Dr. Francis Reitmann (1905–1955) was a British

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

. In the 1930s, after studying with

Ladislas J. Meduna Ladislas Joseph Meduna (27 March 1896 – 31 October 1964), a Hungarian neuropathologist and neuropsychiatrist, initiated convulsive treatment, the repeated induction of grand mal seizures in the treatment for psychosis. Observing the high concentr ...

, he worked at

Maudsley Hospital The Maudsley Hospital is a British psychiatric hospital in south London. The Maudsley is the largest mental health training institution in the UK. It is part of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and works in partnership with the In ...

. In 1945 he was appointed as Director of Clinical Research at

Netherne Hospital Netherne Hospital, formerly The Surrey County Asylum at Netherne or Netherne Asylum was a psychiatric hospital in Hooley, Surrey in the United Kingdom. History Design and Construction Netherne Asylum was founded on 18 October 1905 to alleviate ...

Coulsdon Coulsdon (, traditionally pronounced ) is a town in south London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon, in the ceremonial county of Greater London since 1965. Prior to this it was part of the historic county of Surrey. History The l ...

, and worked with

Eric Cunningham Dax Eric Cunningham Dax, AO, FRACP, FRANZCP, HonFRCPsych (18 May 1908 – 29 January 2008) was a British-born Australian psychiatrist. Career In England during the 1930s and 1940s, Dax worked with John Rawlings Rees, Francis Reitmann and other b ...

. He was involved in the research sessions into art and mental health run by

Edward Adamson Edward Adamson (31 May 1911 – 3 February 1996) was a British artist, "the father of Art Therapy in Britain", and the creator of the Adamson Collection. Early years: Sale, Tunbridge Wells, Fleet Street, WW2 (1911–1945) Edward Adamson was b ...

, the pioneer of

Art Therapy Art therapy (not to be confused with ''arts therapy'', which includes other creative therapies such as drama therapy and music therapy) is a distinct discipline that incorporates creative methods of expression through visual art media. Art thera ...

, between 1946 and 1950. In 1950 he published his influential book, "Psychotic Art". Reitmann followed the theory of

biological psychiatry Biological psychiatry or biopsychiatry is an approach to psychiatry that aims to understand mental disorder in terms of the biological Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several uni ...

that organic defects were the sole source of mental illness, and therefore mental problems could be treated by physical means; he carried out experiments in the fields of

shock therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroconvulsive the ...

and

leucotomy A lobotomy, or leucotomy, is a form of neurosurgical treatment for psychiatric disorder or neurological disorder (e.g. epilepsy) that involves severing connections in the brain's prefrontal cortex. The surgery causes most of the connections to ...

Dax, E. C., Reitmann, F. & Radley-Smith, E. J. (1949) Investigations into Clinical Problems of Prefrontal Leucotomy. ''Proceedings 1st International Conference on Psychosurgery, Lisboa'' 167-170. His surname is sometimes spelled Reitman.

Notes

British psychiatrists 1905 births 1954 deaths 20th-century British medical doctors {{UK-psychiatrist-stub