Alcoholism in France
SIR,—Among other things, ammunition for reformers is provided in Mr. Gillie's excellent article. To he effective, however, such ammuni- tion must be unquestionable. Alcoholism is not responsible for more than ten per cent. of mental illness, at the very most. Tempting, as it seems, it is therefore not possible to lay the increase of the French mental-hospital population from 65,000 in December, 1946, to 92,000 in December, 1951, at the door of alcoholism. In every country the size of the mental-hospital population is not a matter of demand, but of supply—namely of beds. During the war. some mental hospitals in France were diverted to other purposes by the occupation; the above figure of 65,000 reflects the consequent shortage of bees that still existed after the occupation. The number since made available has now risen to 92,000; still no very adequate figure (populations being almost equal) measured against the 124,000 mental-, hopital beds provided in• England and Wales. Even that number is not adequate; our present actual deficiency of accommodation amounts to some 16,000 beds.
Strange as it may sound, the size of a country's mental-hospital population is not an index of decadence, but of culture.—Yours
faithfully, H. PULLAR-STRECKER. (Hon. Secretary, Society for the Study of Addiction.) Wyke House, lsleworth, Middlesex.
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