The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1902-11-13
DELUSIONS OF INEBRIATES.
User of Alcohol" Drinks Is
Brought.

"A ueluSlOn, common III all lneDIl-
ates, is that which springs from
palsy of the sense of taste and in
disordered nutrient impulses. These
are dietetic delusions in regard to
food and food values. The inebri-
ate is never satisfied with the kind
of food or its quality. He is always
experimenting with new condiments
and new stimulating nutrients. His
appetite varies; now craving one ar
ticle of food alone, then another; al
ways expecting new strength andvigor
from the changes. The digestion is
deranged; retained and unassim-
ulated food products are sources of
poison from which new germ growths
spring. Depressions, local conges-
tions, failures of nutrient coordina-
ton and disturbed mental states fol-
low. Condiments, stimulating foods,
and foods containing excessive starch
and albumen are craved or repealed.
A great variety of most complex dis
orders follow, which do not come in
the range of Indigestion, and yet are
literally delusive states. Many of
these persons give much time to the
study and experiments with differ
ent foods, attaching undue impor-
tance to this or that food, then
changing to some other form, and al
ways more or less dissatisfied with
experience.
Another delusion is very common
in the latter stages. 1t may be called
that of doubt ana suspicion of the
motives and purposes of others. The
former confidence and faith of the
patient gives way to suspicion of sin
lister motives and purposes of his
friends to take advantage of his con-
dition and do him injury. Acts Of
kindness are misconstrued. Advice
is supposed to have a motive. The
patient becomes more sensitive and
irritable at opposition. He becomes
more pessimistic and dwells on the
supposed obstacles which seem to
oppose his purposes and plans. His
former confidence is lost in friends
and family. Those most nearly con-
nected with him are objects of sus-
picion. The mind becomes more and
more unstable, and, while showing
extreme confidence at one moment,
is suspicious the next, believing the
most extraordinary motives in the
act and conduct of friends. Some
times these decisions concentrate in
definite directions with great in
tensity, particularly where the pa
tient has property. He sees in the
conduct of his friends plans to rob
him, and drinks to excess, and ex-
plains this as due to these plots. If
he is ambitious for position or pow
er, the same intense skepticism con-
centrates about the conduct and mo-
tives of his friends to keep him
back. He will come to the ASYLUM
under an assumed name and disguise
and falsify all his past, believing in
this way he can conceal his present.
This secrecy is so childish as to be-
tray itself. If the delusion cOncen-
trates on matters of making money
il will manifest itself in miserly and
dishonest acts. The patient will want
to make a hard bargain for his
'iN''bINiib' VIII Nltillil w bt lOOI. lie
will falsify and even steal when the
occasion occurs. His dominant
thought will be to take advantage.
Such persons are often klepto-
maniacs and unscrupulous in money
matters. Another delusion is very
common in the latter stages, that of
infidelity of wife or husband. and
suspicious of intrigues. The nearest
friends will often be considered as the
most immoral and treacherous in their
conduct. These may be called sex
delusions and sometimes are very ap-
parent in the scandals which such
persons take pains to repeat and
seem to gloat over. In the early
stages this form of delusion is not
unfrequently present. Another form
of delusion is that of great wealth
or ability to make wealth This re-
sembles the delusions so common in
paresis, except that it does not go
on beyond a certain limit The pa
tent will always feel that he can
make money and do other things not
common in the ordinary line of
events. Ordinarily he will be content
with plans and schemes of success,
and believe they will occur, without
taking into account the means for
their accomplishment. These delu-
sions are common in nearly all cases,
and are seldom recognized, and never
studied.-Journal of Inebriety.