bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Self-Governed Patients' Social Club in a Public Mental Hospital
Authors: Bierer J. , Haldane F. P.
Published: August 2008

On December 8, 1939, 35 patients, neurotics and psychotics, met in “Sunnyside House” and formed a social club. The chair at the meeting was taken by a patient. We had previously met this patient with a few others, and explained to them the aim we had in view in proposing that they formed a club. Later this aim was expressed in the following paragraph which is taken from an article written for the first magazine of the Club :

“We find there are two main problems common to many who come to a modern mental hospital—the problem of ‘occupation’ and the problem of 'social relationship,’ that is, the relationship between the ‘I’ and the ‘ you.’ It was with the importance of the latter problem in mind that we suggested the establishment of a social club… . The satisfaction of successful co-operation is one of the surest foundations for happiness and inner security. Many of us here are lonely souls who have walled ourselves off to some extent from the society of our fellows. For one reason or another we have avoided the social impact and retreated into solitude and isolation. We have thus deprived ourselves of the possibility of co-operative activity and of the sense of security and fulfilment that this can bring. The Sunny Side Club will enable us to take the first few steps in the direction of fuller social co-operation by giving us the opportunity of working together on its various committees or of joining in its activities.”
On the Aetiology of the Fugue States
Authors: Stengel E.
Published: August 2008

The peculiar condition designated “fugue state,” of which the main symptom is compulsive wandering, has puzzled psychiatrists since it was first described. Nothing is known of the aetiology of this well-defined condition. Fugue states occur in epileptics, hysterics, and certain psychopaths. Bleuler has described their occurrence in schizophrenia, and they have been recorded in cases of general paralysis and of altered personality due to brain tumour. There are gradations between the typical fugue states and certain fugue-statelike conditions in psychopaths. Kraepelin recognized that it was impossible to distinguish between the states of compulsive wandering associated with various mental disorders. Janet tried to distinguish between hysterical and epileptic fugues by pointing out that short fugues are more likely to be epileptic than hysterical. Although to-day Kraepelin's view is generally accepted, the opinion is held that as a matter of course the mechanisms underlying an epileptic and a hysterical fugue are fundamentally different. Henderson and Gillespie, for instance, arguing against Kinnier Wilson, point out that in a hysterical fugue a search for personal emotional factors will reveal fully the cause of the fugue, while such factors usually play no part in epilepsy.

The intimate similarity of fugue states associated with different mental disorders suggests that there must be aetiological factors common to all. However, no attempt has been made hitherto to ascertain such factors. I have been engaged in investigations concerning this problem for more than eight years, and have published a preliminary report (Stengel, 1939) on some of the results.

Before entering into discussion of the problems involved, it is proposed to present reports on the individual cases observed, the number of which (25), considering the rarity of the condition, provides a large case material. The cases will be reported as briefly as possible, and special attention will be given only to the features which are important for the subject of this paper.
The Allergic Factor in Idiopathic Epilepsy
Authors: Dewar D. C.
Published: August 2008

Spratling (1), writing in 1904, was the first to draw attention to the possible association of epilepsy with food sensitization. Previous to this observers had been impressed by the fall in fit incidence which occasionally accompanied intercurrent diseases, notably typhoid and tuberculosis. Hamilton (2), some years later, confirmed these observations in respect of intercurrent typhoid. It was not, however, till 1919 that Pagniez and Lieutaud (3) detailed the first authentic instances of epilepsy definitely ascribable to a specific food substance. These were two cases of sensitivity towards chocolate. The authors demonstrated that withdrawal of chocolate led to a cessation of seizures, and that these returned when it was re-introduced into the dietary.
Further Observations on Sodium Amytal Experiments
Authors: Reitmann F.
Published: August 2008

Derivatives of barbituric acid are in general sedatives, hypnotics and analgesics, but sodium amytal (S.A.) occupies a special position, because of its effect on certain mental and nervous conditions. It produces transient amelioration in catatonic schizophrenia and hypnosis-like conditions in neuroses. The latter is important through the fact that one is able to study hypnosis from a different pharmacological point of view.
Three Ganser States and Hamlet
Authors: Stern E. S. , Whiles W. H.
Published: August 2008

In 1897 Ganser (1) gave a lecture entitled “Ueber einen eigenartigen hysterischen Dämmerzustand.” This has been translated literally as on “A specific hysterical twilight state,” which we consider unfortunate, as in keeping the words it loses the sense of the original, for the notion of a twilight state remains foreign to us, and is better rendered as a “dimming of consciousness” or “clouding of consciousness.” Further, the concept of hysteria has changed considerably since then and his cases would now be regarded as psychotic.
Forms of Behaviour of the Electrical Resistance of the Skin Related to Certain Psychiatric and Endocrine Conditions
Authors: Hemphill R. E.
Published: August 2008

This paper is devoted to investigations into the resistance of the skin to a direct current, measured daily in normal and mental subjects. These investigations arose out of special studies in the endocrinology of mental disease, and revealed some correlation between the diurnal resistance and endocrine functioning.

