[Harald Frøshaug and social psychiatry in Norway].

Harald Frøshaug received training in scientific research by Rolv Gjessing (1887-1959), who was well known for his research on schizophrenic periodic catatonia. The Second World War brought new challenges for psychiatrists, and there was a pressing need for new treatment procedures and theories. Harald Frøshaug was inspired by English and American psychiatry, especially the psychoanalytic traditions. When he became head of the ward for women at Dikemark hospital in Asker in 1949, time was ripe to put new theories and methods into practice.