The technique of J.Krishnamurti's communication marked by a dyadic style, 'pariprasna', a sense of togetherness, absence of persuasion and authoritativeness could be incorporated into psychotherapeutic sessions. Self-reliance and a genuine feeling of psychological oneness with others and to see things 'as they are' are discussed. The need for desirelessness to avoid conflicts and psychologically dying moment to moment to overcome fears e.g. of death and resolving chronic resentment is explained. A new way of ending sorrow has been pointed out. Krishnamurti's ideas on meditation have been dealt with briefly. Many of these concepts could be assimilated into psychiatric practice and towards promotion of mental health. Krishnamurti's call for a 'total transformation' of instant nature within the individual's psyche to effect a societal change is highlighted. Finally, a brief evaluation of Krishnamurti's contribution has been offered.

Several instruments measuring social functioning have been developed in the last four decades, as a result of the increasing interest in community care of the chronic mentally ill. SCARF Social Functioning Index (SSFI) was developed to meet the pressing need for an instrument which was easy to administer and which could be used by all mental health professionals. The SSFI comprises four main sections: self concern, occupational role, role in the family and other social roles. Each section has several subsections covering different areas of social functioning. Validity and reliability have been established for a group of normals, patients suffering from schizophrenia and from Hansen's disease. Internal consistencies of these factors were high Factor analysis derived four main factors, which included nearly all items of the SSFI. This paper reports on the development and standardization of the instrument.

A prospective study of fifty patients who underwent cataract surgery with intraocular lens (IOL) implantation was undertaken. Factors aggravating and allaying pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative anxiety were studied A good doctor-patient relations/lip, confidence in the ophthalmologist, and knowledge of successful surgery with IOL implantation in an acquaintance were the major anxiety relieving factors. The main anxiety provoking factors were concerns about the success of surgery and the requirement of laying immobile during surgery covered with surgical drapes. Detailed technical knowledge about the surgery was anxiety provoking and the majority of the patients did not desire it.

The motivation of one hundred cases of suicide attempters was assessed clinically depending purely on their subjective reports. They were grouped into two, viz., those who primarily wished for a change (here in after called WC) and those who unambiguously wished to die (hereinafter called WD). They were compared with regard to the details of the attempt, methods of attempt, psychiatric and sociodemographic profile. The WC group was observed to have taken less precaution against discovery of their attempt, had low lethality with regard to the method used and had more adjustment problems than psychiatric diseases. They clearly belonged to the low risk group. The WD group had all these findings in the contrary, which put them in the high risk category. This simple way of assessing suicide risk may be having a face validity in the sociocultural context of the present

The psychiatric patient care facilities and services of fifty seven general hospitals attached to medical colleges in India were studied based on data pertaining to 1988. The average bed strength was 25 beds while the average length of stay was 21 days. Functional psychotics formed 62% of the discharged patients. On the average, 2914 new psychiatric outpatients were registered per hospital and follow up attendance was 3.2 times more than the number of new cases. The implications of these findings and the method of obtaining average length of stay are discussed.

To what extent psychiatric morbidity and personality factors contribute to marital disharmony and decision to divorce is still an unanswered question in Indian setting. This study was undertaken with aims to find out (1) the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in persons seeking divorce; (2) the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in persons who had good marital adjustment; (3) the nature of psychiatric morbidity observed in these subjects, and (4) the personality profile of these subjects. Fifty randomly selected divorce seeking couples (n=100) from the matrimonial court of Jaipur City and thirty couples with good marital adjustment (n=60) selected from the community were studied. Probable psychiatric cases identified by administering GHQ (Hindi version) were diagnosed according to ICD-10 and personality profile of all cases was studied by using 16 PF. High psychiatric morbidity (50%) was found among divorce seeking couples in comparison to control group (13%). There was a high prevalence of neurone disorders (22%) and mood disorders (16%) in experimental group. Schizophrenia and related disorders (10%) and substance abuse disorder (2%) were seen only in the experimental group. Specific personality factors related to divorce seeking individuals and persons with stable marriage have been identified. The implications of this study are highlighted.

A fifty year old man presented to a psychiatric unit with catatonia. He was later found to have a brain abscess in the left frontal region. Brain abscess has not been previously reported to be associated with catatonia.