The resistance of the body to the passage of a direct current is not a true resistance, being a complex phenomenon in which ohmic resistance and polarization are concerned. It has usually been referred to by other workers as the DC resistance of the skin, and has been expressed in ohms when measured with the type of apparatus used in this study. With apparatus of this sort, various workers have reported fluctuations. In this paper, although fluctuations are referred to as changes in diurnal resistance, they are in reality an effect, and not in the strict sense a resistance change. It is with the alterations in this effect in a variety of psychiatric and endocrine conditions that this paper is concerned.
The Measurement of Body Resistance by Bridge Methods
Authors: Walter W. Grey
Published: August 2008

The measurements described in Dr. Hemphill's paper are nominally of resistance to a direct current, but in view of the well-known variations in resistance according to the frequency used, it seems most probable that the actual phenomena reported are due not only to changes in resistance proper, but also to fluctuations in the E.M.F. generated by the superficial tissues, as a result of the small steady polarizing current used in the Wheatstone bridge circuit.
Arhinencephaly with Incomplete Separation of the Cerebral Hemispheres
Authors: Fleming G. W. T. H. , Norman R. M.
Published: August 2008

Partial agenesis of the olfactory apparatus or arhinencephaly is usually associated with other gross manifestations of cerebral malformation. The subject has recently been discussed by Stewart (1939), who described the rare variety in which absence of the olfactory bulbs and tracts constituted the main abnormality. Intermediate between this, the mildest form of arhinencephaly, and the cyclopian brain in which the endbrain fails to divide into hemispheres and cranial nerves other than the first are also affected, comes a transitional group in which a partial separation of the hemispheres has taken place and arhinencephaly is present in varying degree. The present case is an example of this intermediate variety, and owing to the rarity of the condition we have thought it worthy of record, though a lack of reliable clinical and post-mortem information somewhat reduces its value. The brain was found amongst a number at the Hereford County and City Mental Hospital.
The Sodium Chloride Crystallization Test and its Relation to the Blood-C.S.F. Barrier
Authors: Ström-Olsen R. , Kite E. de C.
Published: August 2008

In 1936 Tomesco (1) and his co-workers described changes in the crystallization of sodium chloride produced by the addition of small amounts of cerebrospinal fluid to 0.8 per cent. saline. A drop of *8 per cent. NaCl solution dried on a microscope slide at 75° C. produces a thin circumference of crystals surrounding an empty space. If normal C.S.F. is added in proportions of 1 C.S.F. to 20, 40 or 60 parts saline the central empty space is replaced by a thin translucent film of crystals, which in the higher dilutions begins to show lacunae. In a dilution of 1 in 120 this translucent film is reduced to a narrow strip along the inner margin of the circumference. Microscopically the translucent area is found to consist of concentric circles, feather- or spear-shaped crystals, parallel lines, needles, etc., well organized in the low dilutions, but not organized in a dilution of 1 in 120. This is regarded as the normal crystal picture.
Observations in Hypoglycæmia: IV. Body Temperature and Coma
Authors: Mayer-Gross W. , Berliner F.
Published: August 2008

Whereas fall of body temperature is always a danger signal in ordinary starvation and only occurs just before the end, in hypoglycaemia changes of temperature take place in an early stage parallel with the characteristic neuropsychiatric signs. Many workers (Sakel, Gellhorn, Fortuyn and others) have observed and commented on the drop of temperature in coma. The present paper is an attempt to describe the fluctuations of temperature during insulin treatment of psychoses and their correlation with the clinical signs of hypoglycaemia and to discuss their significance.
Serum Choline Esterase and Anxiety
Authors: Richter Derek , Lee Margaret
Published: August 2008

Following the work of Dale (1934) and Loewi (1935) on the relationship of choline esterase to the transmission of nervous impulses, a number of studies have been made of the choline esterase activity of the serum in different physiological and pathological conditions. The serum esterase activity varies considerably from one individual to another, but it generally remains very constant in any one individual even over long periods of time; it is believed to be unaffected by changes in diet, exercise, fatigue, or by menstruation. The earlier investigators were unable to correlate the esterase level with any such factor as age, sex, heart rate, blood pressure, weight, or with pathological conditions such as benign or malignant tumours, chronic infections, heart diseases or neurological conditions (v. Verebely, 1936; McGeorge, 1937); they found only a tendency to low esterase activities in acute infections (Hall and Lucas, 1937) and in advanced tuberculosi (Vahlquist, 1935).

