Anton T. Boisen’s “Psychiatric Examination: Content of Thought” (c. 1925-31): An Attempt to Grasp the Meaning of Mental Disorder

Abstract

DURING the early years of PSYCHIATRY, the Rev. Dr. Anton T. Boisen (1876-1965) was among the journal's most regular contributors. Within 14 years he wrote eight articles and four book reviews for PSYCHIATRY, with many of these touching upon the psychosocial aspects of religious experience, empirically considered. Behind Boisen's fondness for PSYCHIATRY was his sense of special relationship to the founding editor, Harry Stack Sullivan. In some ways, this affinity to Sullivan and his world-view can best be appreciated by examining the hypotheses and research questionnaire Boisen used to develop the data for his articles. Likewise, a look at Boisen's detailed questionnaire may help us to understand how humanistic social scientists of an earlier era, the 1920s, attempted to grasp the meaning of mental disorder.