION THAN IN COMMUNITIES IN EUROPE AND AMERICA AND ELSEWHERE, BUT IT TOO IS WEAKENING UNDER STRONG NEW PRESSURE.»

SIR MURRAY NOTED THAT, TRADITIONALLY, MEDICINE HAD TENDED TO BE CONCERNED MORE WITH THE CODY THAN WITH THE MIND, PRODADLY BECAUSE IN THE PAST PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS HAD BEEN MORE EASILY IDENTIFIED AND TREATED. BUT, TO THE PATIENT, AND THE GROUP AMONGST WHICH HE LIVED. PSYCHIATRIC SYMPTOMS WERE AS REAL AND AS DISTRESSING AND AS DISABLING AS PIVSICAL ONES, THE GOVERNOR SAID.

IT IS THEREFORE IMPORTANT THAT MORE ATTENTION SHOULD BE PAID TO PSYCHOSOMATIC MEDICINE AND TO THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF GENERAL MEDICAL PROBLEMS.+

NOTE TO EDITORS

COPIES OF THE FULL TEXT OF THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH ARE AVAILABLE FOR COLLECTION FROM THE G.1.S. NEWS ROOM, 6TH FLOOR, BEACONSFIELD HOUSE.

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