In an investigation in which psychopathic patients were included Tod and Jones (1937) and Jones and Stadie (1939) described a number of positive correlations between the serum choline esterase and various clinical conditions. They found a high esterase activity in anxiety states and lowered activity in catatonic stupor, epilepsy, schizophrenia and also in advanced tuberculosis and carcinoma. Antopol et al. (1937, 1938) associated high serum esterase activity with thyrotoxicosis and low activities with liver disease, anaemia and hyperpyrexia. Milhorat (1938), in agreement with Jones and Stadie, attributes the low esterase activities in these conditions to the general debility, but McArdle (1940) concludes that impairment of liver function is the primary cause.

The present work was carried out with the object of obtaining further information as to the relationship between the serum choline esterase activity and anxiety.
Pentothal Sodium Narcoanalysis
Authors: Blyth William
Published: August 2008

The term narcoanalysis may be applied to a technique whereby psychotherapeutic principles are applied and analytical investigations are conducted with the patient under treatment in a mild narcotic state.
A Psychometric Study of Dementia
Authors: Brody M. B.
Published: August 2008

This paper reports an attempt to determine the nature of dementia by analysing the results of mental tests applied to groups of patients clinically estimated to be demented in varying degree.

Previous investigations.—The relevant literature concerns the results of mental tests in psychosis and in normal senility. These topics having been recently fully surveyed elsewhere (Brody, 1942a), they need occupy no space here.
The Psychosis of Association
Authors: Page L. G. M.
Published: August 2008

That three brothers and their mother should be admitted to a mental hospital on the same day is sufficient cause to be put on record.
A Study on the Symptomatology and Differential Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease and Pick's Disease
Authors: Stengel E.
Published: August 2008

Many problems concerning Alzheimer's disease and Pick's disease are still awaiting clarification. In this country Henderson was the first to draw attention to the considerable importance of Alzheimer's disease in clinical psychiatry. Valuable work has been contributed by various writers in recent years (Grunthal, 1936; Critchley, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1938; Schottky, 1932; Thorpe, 1932; Rothschild, 1934; Malamud, Lowenberg and co-workers, 1929; Mayer-Gross, 1938; Kasanin and Crank, 1933; Jervis and Soltz, 1936; McMenemy, a.o., 1939). While Pick's disease has retained its position as a clinical entity based mainly on the characteristic anatomical picture, the position of Alzheimer's disease in the system of psychiatry has become more complicated; for instance atypical cases have been described presenting the anatomical characters of Alzheimer's disease, though not fitting into the original clinical conception of that disease. Lowenberg and his co-workers (1929) are inclined to regard Alzheimer's disease as a syndrome rather than a clinical entity. Many contributors have directed their main interest to the pathological changes. The knowledge of the symptomatology of those conditions is still incomplete. Further intensive study may enable us not only to base the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and Pick's disease on more solid clinical knowledge than hitherto, but also to recognize the early stages of those diseases before advancing cerebral degeneration effaces their characteristic clinical features. Unfortunately, most of the cases come under the observation of the psychiatrist only in the later stages of their illness, and it seems that the comparatively small proportion of the mental hospital population they represent does not reflect the incidence of those diseases. It is very likely that many patients die from intercurrent illnesses before their mental condition is recognized or sufficiently advanced to make admission to a mental hospital necessary. The differential diagnosis of those conditions offers considerable difficulties which often may prove insuperable. Alzheimer's disease and Pick's disease have to be distinguished not only from each other but from conditions of vascular origin, from senile dementia and various atypical conditions which occur at the same age period during which Alzheimer's disease and Pick's disease usually develop. Only careful collection and analysis of clinical observations and their scrutiny by pathological investigations can increase our still limited knowledge in this important field of psychiatry.
The Subconscious in Story Writing
Authors: McCowan P. K.
Published: August 2008

The following story was written by a woman writer while convalescing from an attack of melancholia. She had written it for publication as a short story for children.

When I read it, I was certain that it was a deliberate piece of autobiography, written in the form of a fantasy. I was therefore much surprised on putting this to the1 author to be told that it was not supposed to have any reference to herself whatever. Without any attempt at serious analysis it was not difficult to convince her of the real significance of her story, and it is such a good example of the part the subconscious plays in the writing of such stories that it seems worth recording.
Suicidal Head Injuries
Authors: Guttmann Eric
Published: August 2008

