Mental diseases: a public health problemMay, James Vance
Science
Mental diseases: a public health problem
May, James Vance
Mental health services; Psychology, Pathological
Infantilism has been ascribed to syphilis,
tuberculosis, alcoholism, etc., of the parents. Brissaud in 1907
advanced the theory that it was a hypothyroid symptom. His views have
been supported by various other writers, although not shared by either
Falta or Kraepelin. The latter has also described mental conditions
more or less suggesting feeblemindedness and associated with lesions of
the hypophysis, the pineal gland, the adrenals, the sexual glands and
the thymus.
Lesions in the anterior lobe of the pituitary result in gigantism or
acromegaly, with a childish mentality most marked in the emotional
sphere. These persons are usually indifferent, good-natured and
boastful, and at the same time clumsy and inactive. A diminished
activity of the glandular portion of the hypophysis means dwarfism.
Lesions of the posterior or "nervous" lobe may cause "dystrophia
adiposo genitalis," the "adipositas dolorosa" of Dercum. The mental
status in this condition Kraepelin compares to that described in
acromegaly—apathy and indifference, with occasional restless or
excited types. The intellectual capacity may be normal, mediocre or
somewhat deficient.
The pineal gland is spoken of as having a very definite relation to
sexual development. Extirpation is said to lead to rapid development
of the body, the accumulation of fat and early sexual development,—a
condition described by Pellizzi as "makro-genitosomia praecoce."
Schüller in fifty-one cases with pineal involvements found ten
occurring during the first decade of life. Death usually takes
place within a few months or years. Similar conditions result from
hyperactivity of the adrenal cortex,—rapid development of the body,
and particularly of the sexual organs, obesity and overgrowth of the
hair and beard. Wiesel described as a "suprarenal genital symptom
complex" cases of pseudo-hermaphrodism in women.
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