The Psychiatrist, the Treatment of Chronic Renal Failure, and the Prolongation of Life: I

The stress of chronic hemodialysis may arouse emotional conflicts in the patient that lead him into open rebellion against the medical regimen upon which his life depends. The author stresses the importance of psychiatric aspects of the selection process and the meaning of the prolongation of life to the patient, including resolution of the conflict between dependency upon the "machine" and the independence inherent in maintaining a "normal" life.