Damage to the frontal lobe is liable to produce personality changes; it is highly probable that lesions have to be bilateral to have this effect. But beyond that, there is little agreement about type, extent and localization within the frontal lobe of the lesions which are followed by personality change. Little is known about the different types of clinical picture caused by bilateral frontal lesions. In a certain proportion of the cases euphoria is the most impressive symptom, and it is for this reason that operations on the frontal lobes have been proposed in the treatment of depressions. (Lit., see Hutton.) The value of the procedure is still under discussion, and its theoretical foundation is far from being understood. This is not surprising, for if one tries to analyse such an operation, one has to take into account at least four variables: the patient's previous personality, his mental illness, the psycho-physiological effect of the lesion, and the psychological effect of operation, nursing care and environmental changes. The cerebral factor is obviously the most interesting one; to judge its importance one tends to interpret the operative results in the light of experience after other frontal operations or injuries.
Symposium on Pre-Frontal Leucotomy
Authors: Rees T. Percy
Published: August 2008

The frontal lobes form the latest stage in the evolution of the brain. There has been much speculation as to their functions, and they have been described by some as biological luxuries and parasitic growths. It is, however, inconceivable that an organ appearing so late in the scheme of evolution should be completely devoid of function. Since the introduction of pre-frontal leucotomy evidence as to their function has been growing, and it may be said that the consensus of opinion now is that the frontal lobes are concerned with imagination, the social sense, self-consciousness, and the projection of the self into the future; these functions are synonymous with Freud's super-ego, so that, in fact, we may regard the frontal lobes as the seat of the super-ego.
The Early Effects of Prefrontal Leucotomy on Disturbed Patients with Mental Illness of Long Duration
Authors: Dax E. Cunningham , Smith E. J. Radley
Published: August 2008

The following findings apply to 50 cases who were operated upon in the last six months of 1942. The very short time which has elapsed since the operations were performed makes it necessary to treat the results with the greatest reserve. It is therefore hoped that this account will be regarded as a progress report.
The Range and Technique of Prefrontal Leucotomy
Authors: Golla F. L.
Published: August 2008

When Dr. Cook, who has the thankless task of organizing the papers and discussion of this meeting, told me I had let him down because I had not secured one of the most distinguished surgeons in the country, Mr. Jefferson, he put it to me that the least I could do was to fill in the gap. I was puzzled as to what to say until Prof. MacDonald gave me a clue, and instead of talking on physiology and anatomy, which, after all, you probably know better than I do, I propose to give you a few general considerations which seem to make for the defence of an operation such as this against Prof. MacDonald's criticism.
Unusual Pituitary Activity in a Case of Anorexia Nervosa
Authors: Reiss M.
Published: August 2008

The case about to be described showed during the 18 months when she was under close observation certain remarkable pathological endocrine features. These, viewed together and in retrospect, throw considerable light on the relationship between pituitary function and so-called anorexia nervosa, and introduce a broader conception of the latter somewhat misleading designation.
Observations on the Occurrence of an Ethnic Element in Involutional Melancholia
Authors: Gibson R.
Published: August 2008

In the development of involutional melancholia a variety of causes have from time to time been implicated, ranging from glandular upset of ovarian or pituitary origin to the stress of air-raids. In the bulk of cases the pathogenesis would appear to depend on the interaction of a constellation of predisposing and precipitating factors. In the present study a tentative attempt has been made to indicate a possible ethnic element in the aetiology of this psychosis.
The Pitressin Diagnosis of Idiopathic Epilepsy
Authors: Blyth William
Published: August 2008

As a rule, in hospital practice there’ is little urgency for a rapid diagnosis in idiopathic epilepsy to be effected, and doubtful cases can be submitted to prolonged observation until an actual seizure has resulted. There are, however, certain occasions when the necessity arises for the establishment of a definite diagnosis as early as possible. In the average hospital case, the period of observation necessary will be a matter of days or, at the most, a week or so, but in cases of irregular seizures at infrequent intervals, this period may have to be extended into months before any opinion can be offered. It is with a view to curtailing this period of observation that an attempt has been made in this investigation to determine a method whereby the condition can be diagnosed with a degree of certainty in the absence of seizures.
One Hundred Depressive Psychoses Treated with Electrically Induced Convulsions
Authors: Batt J. C.
Published: August 2008

Since the introduction of the electrically induced convulsion by Cerletti and Bini the history of this procedure has become too well known to record again; but certain clinical data have come to light that are worth noting, of which the most important is the now recognized fact that this treatment is of more value in the affective psychoses than in schizophrenia, for which it was early introduced. Most writers, e.g., Elfield, Metcalfe and Paul, are agreed upon this, and it would therefore seem worth while to examine the results of this therapy in one hundred such cases. Depressions are so much commoner than manias that it would take a long time to collect a sufficient number of the latter for reliable conclusions to be drawn. These remarks are thus confined to the depressive states.
A Psychometric Study of Senility
Authors: Halstead H.
Published: August 2008

Problem.

