Mental diseases: a public health problemMay, James Vance
Science
Mental diseases: a public health problem
May, James Vance
Mental health services; Psychology, Pathological
injury are headaches, dizziness, fainting attacks and convulsions. The
pupils are contracted and do not react properly to light. The pulse is
frequently very slow.
In fractures at the base of the brain there is likely to be a
hemorrhage from the ears and deafness from injuries to the labyrinth.
Involvement of the pyramidal tracts may cause unilateral weakness or
even paralysis, with increased knee-jerks and occasionally a Babinski
reflex. Usually the mental symptoms appear promptly after the injury.
Sometimes, however, there is for a while only a slight dulness.
The patients are unable to go about the house unassisted, and act
peculiarly, becoming clouded or delirious after a few hours or days.
Improvement begins to show itself in a few weeks as a rule unless
some intercurrent affection intervenes, but the symptoms may persist
for several months. Meningitis or abscess formation often causes
death. These developments are usually indicated by a marked delirium
or coma. There may also be paralysis, convulsions, disturbances of
speech, rise of temperature, etc. The subsidence of active delirious
symptoms is sometimes succeeded by Kraepelin's traumatic neurosis.
Following the traumatic delirium or concussion psychosis described,
mental enfeeblement sometimes appears. Clouding of consciousness is
not a factor in this condition. There is usually a complete change
in the psychic personality. The patients tire easily, are incapable
of sustained mental efforts, forgetful, absentminded, complain
of dizziness, dulness, noises in the ears, pressure in the head,
migraine, palpitation, etc. Or they may be irritable, with outbursts
of anger often alternating with apathy. Some are depressed, anxious or
hypochondriacal. There is a greatly increased susceptibility to alcohol
and intoxication often induces excitements, epileptiform attacks,
stupors or rarely actual dreamstates.
Wildermuth found a history of traumatism in 3.8 per cent of his cases
of epilepsy. The statistics of the German Army show 4.2 per cent. When
the convulsive manifestations are in the foreground and the picture
is one of traumatic epilepsy, advanced mental deterioration may be
exhibited, with impairment of mental capacity and disturbance of
memory. These cases remain apathetic, forgetful, dull, irritable and
childish. At autopsy there are often no evidences of any great injury
to the brain. Occasionally extensive areas of softening may, however,
be found. Usually there is a widespread destruction of the nerve cells
and their associated fibres. There is often a proliferation of the
glia, with changes in the vessel walls which may be thickened and
dilated, with capillary hemorrhages and softenings. Extensive areas
of the cortex may be involved. Bleuler's description of the traumatic
psychoses is not essentially different from that of Kraepelin.
The differentiation of these conditions as suggested in the statistical
manual of the American Psychiatric Association is as follows:—
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