New Britain herald., 1927-12-27
DEMENTIA PRAECOX
 BEING CONQUERED
Authorities Declare No Case Is Now Considered Hopeless

studied this condition most exten-
 Sively now say that there is no case
 no matter how malignant the symp-
 toms appear to us, that Is necessar- lily hopeless, says Dr. Arthur II. Rug-
 sles, noted psychiatrist. writing in
 Mental Hygiene News" the official organ of :he Connecticut Society for
 Mental Hygiene. Dr. Ruggles Is con- sultant in mental hygiene. and lec- turer in psychiatry at Yale Univer- sity, and Is acting medical director for the Connecticut Society for
 Mental Hygiene. He is also direc- tor of the Butler hospital at ProN- dence, R. l. During the war he was consultant in euro-psychiatry for England. later becoming medical di- rector. The French government awarded him the Croix de Guerre.
 Since the description of dementia praecox about 1900 by the German psychiatrist. pr. Kraepelin," Dr. Euggles says. leases of dementia praecoX have filled our mental hos pitals have crowded our outpatent departments and have been prob l"ms in the community. Previous to 900 this form of mental disease had been called adolescent insanity, this name being given 1t by the Scotch psychiatrist, Dr. Clouston. Not much was known about this adolescent in- sanity except that 1t appeared dur ing the period of adolescence, was characterized by dalusions, halluci- nations. seclusiveness and disorders of conduct. It usually progressed to form of mental deterioration which was called dementia incapaci- tating It's victims for any work and rendering them q burden upon their family and community. With the very elaborate description of this mental disease about 1900 we learn cd that there were several types of dementia praecox and we were given a detailed description of the sy1np- toms presented by all groups of cases and were told that the outlook was unfavorable and that only about one or two per cent made sufficient improvement to permit of their be- ing in any degree socially useful.
 Study of Causes.
 With the development of the new CT psychiatry which strives to under stand the causes rather than to des- cribe symptoms. we realized that dementia praecox represented 0 faulty mental development in it's vic tim and was characterized by mental disturbance in which the sick sought refuge in a world of fantasy and illusion; and because of thls tendency to split off from reality in- to a world of unrealty. Dr. Bleuler of Zurich suggested the name schlZo- phrenia. This may seem to the lay mana rather iawbreaking term bu, to the medical men and women 1t does give a. better conception Of what takes place than the older term which semed to indicate that a re- quisite of the disease was always mental deterioration or dementia.
 From 1900 to about 1915, about forty per cent Of the cases in our mental hospitals were diagnosed as dementia praecox With a more ac- curate study of each individual case, the percentage of dementia praecox cases in our hospitals has diminish- ed since 1915 until today only about twenty-five per cent are thus classi- fled. This diminution in the per ccntage has not been brought about hy a disappearance of the disease, but rather by more accurate study and better classification, because when the new name was brought out in 1900 and the masterful des- cription given, many cases previous ly pot classified were immediately put into it and many others suffering from congenital mental defects And from organic brain disease were put into this classification and were only gradually taken from it by more in- -nsive study.
 Say No Case Is Hopeless.
 "For years each family who had | 3. young member afflicted by a mental disease had over them the l spectre of dementia praecox with its l Nnfayorable outlook and hopeless- 1 ness of treatment. Now we know | that this mental process when recog- l nized early and its mechanism some what understood, can be in many l cases treated so effectively that it's ! victims can be restored to a fairly | normal degree of economic and so- cial usefulness. And some of the psy- chiatrists who have studied this con- dition most extensively now go so far as to say that there Is no case, no matter how malignant the symp- toms appear to be. that is necessar- fly hopeless. Some of the cases ar first presenting the most severe symptoms under treatment appear certain cases beginning mildly in spite of all treatment do progress to mental dilapidation. However, the past ten years have given us much better understanding of the begin ming of this disease and the mechan- ism of it's progress and with this in- Creasing knowledge we have been much better able to effect a mental rnadiustment of these individuals so that now the diagnosis of dementia praecox. or the better adapted term Of schizopherenia, does not as it used to, indicate hopelessness and chroni- city. but rather gives to the doctor and nurse an opportunity to do con- structive work and in an increasingly large percentage Of cases to return the patients to their home and many times to their work.
 The lesson that we should learn from this is 10 face fairly and the earliest evidences of mental diseases. seek at once skilled and be encouraged by the 1