The writer undertook to try out a number of mental tests on a group of senile patients and to submit a tentative battery for a further investigation of senescence.
Results of Shock Therapy Evaluated by Estimating Chances of Patients Remaining in Hospital Without Such Treatment
Authors: Penrose L. S. , Marr W. B.
Published: August 2008

The problem of estimating objectively the value of any new form of treatment is constantly presenting itself in all branches of medical work. In the case of shock therapy applied in the treatment of mental disease, the task is especially difficult. Standards of initial severity and degrees of improvement in mental diseases are subject to very wide interpretations. Disagreement on questions of diagnosis is common even among psychiatrists who employ the same terminologies. Thus, it is not surprising to find that widely divergent claims have been made about the value of shock treatment in mental diseases. In most of the large surveys, patients have been classified as (i) Recovered, (ii) Much improved, (iii) Improved, or (iv) Unimproved after shock treatment, but little unanimity about the results has emerged. In Table I, the figures given by Malzberg (1938) and Pollock (1939) for New York State and those for Ohio, given by Bateman and Michael (1940), are compared with figures obtained in a survey of the Ontario Mental Hospitals in 1941.
Malaria in Neurosyphilis 1923-43
Authors: Nicole J. Ernest
Published: August 2008

Malarial therapy as a subject for a paper may well have lost the sparkle that it once owed to novelty, but it should still be acceptable if only because the passing of time and the accumulation of experience provide an opportunity of confirming some of the tentative conclusions originally advanced, of emphasizing what has often passed almost unnoticed, even of disproving opinions hastily formed on insufficient data.
Rehabilitation of the Neurotic
Authors: Minski Louis
Published: August 2008

In the Tomlinson report on rehabilitation the definition of this form of treatment is given in its strictly medical sense as the process of preventing or restoring the loss of muscle tone, restoring the full function of the limbs, and maintaining the patient's general health, strength, etc. This is apart from such rehabilitation treatment as is required for particular diseases such as tuberculosis. The process should begin as soon as possible after injury or operation or, in the case of acute prolonged illness, as soon as the patient's condition permits, and should continue not only throughout the period of hospital treatment, but also during the subsequent stages of convalescence, whether that takes place in hospital or is provided in a separate centre. Continuity of treatment is essential to achieve the aim of restoring the patient's mental and physical capacity at the earliest possible date, and to the fullest extent possible.
Mental Testing
Authors: Brody M. B.
Published: August 2008

Increased use of mental tests for the study of psychoses and allied disorders is conspicuous in recent psychiatric practice. This increase is most prominent first in the use of Rorschach's ink-blots; second, in the investigation of conceptual thinking with methods originated by Goldstein; third, in the study of psychometric pattern; fourth, in the diagnosis and measurement of intellectual deterioration; fifth, in assessing prognosis and the effects of treatment. It is partially attributable to sharpening of interest, due to the war, in the prediction of break-down under stress, in the stability and social potentialities of border-line groups, and in estimating the effects of head injury. Another factor is that popular modern treatments such as shock therapy and prefrontal leucotomy appear to involve cerebral areas intimately associated with intelligence. The greatest advances, however, have been made by the followers of Rorschach and of Goldstein and their contributions began before these factors arose. Their methods are also much applied in investigations under the fourth and fifth headings. Their influence, too, is discernible in a change now developing in the way of using mental tests. Whereas in most early investigations tests were used quantitatively as instruments for studying how intelligence level affects and is affected by psychosis, the modern tendency is to use tests not as measuring instruments, but as standard interviews or situations in which the quality rather than the level of the subject's behaviour is studied. On the other hand, perhaps it was growing recognition of the unsuitability of most quantitative tests for application to adults, and of the additional difficulties of interpreting results in psychoses, that first induced search for other techniques.
Genetics in Psychiatry
Authors: Slater Eliot T. O.
Published: August 2008

Workers in psychiatric genetics are, with some notable exceptions, psychiatrists first and geneticists second. Neither their medical nor their psychiatric training equips them with an appreciation of scientific method, and their narrow specialization prevents them from keeping abreast of advances in the general field of animal genetics. As things are, this is an important source of weakness; for the general geneticist, whose science is in a much more advanced state, has accumulated facts and theories that have an immediate application in our special field. One has therefore to notice comprehensive reviews of the present position in genetics in relation to the theory of evolution which have recently been provided by Dobzhansky (1941) and Huxley (1942). In what follows the work of Huxley has chiefly been drawn upon, and it is intended to provide a brief summary of the most important of these ideas.
The Psychoneuroses
Authors: Gillespie W. H.
Published: August 2008

