Benign Stupors: A Study of a New Manic-Depressive Reaction TypeHoch, August
Science
Benign Stupors: A Study of a New Manic-Depressive Reaction Type
Hoch, August
Manic-depressive illness; Stupor
Mention has been made of the prominence, approaching universality, of
the death idea in stupor. This is a subject to be discussed in length
presently, but for the present we may say that there may be a delusion
of death with dramatization of that state or a mere abandonment of the
mental activities of life. It is but a step from corpse-like behavior to
suicidal attempts, psychologically speaking, yet this transition
necessarily modifies the clinical picture, since one necessitates
inactivity and the other activity. Secondarily, other atypical clinical
features appear, as will be seen.
CASE 9.--_Pearl F._ Age: 24. Admitted to the Psychiatric
Institute July 26, 1913.
_F. H._ A paternal aunt was insane. Both parents died long
ago; the mother when the patient was a baby; the father
when she was a girl. She came to this country when 17. In
this country she had generally been a domestic. An older
brother and sister were also in America.
_P. H._ She was described as sociable, good-natured, bright
enough, not inclined to be depressed. She had little
education. There was no former attack.
Four months before admission, the patient did not
menstruate but was said not to have worried about this. A
month later she began to show symptoms. She said she did
not want to live, had done something wrong but could not or
would not say what it was. Again she said a young man was
going to sue her, a young Jewish fellow whom she had seen
only a few times. She talked of turning on the gas. She
also complained that people were looking at her and that
the food was poisoned.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account