A Comparative Study of Psychiatric Symptoms

Mental crisis and disorders are steadily increasing together with the modernization of society. In barbaric tribes, neuroses and psychoses are thought to be relatively rare, for their societies are static and the people receive few stresses. In our modern societies with the complexity of its economic and social organization, increasing mechanization, standardization and secularization of life, many people find it difficult to make adjustment in it, thus creating conflict and causing mental breakdown(1) In the past the individual in China was protected by a large family. The family provides economic, psychological and social securities and protects its members against Crisis. Mental conflicts and problems are less frequent under such a condition. Recently people suffering from mental disorders have greatly increased in number in Taiwan. As a result of the rapid westernization, urbanization and disorganization of family due to war havoc and migration, the typical extended family system and its function exist no longer today.