To discuss progress in the psychoneuroses without encroaching on the subjects of psychopathology and psychotherapy may appear like an attempt to play Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark. However, there remain certain aspects of aetiology, nosology, differential diagnosis and treatment which are not included in those subjects. It must clearly be understood that the ground covered by the following discussion is strictly limited owing to the above considerations. Thus, psycho-analytic work on the neuroses is to a great extent a matter of psychopathology and psychotherapy, and can therefore find little place in this chapter.
Mental Health Services—Present and Future
Authors: Petrie A. A. W.
Published: August 2008

This most important subject, which is likely to affect the whole future of psychiatry, has so far made little progress. Enlightened individuals are beginning to show a way, handicapped by existing law and practice. Some of the most important possible developments are not under the control of those with mental hospital experience, and the diversity of approach and training of those who deal with the different aspects of the subject renders co-ordination still more difficult.
Neurosyphilis and its Treatment
Authors: Nicol W. D. , Hutton E. L.
Published: August 2008

An extensive review of recent advances in the aetiology and treatment of neurosyphilis was published in this journal by one of us, E. L. Hutton (1941). While it is mainly the later manifestations with their crippling disabilities that present themselves to the psychiatrist in the mental hospital, it is becoming increasingly obvious that early treatment is imperative to obtain good results, and that neurosyphilis itself must be regarded as a preventable disease.
Child Psychiatry
Authors: Creak E. M. , Shorting B. J.
Published: August 2008

A critical review of work covering a period of years, in three of which war has reduced papers from the Continent almost tonil, must necessarily be incomplete. Lines of investigation, however, follow a pattern which has suggested the following arrangement for this review: (1) Normal development of the child, including the important studies of Gesell (1940, 1942) and Valentine (1942).
Physiological Psychology
Authors: Golla F. L.
Published: August 2008

It is proposed in this review to deal only with those aspects of physiological psychology that have an immediate bearing on the problems of human behaviour. Here again two limitations must preclude consideration of much important work in this field, in that endocrinology and the study of cortical potentials have been relegated to the special articles dealing with this subject.
Mental Defect
Authors: Penrose L. S.
Published: August 2008

A scrutiny of the papers published during the years 1940-42 and, indeed those published in 1939 and 1943, reveals an increasing trend towards clinical inquiry. Few articles are to be found in which it is assumed that mental deficiency is itself a simple concept, about which little remains to be discovered, and writers are now more cautious in suggesting the best methods of control and treatment than they were wont to be ten or twenty years ago. It is even realized that there are no fully satisfactory methods of describing what is meant by mental defect. Kuhlmann (1941) gives this definition: “Mental deficiency is a mental condition resulting from a subnormal rate of development of some or all mental functions.” The specific functions which are weak or strong in a given case are determined by tests and other observations. As Doll (1941) points out, there seems to be no escape from basing the diagnosis of mental deficiency upon a variety of different criteria, the main symptom still being social incompetence. Standards of social behaviour at different ages have been incorporated by Doll (1942) in the Vineland Social Maturity Scale; he recommends its use in classifying cases for training. The problem of deciding what constitutes mental defect is acutely brought out when differences in education or culture have to be considered. Sparling (1941), for example, showed that American Indian children, whose mean Binet I.Q. was on the borderline between normality and defect, had a mean I.Q. of 108 on the Porteous Maze test. In New York State, Malzberg (1943) found that even allowing for educational differences, mental defect was commoner among negroes than among whites. Nevertheless, as shown by Zubin and Scholz (1941), recognized mental defect (judged by the number of admissions to institutions) is commoner among whites than among negroes in the Southern States. This effect is partly due to the fact that more attention is paid to problems of mental defect in predominantly white than in predominantly coloured populations. Conversely, prisons contain unduly high proportions of coloured inmates according to both North American and South African statistics (Penrose, 1943). The question as to how far mental defect is a contributory factor in cases of crime has received attention from Frankel (1939), who reported that 15 per cent. of 1,000 murderers came into this category, and that the mean mental age for 722 of such criminals was 11 years. Among 309 adolescent delinquents, Stefanescu-Goanga (1939) found 99, of 32 per cent., mentally defective; 47 per cent. of the children committed for homicide were in this category, and 34 per cent. of those committed for theft. Selling (1942) has investigated the degrees of intelligence in offenders under Road Traffic Acts, and finds that although uncomplicated defect is compatible with safe driving, many accidents are caused by emotionally unstable cases with subnormal intellectual capacity, and that such people should not be allowed to drive motor vehicles.
Endocrinology in Clinical Psychiatry
Authors: Hemphill R. E.
Published: August 2008

The range and precision of clinical endocrinology in recent years have been increased by the introduction of more and better purified hormones, and by the use of hormone analysis and physiological tests for endocrine function.
Convulsion Therapy
Authors: Cook L. C.
Published: August 2008

Therapeutic convulsions were introduced by Meduna (1937) in 1934. After preliminary trial with intramuscular camphorated oil, Meduna soon discovered the great advantages of intravenous cardiazol (leptazol, metrazol), which remains the best of the chemical methods of fit production. Many descriptions of the various aspects of the cardiazol fit are available (Cook, 1938a; Ebaugh and Shanahan, 1939; Katzenelbogenet al., 1939; Strauss, Landis and Hunt, 1939; Dean, 1940; Hemphill, 1940).
Insulin Therapy
Authors: Tennent Thos.
Published: August 2008

SINCE Sakel (I) introduced treatment by insulin a vast literature has emerged from all countries. This was admirably reviewed by Wilson and Rees-Thomas (2) in 1938, so that consideration is given here to publicalions since that date. Even so, it has not been possible to incorporate all the publications, but a sufficient number has been drawn upon to present the essential position as it is to-day. Whatever may be the final judgment on the efficacy of insulin therapy, there is no doubt that its introduction has been an enormous stimulus to therapeutic endeavours. Its main interest has been to the psychiatrist, but the problems presented have attracted the atten tion and interest of workers in other branches of medicine. Ebaugh (3) has summarized this interest thus : “The physiologist has become interested in the mechanism which produces the coma; the biochemist is interested in studying the various chemical changes which take place during therapy; the neuro pathologist is concerned with the pathologic changes that occur during and after the therapy; the internist is concerned with the problem of ‘punishment’ that the body is furced to absorb during the actual treatment; the psychologist is absorbed in following the psychological changes which take place under the influence of the treatment; the orthopaedist desires to know the type of fractures occurring during insulin, electrical and metrazol therapy; the neurologist studies the influence of these therapies upon the organic nervous system; and the psychiatrist attempts to explain the manner in which the psychosis is altered.”
Vitamin Deficiency and the Psychoses
Authors: Caldwell W. Alex , Hardwick S. W.
Published: August 2008

A state of vitamin deficiency arises (i) when inadequate amounts of a vitamin (or vitamins) are ingested, (ii) when absorption from the alimentary canal is defective or interfered with, (iii) when storage mechanisms are at fault, e.g. liver disease, and (iv) when the tissue cells themselves are unable to utilize the vitamin (i, 2). With war rationing the first factor is likely to be commoner than heretofore, especially in alcoholics (3), patients maintaining a strict “peptic ulcer diet” over long periods (4), diabetics (2), mothers sacrificing their rations for the family, food faddists, and in people living alone and doing their own cooking (5). Nowadays many exist on a “borderline” diet, in whom any stress such as pregnancy, infection, surgical procedure, fracture, hyperthyroidism, etc., will precipitate a deficiency state; moreover, in chronic gastro-intestinal disorders the available vitamins may be lost or destroyed (6-14).
A Case of Narcolepsy with Oneiric Manifestations
Authors: Furtado Diogo , Valente F. E. Pulido
Published: August 2008

The observation of cases of narcolepsy does not to-day constitute a rarity worthy of notice. There are references in the literature to some hundreds of these cases, and we ourselves possess several observations which do not differ from the type described in monographs and text-books. However, in recent months there has come to our notice a case which presents rather peculiar characteristics. The truly remarkable amount of detail in the clinical picture, the rapid evolution of the disease, its combination with a syndrome of very marked oneiric manifestations at night, make the case in question worthy of note.
A Paranoid Reaction Associated with Oculogyric Crises and Parkinsonism
Authors: Gillespie William H.
Published: August 2008

Paranoid delusional reactions have seldom been reported in chronic encephalitics, in contrast to the commonly occurring schizophrenia-like reactions. Apart from the cases described by Kwint (1), Ostmann (2), McCowan (3, 4), and a reference by Neustadt (5) to an undescribed case, there seem to be few, if any, references in the literature until a recent paper by Brody and Freed (6) describing a case where obsessive ideas became temporarily converted during oculogyric crises into a paranoid condition. The present case therefore seems worth putting on record, the more so in that the patient's unusual intelligence helped to throw some light on the relationship between oculogyric crises and post-encephalitic mental disorder, a subject which has been discussed by Stern (7), Jelliffe (8), and more recently by Wexberg (9) and by Brody and Freed (6).
Parotid Gland Secretion in Affective Mental Disorders
Authors: Eysenck H. J. , Yap P.-M.
Published: August 2008

Parotid gland secretion is one of the most easily observable manifestations of autonomic activity, and a study of the secretion of this gland should be helpful both in the elaboration of the theory of autonomic activities and perhaps also in practical diagnosis (1, 2, 3). Strongin and Hinsie have shown that whereas normal subjects secrete on the average.07 c.c. per 5-minute period, varying from 02 c.c. to .15 c.c., none of a number of manic-depressive patients studied by them secreted more than .01 c.c. per 5-minute period (4, 5).
A Study of the Histology of the Testis in Schizophrenia and other Mental Disorders
Authors: Hemphill R. E. , Reiss M. , Taylor A. L.
Published: August 2008

Symptoms attributed to dysfunction of the ductless glands have long been noticed in the group of mental disorders formerly known as dementia praecox, now included in the wider designation schizophrenia. A variety of such abnormalities has been described, but without sufficient consistency or clarity to help in formulating a pathology of the disorder. From the first, the usual onset in adolescence or early adulthood, and the symptomatology, prompted investigation of the gonads. Papers have been published by Fränkel (1919), Mott (1919), Pézard (1920), Tiffany (1921), Lewis (1923), Morse (1923), Geller (1923), Münzer (1926), McCartney (1929), in which histological changes in the testis in schizophrenia are cited and discussed. The contributions of Mott, Lewis and Morse are the most important, for their material and histology are more accurately controlled and described. It appeared as if the very extensive work done by Mott had succeeded in establishing a direct relationship between gonadal failure and dementia praecox. Subsequently his findings were heavily criticised and the conclusions to a great extent rejected, for, like others, he had obtained material at post mortem, mostly from patients who had died of tuberculosis or other diseases liable to produce the very changes he regarded as specific; very few were young adults in the early phases of the mental disease. These objections constituted an apparently insuperable difficulty, and the whole question has remained virtually in abeyance ever since.
Psychiatric States in 130 Ex-Service Patients
Authors: Stalker Harry
Published: August 2008

Although by now many papers have been published on psychiatric cases occurring in the Forces in this war, few follow-up studies are available of cases discharged to civilian life. Lewis (1943) and Ferguson (1943) found that a considerable proportion of discharged psychiatric patients had required further medical treatment and had difficulty in resettling to work.
Resort to Phantasy in Individuals and Societies
Authors: Peberdy G. R.
Published: August 2008

The careful contribution on “Prisoner-of-War Mentality” by Major P. H. Newman (Brit. Med. J., vol. i, p. 8, 1944) has provoked this record of related psychological reactions. The men and women to be described, though not prisoners-of-war, were nevertheless imprisoned by psychological difficulties no less harassing than those material restraints, which, as Newman points out, operate mainly by frustrating or reducing to futility the accustomed interests, satisfactions and tasks of human beings. In the problems of prisoners-of-war a large part is played by retreat into phantasy. It is suggested below that, in human affairs and in clinical work, the scope of this particular reaction to frustration is very much wider than is commonly realized. The range is probably from what is colloquially called “uplift,” to mental states not very unlike psychoses (which have in fact been referred to as “pseudo-psychoses”), and, indeed, possibly to the psychoses themselves.
A Study of Acute Neurotic Depression as Seen in Military Psychiatry and its Differential Diagnosis from the Depressive Psychoses
Authors: Stockings G. T. Tayleur
Published: August 2008

Depression or dysphoria in its various forms is probably the commonest single symptom encountered in military psychiatry, and its differential diagnosis is often a matter of extreme difficulty: The author's observations, based on three years' experience as psychiatrist in a military psychiatric hospital, have shown that of a large number of cases admitted with a diagnosis of “depressive psychosis,” by far the greater proportion are not psychotic at all, but are cases of an acute reactive neurotic disturbance, characterized by a variety of mixed anxiety, hysterical and psychopathic features, and combined with a marked disturbance in the sphere of affect and personality.
Prolonged Memory Defects following Electro-Therapy
Authors: Brody M. B.
Published: August 2008

Levy et al. (1942) reported impaired memory in 8 out of 11 patients treated by electric shock. Impairment lasted from one to several weeks, and in one patient was present after several months. Grinker, discussing this paper, compared the psychometric and clinical picture following electro-therapy with that seen in the “punch drunk” syndrome, in which careful testing, he warned, reveals permanent damage. This to my best knowledge is the only note hitherto made that impairment of memory occurring during or after electro-therapy has any serious significance. The following case-notes revealing memory defects lasting a year or more suggest that Grinker's apprehensions may be justified.
Crime, Senescence and Senility
Authors: East W. Norwood
Published: August 2008

In recent years authoritative opinion in this country has decided that aged persons are less suited for magisterial duties in a juvenile court than justices who are younger.
Neuroses in Native African Troops
Authors: Nichols L. A.
Published: August 2008

The patients forming the subject of the following paper were natives of East, West and South Africa. The South African group are mainly Basutos, mostly non-English speaking, and hence interviews had to be carried out with the aid of an interpreter. To obtain correct perspective of their types of illness it is of course necessary to know thoroughly their customs, beliefs and mode of living. For the sake of brevity illustrations are given only from the Basuto tribe, although it must be borne in mind that there is considerable difference between this and the other groups in this respect.